The following proposal is for TLTR virtual discussion in September 2018. Please share your feedback by Thursday, September 27, 2018.
Proposed New Canvas Start and End Dates
The Office of Information Technology (OIT) now has the ability to adjust automatically the “Start” and “End” date on courses in Canvas each semester. (This change would not affect these dates in Banner.) Currently, the “Start” and “End” dates in Canvas are automatically set from Banner to be the first date the class meets in the classroom and the last date the class meets in the classroom, which does not include final exams. Students cannot interact with content in Canvas or be notified of messages or announcements outside of these dates, even if the course is published. Many faculty manually change the start and end dates, so this change would remove the need to do that for each class each semester, which would save faculty members time.
Why make a change?
- Faculty who publish their course on Canvas before the Start date in Canvas cannot use Canvas Messages or Announcements to send welcome messages.
- Students cannot access course content to view the Syllabus or review needed course materials before the start date, even if the course is published.
- At the end of the semester, students may still need to submit final projects or review course materials after the “End” date but before grades are due.
- OIT Support receives many calls at the beginning and end of semesters from students who cannot access needed course materials.
Proposed Change
This automatic adjustment would be implemented each semester when classes are first loaded in Canvas, which occurs shortly before registration for the next semester. Because this date adjustment only occurs once per semester, any courses that are added after that time, will still have the Banner Start and End dates (based on the first and last class meetings), and faculty would need to make any change manually.
OIT proposes to adjust course dates in Canvas as follows:
- Start Date: One week before the official first class meeting in Banner.
- End Date: Three weeks after the last class meeting in Banner. Note: The revised End Date allows students access through the final exam and grading period for both 7-week and full-semester courses.
What won’t change
- Faculty will still need to publish their courses in Canvas before students have access.
- Faculty can still adjust the Start and Ends dates manually in their Canvas Settings to fit their class.
Input Requested
- Does the TLTR approve of this change in general?
- Does the TLTR approve of the specific start and end dates that have been proposed? (Dates are based on previous input solicited from faculty.)