We are excited for you to use Canvas in the upcoming fall term! Please note the following:

Preparing for Fall

If you are participating in Preview Week:

• Courses should be copied from the sandbox to the course of record before the first day of preview week. The more time you leave before the first day of preview week, the more time we have to help resolve any issues that may arise. See: Copying a Canvas Course for a New Semester. If you have any questions, please reach out to your learning designer.
• If you worked with your learning designer on an alternative timeline, please follow that agreed-upon schedule.
• If you are not building in a sandbox, continue to step 1 under Setting Up The Course of Record.

If you are not participating in Preview Week:

• Courses should be copied from the sandbox to the course of record before the first day of the term. The more time you leave before the first day of the term, the more time we have to help resolve any issues that may arise. See: Copying a Canvas Course for a New Semester. If you have any questions, please reach out to your learning designer.
• If you worked with your learning designer on an alternative timeline, please follow that agreed-upon schedule.
• If you are not building in a sandbox, continue to step 1 under Setting Up The Course of Record.

Setting Up The Course of Record

1. Once the course is copied to the course of record, publish the Welcome/Getting Started module in your course and its content. Make sure other course content that should not be visible to students at this time remains unpublished. See: Publishing your Canvas Module (Make Visible to Students)
2. Any time after 12 a.m. on August 18, publish the course so students can access it. See: How do I publish a course?
3. After publishing the course, post a welcome announcement for students. See: How do I add an announcement in a course?

• By default, students will receive e-mail notifications for announcements in their Canvas courses and any messages they receive through the Canvas Inbox from instructors or other students.

If you post a welcome announcement before publishing the course or before 12 a.m. on August 18, students will NOT receive an e-mail notification.

• By default, instructors do not receive e-mail notifications for announcements they post in their own Canvas courses.

More information on customizing notification preferences can be found here.

Help and Training

This page outlines the Canvas help and training resources available to faculty and staff, including the 24/7/365 phone and chat support options.

If your students need help with Canvas, resources for them (including 24/7/365 phone and chat support) are available here. You may also share the link to this video with your students to help them get acclimated to navigating Canvas.

Please use our Canvas Request Form to submit any Canvas-related questions, comments, or requests to our team, or e-mail your learning designer directly.

Communications