MSU Denver
A woman working at a computer Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels.
A woman working at a computer Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels.

The end of a semester can be a stressful time for educators and students. This Canvas spotlight will cover some end-of-semester housekeeping functions in Canvas to bring courses to a successful conclusion. Making sure courses are finalized can help mitigate last-minute emails from students or issues in submitting final grades. 

For more information on transitioning a course to the next semester, please see the Center for Teaching, Learning and Design’s course Copy Guide and Post Copy Guide. 

Best Practices

  1. Check that the End Date set in Canvas is correct and make adjustments if needed. Some courses may not follow the general academic calendar, and the end date originally set for the shell might not be correct.
  2. Make sure all graded assignments have due dates and correct availability times set so they are properly factored into students’ final grades. If students don’t submit work on assignments, quizzes or discussions without due dates, they will receive no change in their total grade.
  3. Display the letter grade a student will receive in Canvas with a course grading scheme. This lets students know what grade you will report in Banner.
    1. Note: Remember to enter the final grade into the official Banner system. Please visit the How Do I Submit Final Grades? FAQ if you’re unsure how to do this.
  4. If a student has an incomplete grade, the Course End Date can be extended to allow them to access course material and complete the necessary work. Please see the Open Access for Individual Student to Finalize Incomplete Grade tutorial.
  5. If a student needs only to complete a few assignments or you aren’t comfortable extending the End Date of your course, email may also be used to work with the student to complete the required assignments. Please review the Use Email to Finalize Incomplete Grade tutorial.
  6. A farewell announcement can be used for last-minute instructions or reminders to students and is a great way to thank students and wish them well in their future courses. Review the Create an Announcement in Canvas tutorial if needed.

Walk through it together 

For complete written step-by-step instructions, visit the CTLD Ready Spotlight tutorial page.

Have questions?

Want help on this or other teaching and learning topics? Please visit the CTLD for drop-in support (10 a.m.-3 p.m., Monday-Friday) or try one of the self-help tutorials. 

 

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels