Summary
This article explains how Canvas course availability is managed throughout the academic term, including when instructors and students gain access at the start of the semester, and how courses are handled after the term ends. Understanding this schedule helps instructors prepare courses in advance, publish content at the appropriate time, and manage post-semester access for concluded courses and Incompletes (I) grades.
Start of Semester
Instructors
Instructors can access Canvas courses 60 days before the official start date of each semester. This schedule allows us to make upgrades and improvements each semester without risking the interruption or deletion of course materials that have been prepared in advance.
Best Practices / Things to Know
- To provide timely access to students, instructors should publish courses at least one week before the start of a semester.
- If earlier access is needed, instructors should request a development course to prepare course materials.
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Students
Students can only access courses they have registered for after the instructor publishes the Canvas course.
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End of Semester
Course Conclusions
Courses automatically update to Concluded status 7 days after grades are due.
Concluded refers to a course where the term has ended, grades have been submitted, and the academic record for the course is finalized. Concluded courses become read-only for students and instructors. This preserves the site and prevents accidental changes, late submissions, or other modifications after a course has officially ended.
Concluded sites are removed from the main Dashboard, reducing clutter, but remain accessible via the Courses > All Courses area.
Incomplete Grades
Canvas includes workflows that enable conditional access to concluded courses for a student(s) requiring extensions to complete coursework. Instructors should submit a Course Extension Service Request for assistance.