Canvas Checklist
No need to memorize every step when you can lean on the Canvas Checklist. This guide walks through the faculty action items related to access, management, building, and concluding academic Canvas courses each term.
Canvas course shells are created based on the Banner schedule of classes. Faculty can expect Canvas course shells approximately 60 days before the main fall, spring, and summer terms:
- Fall courses in late June
- Spring courses in early November
- Summer courses in early March
Need Canvas training or assistance? Find options within the Canvas Global Navigation Help button.
Prepare Your Canvas Shell
☐ Use Cardinal Apps to open Canvas and locate your course(s) in the Dashboard or All Courses list to confirm access.
☐ The Instructor of Record listed in the Banner course schedule gets Canvas course access during current terms. Contact your department scheduler for corrections in Banner.
☐ Need access to a course in a past term? The Instructor of Record submits a written request on your behalf to canvas@uiwtx.edu. Banner does not give access to past Canvas courses.
☐ Ensure the Term dates found in course Settings reflect your needs or set new Course Participation start and end dates. Do not leave dates blank for academic courses.
☐ Teaching multiple sections but prefer to manage a single Canvas course? Cross-list multiple courses before you begin building.
☐ Add people with legitimate educational interests to your course. Remember, all instructors of record and students are enrolled through Banner.
☐ Considering MS Teams this term? Explore your options with Canvas as each has its own benefits. Remember, to create a MS course group, enable the integration and perform a sync in your Course Settings.
Set Up Your Canvas Content
☐ Copy a previous course or select content. Remember, to copy a past course before editing to preserve the academic record.
☐ Edit your Home page to capture students’ attention and direct them along a learning path to success.
☐ Update your syllabus and outline document(s) for accuracy, then add them to the Syllabus feature in Canvas.
☐ Set up all Assignments with clear instructions or use placeholder info when details are pending.
☐ Confirm due dates with the bulk update feature. Remember, due dates must fall between the participation dates in Settings.
☐ Confirm points possible and weighted groups calculate grades as stated in your syllabus.
☐ Enable a grading scheme in your Course Settings that represents accurate point ranges for course letter grades.
☐ Update pages with correct office hours, contact information, and communication preferences.
☐ Customize your student orientation module. Remember to include practice items to help students learn the tech.
☐ Create your content modules and instructional materials. Remember digital accessibility standards for all content.
☐ Quality check the appearance and functionality of your course with Student View.
☐ Publish your course before the participation start date and time you decided on in Settings.
☐ To prevent students from looking around before the start date, check the "Restrict students from viewing course before start date" box.
☐ Post a welcome announcement. Students won’t be notified via email of announcements posted before the course is published.
End Your Course Each Term
☐ Ensure all grade requirements are met before the Registrar’s export date on the Academic Calendar for a successful auto-transfer to Banner.
☐ If you prefer to manually add final grades to Banner, do not set a UIW grading scheme in Canvas.
☐ If desired, you can export a copy of grades and save a backup of your course content for your records.
☐ The participation end date changes the status to past enrollments and makes participation read-only. You can edit this date proactively.
☐ If you want students to keep viewing access after your course ends, do not check the "Restrict students from viewing course after end date" box.
☐ Copy your course before making content edits to preserve the academic record,
