Canvas provides a Syllabus page, which is a great place to put the document version of your Syllabus.

The Syllabus page provides you with a place to type text, add files or videos, a welcome message, etc. It also provides students with an automatically generated Course Summary (a to-do list of assignments, discussions, quizzes, and assigned pages sorted by due date) and information about how the final grade is weighted (if you use assignment groups to set up a weighted final grade).

The Quinnipiac University Custom Template or your department’s template in the Commons sets the Syllabus page as the home page, which is recommended so students can quickly access the course summary, and will see a welcome message and the document version of your syllabus.

Here’s how to add your syllabus document in Canvas:

1. Open the Syllabus area in your course navigation and select “Edit” in the top right corner.

2. Delete any placeholder text in the template, if it exists. You can highlight all the placeholder text, such as the Instructor Note and Learn More text, and then press Delete on your keyboard to delete it.

3. Put your text cursor where you’d like to add the syllabus.

4. Do one of the following:
1. Click and drag your syllabus document from a folder on your computer (Finder, Windows Explorer, your desktop, etc.) onto your text cursor, and the Syllabus will upload.
2. Select “Insert” then “Document” and “Upload Document” from the menu bar of the text box in Canvas. Select the rocket ship, then choose the syllabus document on your computer.

5. Optional: If you have clickable links on your syllabus, we recommend displaying the syllabus inline so students can click them by selecting “Preview inline.”


You can also choose whether or not to display the syllabus document automatically when students view the page by selecting “Expand preview by Default.”

6. Once you have finished editing, select the blue “Update Syllabus” button at the bottom to save your changes.

Additional Resources