How to Modify Canvas Course End Dates

Canvas courses have terms that are pre-determined in the Banner system. There are main semester terms as well as different terms for some schools and programs such as the School for Professional Studies and the School of Medicine.

For most courses at SLU, Canvas is set up so that student and Instructor access to a Canvas course ends 30 days after the term ends (the Course End Date). This setting can be changed on a course-by-course basis.

Instructors who want students to be able to access courses indefinitely may change the settings in their own Canvas courses until the Course End Date (which by default is 30 days after the term end date). During the term, you can edit the dates that your course will be available by clicking in the Settings and scrolling down to Participation. Click the word Term and change it to Course. You will then be able to adjust the dates.

Under the course dates, you can un-check "Restrict students from viewing course after term end date" to make the course viewable by students after the Course End Date. Students will have view only access under their All Courses menu after the course closes and full access if there is no ending date specified. If you check the "Restrict students from viewing course after term end date" box and change the dates, you alone will keep access to the course.

After the Course End Date has passed, instructors who wish to extend course access for students must have ITS make that change. If the course has closed and you are unable to adjust the term dates, fill out this request form. Note that the form says it is for students with incompletes, but the information for extending a course is the same. You can put a note to that effect in the area that calls for students' names.

The table below lays out what access students have to Canvas courses and how you can control it.

 

IF YOU WANT TO HAVE...

DO THIS...

No Access after the Course End Date
No access to any course content. Students will not see
the course in their Dashboard.		 No action required. This is the default setting.

Read Only Access after the Course End Date

If you want students to be able to access the course and
all course materials (excluding quizzes/exams), including:

  • Course Content/Resources (files, modules, etc.)
  • Assignments
  • Discussions

Before term ends: 

  1. Go to Course Settings. 
  2. Look for Participation. 
  3. Change the word Term to Course. 
  4. Look for a checkbox that says, Restrict students
    from viewing course after term end date    . 
  5. Uncheck the box
If the term has ended and you are unable to extend the
dates, use this form to request read-only access be
turned back on for students.

NOTE: The form says it is for students with
incompletes, but the information for extending
a course is the same. You can put a note to
that effect in the area that ​​​​calls for students'
​​​​​names.

If you want students to be able to access only certain content

Before the term ends:

  1. Complete the steps above to uncheck the box that
    says, Restrict students from viewing course
    after term end date    .
  2. And manually un-publish course content that you
    don't want students to see, and hide any course
    navigation links such as People or Discussions.

Allow a Student to Submit Work after the Course End Date
If the course is open, all students can submit work. Extend dates before term ends as noted above
 

You need a particular student(s) to have the ability
to submit work in order to complete an Incomplete Course

Submit form to request a sub-section of the course for
the purpose of finishing an incomplete.

NOTE: This is required if you want to restrict the
course content to students with incomplete work.

Follow these steps to assign specific assignments to the 

Incomplete section:

  1. Locate an assignment or test that you want the student to submit.
  2. Click the three dot icon to the right of the assignment.
  3. Click the edit pencil.
  4. Click More Options.
  5. Scroll down to Assign To and click to Add button at the bottom.
    This creates a new assignment for the sub section.
  6. Edit the availability and due dates.
  7. Assign each student in the Incomplete section by name to the new assignment.
  8. Click Save.
 

 

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