Answers to common questions and issues faculty encounter in Canvas.

Categories (8)

Building Inclusive Content

Creating an accessible learning environment is not just about compliance with legal standards; it’s about ensuring every student has an equal opportunity to thrive in their educational pursuits.Use these guides to ensure the content you create in Canvas is accessible to all, helping each student to realize their full potential.

Using the Chico State Canvas Template (Faculty)

Provides detailed instructions for using the Chico State Canvas template applied to all courses by default.

Faculty Canvas Dashboard Messages

Browse an archive of Academic Technology's weekly faculty messages.

Assignments and Grades

Get answers to Canvas Gradebook, assignment issues, and troubleshooting tips for instructors dealing with import errors, grading problems, and other assignment-related questions in Canvas.

Quizzes and Tests

Get answers to common Canvas quiz issues and questions, including creating, duplicating, and editing quizzes.

Modules and Content Management

Get answers to Canvas course design, content management, and troubleshooting with practical tips and best practices.

People and Groups

Get answers to common issues with Canvas group sets, cross-listing, rosters, and student enrollments.

Textbook Publishers and External Content

Get answers to questions related to integrating publisher and other partner content in Canvas.

Articles (15)

Pinned Article Access Help in Canvas

You can access help and support within Canvas by navigating to the Help menu, using the knowledge base, contacting support through chat, or calling the support hotline. This process assists both faculty and students in resolving their Canvas-related issues efficiently.

Pinned Article Add Students, TAs, or Instructors to a Canvas Course

In Canvas, instructors cannot add people to academic courses. However, instructors can add certain roles to sandbox courses. All people are managed through an integration between PeopleSoft and Canvas. New people are keyed into PeopleSoft by the relevant academic department's scheduler at the direction of the department chair. ​​​​​​​

Pinned Article Canvas Start-of-Semester Tasks

Faculty: Use this article as a helpful guide for frequently asked questions at the start of the semester

Access Past Courses in Canvas

Faculty and students may find themselves needing to access course materials, submissions, or records from a previous term in Canvas. Courses from previous terms are not immediately visible on the Canvas dashboard due to the platform's design, which prioritizes current and upcoming courses for a more organized user experience. Courses in previous terms can be found in your past enrollments.

Canvas Communication Tools

Canvas offers many great communication options. Use this guide to understand the communication tools available to you.

Canvas End-of-Semester Tasks

Faculty: Use this article as a helpful guide for frequently asked questions at the end of the semester

Canvas Sample Courses

Looking at examples of real course sites can be inspiring and helpful. The following are actual course sites created by Chico State instructors who have generously shared their content.

Clean Your Canvas Course with TidyUP

TidyUP is a Canvas tool that allows instructors to clean up their courses by identifying and removing unused files, empty folders, and outdated content. Using TidyUP helps improve course organization, performance, and accessibility.

Copy a Canvas Course

This is an article which explains how to copy course content in Canvas.

Create Sandbox Courses in Canvas

Faculty can create sandboxes in Canvas to prepare content, experiment with Canvas features, or collaborate with colleagues. Sandboxes are courses that will never receive student enrollments.

Customize Your Canvas Dashboard

This is an article informing users how to display courses on their Canvas dashboard.

Duration of Canvas Access

Students at Chico State typically have access to Canvas for a period of 24 months after separating from the university.

Rename Your Canvas Course

At Chico State, instructors cannot change the name of their Canvas course directly. However, you can set a nickname for your course to easily identify it in the Canvas dashboard. The nickname is only visible to you and doesn't affect the course name for other users.

Review the Ally Course Accessibility Report in Canvas

This article guides instructors through accessing and interpreting the Ally Course Accessibility Report in Canvas, highlighting the importance of understanding and improving course material accessibility.

Unable to Unpublish Canvas Course

Instructors cannot unpublish a Canvas course after grades have been entered, aligning with Canvas's philosophical stance to ensure student access to educational records. This situation commonly occurs when courses are briefly published for administrative purposes.