Technology

Canvas Course Access Timeline

You will be able to view/interact with your courses in Canvas at different times dependent upon your role within a course, in addition to other factors, as explained below.

  • When Will I Be Able to View My Courses in Canvas?


RoleCourse Access Timeline
Instructor
  • Instructors must be correctly listed as the instructor-of-record for their course(s) within Campus Solutions in order to see them in Canvas. If they are not, they will need to work with the Office of the Registrar to correct this.

  • Instructors will see their courses in Canvas approximately at the time Course Registration opens for the future academic term:

    • Fall Term: Mid-March
    • Spring/Winter Terms: Mid-October
    • Summer Term: Mid-February

  • Incoming instructors will be able to log in to Canvas as soon as HR has begun their online onboarding process. They will additionally need to be entered as the instructor-of-record for their course(s) within Campus Solutions by the Office of the Registrar in order to see their courses in Canvas.
Student
  • Students will be able to see their course(s) for a future academic term in Canvas up to 30 days in advance of the term, provided the course has been published by the Instructor. Unpublished courses will not be viewable to students in Canvas, but will be visible in the Classes I'm Taking list in My.IllinoisState.edu. The red button to access a course in Canvas appears in that list when the course has been published.
    • Note: If an instructor has changed the Participation setting in their Canvas course from the default setting, that may impact the timeline when students may view their course. For more information on this setting, please refer to: Participation Setting in Canvas

  • How Long Will I Retain Access to My Courses in Canvas?


RoleCanvas Course Retention Timeline
Instructor
  • Instructors will retain access to their past courses as long as they remain actively employed by Illinois State University, for a period of time as yet to be determined by a shared governance group. Edit access to their past courses, however, will expire as described below:
  • If the instructor has retained the default Participation setting in their Canvas course, they will retain the ability to edit their course for 1 year after the end of the academic term for which the course was offered. After the 1-year period has elapsed, instructors will retain the ability to access their course and will be able to copy/download/move some of the content from their course, but will no longer be able to edit the course.
    • Note: If the instructor changed the default Participation setting in their Canvas course, this may impact how long they retain edit access to their course, and for how long. It may also result in students retaining access to their course beyond the normal period of time. For more information, please refer to: Participation Setting in Canvas

  • If an instructor leaves Illinois State University, they will lose access to Canvas and their course content upon separation.
Student
  • Students will retain access to past courses until approximately 10 days after the end of the academic term for which the course was offered.
    • Note: If the instructor changed the default Participation setting in their Canvas course, this may result in students retaining access to their course beyond the normal period of time. For more information, please refer to: Participation Setting in Canvas

  • It is strongly recommended students save any personal content they wish to retain prior to completion of the course/academic term.



Additional Resources:

How to Get Help

Technical assistance is available through the Illinois State University Technology Support Center at: