Course Dates in Canvas

On August 17, 2022, all courses in Canvas will begin using course dates rather than section dates to help determine when students have access to courses. For most users, this change will likely go entirely unnoticed. The default start date will remain 7-days prior to the official first day of class, and the default end date will remain 10-days after the official last day of class. Instructors in Canvas can also still adjust these dates to extend or shorten this default availability window, and courses must still be published by an instructor before students can access a course.

If you would like to change the default participation dates for your course that are set by Banner, adjusting the start and end dates for your course as an instructor is now much easier. To change these dates, simply open the Settings menu for your course to edit the Participation options on the main Course Details tab. You will no longer need to switch to the Sections tab to modify availability dates. Next to the Participation heading, make sure Course is selected in the drop-down box, and you can easily enter a new start date or end date for your course before saving your changes using the Update Course Details button at the bottom of the page.

Baylor does not set term dates, so make sure Course is selected in the box next to the Participation heading before attempting to modify the dates if you see Term there instead of Course.

In addition to being quicker and easier to modify the default dates, the other major benefit of using course dates is the ability for Canvas to automatically adjust assignment dates during future course content imports. When importing course content in future semesters, Canvas will take the new start and end dates for the course and distribute all assignments with due dates as evenly as possible across the course dates and keep them due on the same day of the week as the original course. If the imported course and the new course vary in course length, assignments will be assigned proportionally. Once the course is imported, you can easily confirm and adjust any assignment dates using the Calendar.

Additional Information:

How do I change the start and end dates for a course?
How do I bulk update due dates and availability dates?