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Canvas - How to Close a Noncredit Canvas Course [UW-Madison]

This document explains steps to properly close noncredit courses in Canvas

When your noncredit Canvas course no longer has learners working in the course, you can take the following steps to close it:

  1. Set start date and end date for the course

  2. Add EXPIRED to the course title

These steps will:

  • Ensure accuracy of data about the course and others in its sub-account

  • Allow you to identify and search for the course

  • Limit learner access to the course

Setting a Start/End Date

To set a start date and end date for the course:

  1. Within the Canvas course, click Settings at the bottom of the navigation bar.
    Canvas Sidebar is depicted, with Settings highlighted

  2. On the Course Details tab within Settings

    1. Select Ongoing in the Term field
      Image shows Term field on Settings page, with Ongoing selected

    2. Select Course in the Participation field

    3. Enter dates in both the Start and End fields
      Screenshot of course start and end dates

    4. (Optional) If appropriate, select either Restrict students from viewing course before course start date or Restrict students from viewing course after course end date - or both

    5. Scroll to the bottom of Settings and click Update Course Details to save your changes.
      Note: The Canvas roles that can set the start date and end date for a course are Sub-Account Admin, Principal Instructor, Teacher, and Designer

Editing Course Title

To add EXPIRED to course title:

  1. Within the Canvas course, click Settings at the bottom of the navigation bar.

  2. On the Course Details tab within Settings, 

    1. Enter EXPIRED in front of the existing title in the Name field

    2. Enter EXPIRED in front of the existing text in the Course Code field
      Image of example course name with Expired appended to the front

    3. Scroll to the bottom of Settings and select Update Course Details to save your changes.
      Note: The Canvas roles that can add EXPIRED to a course title are Sub-Account Admin or Learn@UW Staff

Other Options (not recommended)

Other options not generally recommended for closing a Canvas course and their considerations:

Other Options (not recommended)

Option

Result

Possible Use Case

Delete a course

Completely gets rid of the course.
Note: There is a short window of time after deletion when the course can be recovered. If this is a need for you, contact Learn@UW.

Use if there are no students in the course and you are confident you or others will not have interest in the course in the future

Conclude a course 

Course still exists but all enrollments are removed from the course and placed in prior enrollments page. Also, all user roles will be unable to access the course and its functionality.

Do not use in noncredit offerings. Might make sense with for-credit courses that have been inactive for 5 years or more.



KeywordsLearn@UW, template, non, credit, sunset, shut down, decommission, delete   Doc ID127641
OwnerLearn@UW MadisonGroupLearn@UW-Madison
Created2023-05-05 13:28:28Updated2023-12-06 09:42:50
SitesDoIT Help Desk, Learn@UW-Madison
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