For Students
Why isn’t my course showing up on Canvas?
Not all instructors use Canvas. If you do not see your course, verify with your instructor that the course is on Canvas and that it is open to students (i.e. published).
Students cannot see a course if the instructor has not published it, or if it’s before (or after) the start and end dates respectively. By default, the course start date in Canvas is two days before the start of a term and the course end date is set three weeks after finals.
I dropped a course, but I still see it in Canvas.
There is a 24-hour delay before drops are processed in Canvas. This is an intentional “safety window” to ensure your course access isn’t interrupted by an accidental drop.
If the course you dropped doesn’t disappear after 24 hours, the Instructor has likely given you special access (as an auditor or TA, for example). You will need to contact them and ask to be removed from the Canvas roster.
For Instructors
Why isn’t my course on Canvas?
Most official Canvas courses are created automatically. Learn more about automatic course creation in Canvas.
If your academic course isn’t in Canvas, please visit our Canvas - Request a Course page to learn how to create your course today.
Why can’t my students see my Canvas course?
If you can see your Canvas course but your students can’t, first check to see if the course has been published (see How do I publish my course?).
Next, double check your course’s start and end dates (see How do I change the start and end dates for a course?). By default, the start date is set to two days before the first day of classes, and the end date is three weeks after finals.
How do I add a TA or other user to my course?
You can add teachers or TA's to your course at any time. Visit How do I add users to a course? to learn how. Student enrollments are automatically kept up-to-date in Canvas based on course enrollment data.
How do I combine the different classes/sections I’m teaching into a single Canvas course space?
When a course is automatically created or when creating a Canvas course through the Faculty Toolkit in MyCUInfo, lecture sections that are combined in the course catalog will automatically be combined in Canvas. If you want to add additional courses, recitations, or labs to the Canvas course space you’ve created, please see our tutorial on requesting course changes. If you don't see your course in Canvas yet, see our Create a Course tutorial.
If you already created all your courses separately in Canvas and want to combine them, that’s okay: see our tutorial on requesting course changes and just let us know what you need in your notes. Please be aware, though, that once students begin to submit assignments, take quizzes, post in discussions, and receive grades, it becomes difficult to combine Canvas sections that were created separately.
For Teaching Assistants
Why isn’t my course showing up on Canvas?
First verify with the instructor that the course is in Canvas. Next, verify that your Instructor has enrolled you in the Canvas course. If you’re listed on the official course roster in MyCUInfo, you will automatically be enrolled in the course. If not, your Instructor will need to manually add you to the Canvas course by following these steps: How do I add users to a course?
I can’t see my students in the Classlist / Grades / Dropbox / Discussions tool.
In addition to being enrolled in the Canvas course, TAs must also be enrolled in the specific section(s) they’re responsible for in order to see and interact with students in that section. Ask your Instructor to double-check that you are enrolled in the correct section(s) by following these steps: How do I edit sections for an enrollment in a course?
