Canvas Policies and Procedures

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Canvas LMS Policies and Procedures

Purpose and Permitted Use

Note: the Canvas LMS is currently in a pilot for the Fall 2024 semester with about 50 courses being taught in Canvas. Not all of the procedures below may apply during the pilot phase of the Canvas LMS migration.

The Canvas LMS is utilized for credit-based courses scheduled in the UMass Dartmouth student information system (COIN). Course sites are used in blended and fully online courses and supplement face-to-face instruction. The system may not be utilized for non-instructional purposes outside academic courses, such as organizations, committees, groups, and clubs.

User Management and Access

User Accounts

Course access is granted to registered students in COIN and the instructor of record. Students must be officially registered in COIN to access Canvas course sites. This includes course auditors. Due to the data synchronization process, access to course sites may take 12-24 hours after registration in COIN.

Student Access

Students gain access to course sites two days before the official course start date listed in COIN. Student access to courses is removed 60 days after the course end date.

Faculty Access

All active UMass Dartmouth faculty will have access to Canvas after they are listed as the course instructor of record in COIN. In rare instances, a temporary user account may be established for a new faculty member, to participate in Canvas training.

Teaching Assistants

Faculty may request a teaching or graduate assistant enrolled in their course site(s).

Steps to add student/TA in Canvas:

Ensure the following criteria are met before the instructor of record submits the request:

  • Student/TA hiring authority in your department has created a placement for this position.
  • The student has been hired through CORSAIR jobs and has an active record.
  • The enrolled students are notified that a Teaching Assistant is monitoring the course.

To request TA access, please submit the Canvas Supplemental Access Request through an IT help request by visiting the CITS IT Help page.

PLEASE REMEMBER:
Students cannot be added to the course until the placement is completely validated and the student has been notified that they have access to HRDirect.
Please ensure the student has completed the necessary paperwork to be hired through CORSAIR jobs.

Other Access

Access is permitted with written permission from the College Dean for the following:

  • Program Directors
  • Clinical Instructors
  • Faculty Peers (specific purpose must be detailed)

Contact IT Help if you have questions regarding any other Canvas access.

Length of Course Access

Student access to Canvas course sites is removed 60 days after the course end date. (see Incomplete information below)

Faculty retain access to their course sites for 5 years from which the course was initially offered. Faculty are advised to back up their courses after each semester in order to retain a copy of the course for their records or should their service end at UMass Dartmouth. Note: Due to the university’s LMS migration to Canvas, faculty will no longer have access to myCourses and any Blackboard course content after June 1, 2025.

Teaching Assistants, Course Graders, Course Builders, and employees are removed 7 days after the course end date.

Incomplete

All students retain access to course sites for 60 days following the course end date.  If faculty have students who have been granted a grade of “I” (Incomplete) and need to retain access after the 60 days to complete their work, please submit a CITS Help Ticket requesting access.

Canvas Administrator Access

Canvas Administrators may access a course site without instructor permission or advance notice to troubleshoot course site issues for students and faculty.

FERPA Information

UMass Dartmouth follows the provisions of the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1975 (FERPA). These policies protect the privacy of student educational records. UMass Dartmouth faculty and staff must adhere to FERPA guidelines to protect sensitive information.

User Responsibilities

All users must adhere to UMass Dartmouth IT Policies.

All users are responsible for his/her account, including the safeguarding of access to Canvas. All activity originating from an account is deemed to be authored by the account holder and is the responsibility of that account holder.

Copyright and Fair Use

Faculty are responsible for the course content uploaded to their course site and therefore are responsible for following copyright laws and fair use guidelines when posting course materials into Canvas.

Course Management

Course Site Creation

Course sites are automatically created using data from COIN with course availability dates set according to the session dates. Students can access course sites on the start date of the course session.

Combining/Cross-listed Course Sections

Faculty have the option to combine course sites. This process combines enrollments from multiple course sections and loads them into one master site.

Please Note: Combining courses is only available if you are teaching multiple sections of the same course (e.g. section 01, 02) or officially cross‐listed courses (e.g. PHL 300/WGS 300). If you have questions regarding combining or cross-listing, please contact IT Help.

Course Site Copy

Course sites can be easily copied/reused as future semester course sites. Faculty are responsible for copying the course content from a previous semester into a future course site.

Transferring Course Sites

Faculty have the option to share their course site content with other faculty members. Written permission from the original course site instructor is required before course content can be transferred. Requests for content to be shared should be sent to IT Help.

Canvas Grades

Canvas Gradebook is intended for the publication of grades for students and should not be used as a repository of grade records. Learn more about using the Canvas Gradebook:

Course Backups

Faculty are responsible for retaining copies of course material and student grades from Canvas. This includes creating a backup copy of all courses and keeping a copy of the course Gradebook. The Gradebook feature of myCourses is intended for the publication of grades for students and should not be used as a repository of grade records.

Course Removal Process

Blackboard Courses: As of June 1, 2025, faculty will no longer have access to myCourses (the Blackboard LMS) due to the university’s migration to the new Canvas LMS. Faculty are responsible for creating a backup of their course content and data for their records. See the Blackboard Policies and Procedures page for more information.

Canvas Courses: Canvas courses will be kept in the system up to 5 years after the course end date. Beginning Summer 2031, Fall 2025-Spring 2026 courses will be removed from the Canvas system to the archive server.

Archived Courses

Archived courses will be stored using a secure cloud-based company.  Courses will only be retrieved based on legal requirements due to the cost of the data retrieval process.

System Updates

The Canvas LMS instance utilizes a SaaS continuous delivery model. SaaS continuous delivery provides monthly releases, which means more opportunities for bug fixes and enhancements made available in Canvas throughout the year while eliminating downtime for these updates. Additional releases are applied outside of this schedule for time-sensitive fixes.