Frequently Asked Questions - Faculty
Canvas is a web application that allows faculty to post course materials (like documents, discussion boards, assignments, video and audio) online making them available to their students. Instructors can make use of Canvas to expand the the walls of a traditional classroom.
Canvas provides a flexible environment for all types of learning communities, whether a “regular” course, departmental project, or university-wide task force.
Canvas courses are created automatically for courses that are offered by the Registrar. It is the faculty member’s decision on if they wish to use the automatically created site.
Courses are available in Canvas approximately one week after a semester opens for registration for students. For example, Spring courses will be created in Canvas around mid-October, and Fall courses will be created around mid-April. Click here to see exact registration dates for the coming year.
ITS can also create non-standard courses manually for projects, committees and other Canvas uses.
As a faculty member, you will only see courses in Canvas if you are the Instructor of Record, or a registered co-teacher. If you meet these requirements, and it is at least 1 week after registration opened for the semester, please contact the Help Desk (helpdesk@clarku.edu, 508-793-7745)
If you are not the Instructor of Record, or a registered co-teacher, you should contact the Instructor of Record, or the Registrar to resolve the issue.
Students are enrolled automatically into Canvas courses based on the registrar’s Banner data. This process happens multiple times a day.
If students are a late enroll (or drop your course) please note that it can take approximately 24 hours for Canvas to reflect that change.
If there are students missing from your Moodle course enrollments, please contact the Help Desk (helpdesk@clarku.edu, 508-793-7745)
Only the Registrar can enroll students in courses, and the Canvas enrollment is fed from Banner. If a registered student isn’t seeing your course in Canvas, please have them contact the Help Desk (helpdesk@clarku.edu, 508-793-7745)
If you have a different enrollment need, please contact the Help Desk.
If none of your students can see your course, you may need to publish it. Click here for instructions on how to publish your course.
If only some of your students can’t see your course, the impacted students should contact the Help Desk (helpdesk@clarku.edu, 508-793-7745)
No. For faculty, Canvas courses will remain available in Canvas for about 3 years. If you don’t see the past courses on your Canvas Dashboard, click on Courses from the left-side menu and select “All Courses”.
Students will lose access to a course soon after grades are released. This is in part to comply with copyright law which specifies that only registered students may have access to materials used under fair use exemptions for the duration of the course. If you have a student that requires continued access, please contact the Help Desk (helpdesk@clarku.edu, 508-793-7745).
Frequently Asked Questions - Students
If you can’t see your course in Canvas you should do the following:
- Wait until the first day of class and ask your faculty member. Some faculty don’t use Canvas and others wait until after the first day to publish the course.
- If the faculty member says that they are using Canvas, ask your classmates if they can see the course. If no-one can see the course, your faculty member should contact the Help Desk (helpdesk@clarku.edu, 508-793-7745)
- If your classmates can see the course, but you can’t, please check ClarkYou to ensure that your registration is current. If you can’t see your course in ClarkYou, you should contact the Registrar.
- If your course is available in ClarkYou, please contact the Help Desk (helpdesk@clarku.edu, 508-793-7745) and provide the name and code of the course, the name of the faculty member, and the date that you registered for the course.
Students lose access to a course soon after grades are released. This is in part to comply with copyright law which specifies that only registered students may have access to materials used under fair use exemptions for the duration of the course.
If you have a registered Incomplete and need access to a past course, your faculty member should contact the Help Desk (helpdesk@clarku.edu, 508-793-7745).