Getting Started for Faculty

Welcome to Canvas at Baylor University! Whether you're new to Baylor or just new to Canvas, this guide will help you get started building, customizing, and teaching your courses with confidence.

Canvas is Baylor’s official learning management system (LMS), developed and supported by Instructure, Inc. It includes all the standard LMS features—such as assignments, discussions, announcements, quizzes, the syllabus tool, and gradebook—while also offering enhanced tools for communication, collaboration, and assessment.

Notable features include integration with Kaltura for multimedia recording, outcomes and rubrics for transparent grading, detailed course analytics, and integration with real-time web conferencing tools like Zoom. Canvas is also tightly integrated with many Baylor-supported learning technologies and is used in nearly every course across campus.

Getting Started as a Teacher

These are the essential first steps to help you get oriented in Canvas and begin working with your course content and settings. This section is designed for instructors who are new to Canvas or just getting started at Baylor.

Log in to Canvas
Visit canvas.baylor.edu and log in with your existing Bear ID and password. Your Bear ID is your key to technology resources across the university, including Canvas.
You will use the Bear ID Management System to set your password for the first time and to reset your password when necessary. If you have questions or need additional assistance activating your Bear ID, please contact the Baylor ITS Help Desk rather than Canvas Support.
How do I managed my Bear ID?
Update Your Profile & Notifications
Click Account > Profile to personalize your account, and Account > Notifications to adjust how and when you receive alerts.
How do I edit my profile?
How do I set my notification preferences?
Access Your Courses
Your official Canvas course shells are created automatically once you’re listed as the instructor of record in Banner. These typically appear on your Canvas Dashboard several months before the term begins after the instructor assignments are finalized. As a general timeline, future semester courses are typically loaded during the first full week of early registration. Spring courses are usually loaded in early-November, while Summer and Fall courses are typically loaded in mid-April.
Course names in Canvas begin with a six-digit term code that identifies the academic year and term. The first four digits represent the year, and the last two represent the term: 10 (Spring), 20 (Summer), and 30 (Fall). Trimester courses use 13, 23, or 33 for Spring, Summer, and Fall trimesters, respectively. For example, a course beginning with 202530 would be a Fall 2025 course.
If you don’t see a course you expect to teach, first check the Baylor Schedule of Classes to confirm you're listed as the instructor of record. If you're not listed, reach out to your department to request any necessary updates or corrections.
How do I use the Courses list as an instructor?
View Student Enrollments
Students are automatically enrolled in your Canvas course based on their official registration in Banner. You can view and manage participants using the People tool in your course. TAs or co-instructors not listed in Banner can be added manually.
How do I manage people in a course?
Explore Canvas Navigation
Get familiar with the Dashboard and the course navigation menu.
How do I use the Dashboard as an instructor?
How do I manage Course Navigation links?

Building Your Course

Now that you're set up and familiar with the Canvas interface, it's time to begin building your course. This section walks you through organizing materials, adding assignments, and setting up the key components that will support your students throughout the term.

Create a Home Page
Build a welcoming landing page that includes your photo, contact info, course overview, and navigation instructions. Once created, you can set it as the Front Page and make it the course Home.
How do I create a new page in a course?
How do I set a Front Page in a course?
Organize with Modules
Modules let you structure your course content by week, topic, or unit. Each module can include pages, files, assignments, quizzes, and more.
How do I add a module?
How do I add course content to a module?
Upload and Link Files
Upload PDFs, slides, and readings under the Files area, then link them into Pages or Modules so students can easily access them.
How do I upload a file to a course?
How do I link to a file in a course?
Storing and Sharing Large Files
Canvas has a 500MB storage limit for each course, which makes it best suited for basic documents like PDFs, slides, and readings. For larger files—especially videos—Baylor provides other tools that integrate smoothly with Canvas.
- Use Kaltura for Videos
  Kaltura is Baylor’s supported media platform for storing and sharing audio and video content. You can upload lecture recordings, narrated presentations, or screencasts to Kaltura through My Media and embed them directly in Pages, Assignments, or Discussions.
  Learn more about Kaltura at Baylor
- Use Box for Large Files and Shared Documents
  Box is ideal for storing and linking large documents, presentations, or other instructional materials that exceed Canvas storage limits. You can link directly to Box files from within Canvas for easy student access.
  Learn more about Box at Baylor
Build Assignments and Quizzes
Set up Assignments to collect student work and create Quizzes for assessments or surveys. You can use Classic Quizzes or the newer New Quizzes tool depending on your preference.
How do I create an assignment?
How do I create a quiz using New Quizzes?
How do I create a quiz using Classic Quizzes?
Classic vs New Quizzes Feature Comparison
Post the Syllabus
Upload your syllabus as a file, or create a live syllabus page using the Canvas Syllabus tool. Either way, your students will know where to find it.
How do I edit the Syllabus in a course?

Finalizing Your Course

Canvas Overview Video

Additional Resources

Getting Support