Canvas Course Access

This article provides information about when a Canvas course becomes available to students and instructors for an upcoming term.

Question

When are instructors and students able to access a Canvas course?

 

Environment

• Canvas
• PeopleSoft

 

Answer

Instructor Access

Canvas course shells are created based on course and employment information in PeopleSoft.

• For-credit and non-credit course shells are created 45 days before the semester start date listed in PeopleSoft.
• Continuity course shells are created 30 days before the course start date listed in PeopleSoft.
• New faculty and adjunct faculty receive Canvas access 45 days before their hire date as recorded by Human Resources.

To check whether a course is available:

• In Canvas, click Courses from the Global Navigation menu.
• Scroll to Future Enrollments and verify whether the course is listed there.
• Verify the course is listed in your Online Faculty Center.
• Confirm that at least 2 hours have passed since the course was assigned by your department.

If the course is still missing, contact your department to confirm it was assigned correctly in PeopleSoft. Your department’s Support Professional should be able to assist.

Student Access

Students can access a course only during the section start and end dates.

• Before the course start date, the course appears in Future Enrollments, but students cannot open it.
• After the course end date, the course appears in Past Enrollments.

Notifications and Course Preparation

Students do not receive course notifications, including announcements, until the course start date. This gives instructors time to build, update, and organize course content before the term begins.

Adjusting Course Dates

Canvas courses are automatically populated with the course start and end dates from PeopleSoft.

If you need to adjust course dates:

1. Open the course in Canvas.
2. Select Settings.
3. Update the Start Date and/or End Date.
4. Click Update Course Details.