Manual Course Guidelines in Canvas

This guide outlines UIW’s approach to manually creating Canvas users and courses. It is primarily maintained by the Office of Teaching, Learning, and Technology (OTLT), but is shared broadly to support others involved in course planning and administration.

Types of Manual Canvas Courses

UIW provides three types of manually created Canvas courses, each with a specific purpose. These courses are not academic shells tied to Banner but are used to support non-credit learning, planning, or resource sharing.

Differences Between Sandbox, Development, and Support Courses

Sandbox Courses: Each instructor may request one sandbox to explore Canvas features. These are resettable and ideal for testing tools in a low-risk environment.

Development Courses: Used to build content for future academic courses. Faculty may request multiple development shells; they may be temporary and cleared after a defined period.

Support Courses: Used for academic-related initiatives such as tutoring programs, workshops, or bootcamps that rely on Canvas tools like assignments and grading. If the intent is purely communication or resource sharing, Microsoft Teams is the better tool.

Why Limit Multiple Sandboxes?

In the past, instructors were given multiple sandbox courses, which often went unused or served only to push content into academic shells. This creates clutter and complicates long-term course management.

Going forward, instructors should maintain one official sandbox, while additional spaces for course development should be classified as development courses. Clear labeling and purpose help prevent data bloat and confusion.

When to Use Microsoft Teams Instead of Canvas

Canvas is intended for instruction, or activities that leverage the unique features of Canvas, not as a general communication or file storage platform. If you're creating a space for ongoing collaboration, announcements, or document sharing, we recommend using Microsoft Teams instead of a Canvas course. If the goal is strictly file sharing, SharePoint is most ideal.

Course Creation Guidelines

Requests for manual courses (beyond basic test courses for administrators) should be forwarded to Canvas Support. This creates a documented ticket, ensuring the purpose and details are recorded and properly reviewed. While manual courses are typically created by the Canvas Administrator, this guide outlines the key fields needed for manual course creation and offers guidance on how to complete them. The same information is provided in both table and list formats for convenience.

Manual Course Fields - Table View

Field Sandbox Course Development Course Support Course Course Name First Last Name + "Sandbox"
(e.g., Jon Whitney Sandbox) Course Code + "Dev Course"
(e.g., CSCI-1011 Dev Course) User's preferred course name with proper formatting Reference Code (Short Name) username + "Sandbox"
(e.g., jswhitne Sandbox) Same as Course Name Same as Course Name Subaccount "Sandboxes" subaccount "Development Courses" subaccount Support subaccounts
(e.g., OTLT Initiatives, Academic Support Courses) Enrollment Term "Sandboxes" term
(Unless testing a specific term) "Default Term"
(Tentative) "Default Term"
(Tentative) SID ID Leave blank for all manual courses. Leave blank for all manual courses. Leave blank for all manual courses.

Manual Course Fields - List View

Course Name:
- Sandbox: First Last Name + Sandbox (e.g., Jon Whitney Sandbox)
- Development: Course Code + Dev Course (e.g., CSCI1011 Dev Course)
- Support: User's preferred name for the course with proper formatting; admin adjusts if needed.
Reference Code (aka short name):
- Sandbox: username + Sandbox (e.g., jswhitne Sandbox)
- Development: Match Course Name
- Support: Match Course Name
Subaccount:
- Sandbox: Sandboxes subaccount
- Development: Development Courses subaccount
- Support: Appropriate departmental subaccount (e.g., OTLT Initiatives, Academic Support Courses, etc.)
Enrollment Term:
- Sandbox: Sandboxes term (unless testing a specific term)
- Development: Default Term (tentative)
- Support: Default Term (tentative)
SIS ID: Leave blank for all manual courses. This ensures they're easily distinguishable from academic courses for automation and data reporting.

Manual User Creation

At this time, all manual user creation requests should be sent to Canvas Support. While not all requests will result in account creation, submitting them ensures proper review and routing.

Why Share These Guidelines?

Our focus is to streamline and scale Canvas processes. These practices support better data hygiene, more consistent management, and improved reporting through tools like Canvas Data 2.

Clear naming conventions and structured course setup also reduce clutter and confusion in the long term, allowing for future automation and more accurate record-keeping. Many of the choices listed in this document allow the Canvas Administrator to act on data in bulk.

If you’d like to talk through any of these steps—or feel the guidelines are restrictive—please contact canvas@uiwtx.edu.