Semester/Term Start Up Checklist

The official first day of class at CBU is now a Monday (or Tuesday, if that Monday is a holiday). On that first official day of the term, CBU auto-publishes every course shell for the semester, so students can see all of their courses on their Canvas Dashboard. Even if you're not scheduled to meet until Thursday, your Canvas course should be ready for publication on the first official day of the semester. This is especially important for online courses, because students do not have a physical classroom to enter. If you're not ready to release your main course content on that first Monday, at minimum, your Executive Pages should be ready for students (Home Page, Syllabus, About your Instructor & Course Overview). 

See CBU Online Course Minimum Standards. 

If you have content you don't want students to see yet, keep those modules unpublished until you are ready.  Go to this Canvas How-To to see how to publish/unpublish course content.

If you need to import a Canvas course into its new semester shell, click here for the Canvas How-To to guide you. If you run into any problems while importing, contact us at CDI@cbu.edu or (901) 321-4004.  Click here for on-demand and/or live CDI webinars to help you through the import process.  

• Canvas has a feature in “Assignments” that allows for a batch edit of dates, allowing you to select all assignments and then bump them all up a set number of days. Click here to learn how.  

• All Canvas assignments in CBU online courses should have due dates listed in Canvas. Students receive reminders on their Canvas Dashboard and Canvas Calendar about upcoming assignments, if you've created Assignments and Due Dates in Canvas. 

• Make sure you have no assignments or test deadlines falling on official CBU holidays. Online students need breaks, too! Here is the CBU Academic Calendar. 

For in-person courses, both the course Home page and Syllabus page must be complete. 

For hybrid and online courses, the Home and Syllabus pages must be complete, and the first module of the course should be published. The linked guides below will provide you with an illustrated explanation about how to check your hybrid or online course for student readiness.

• for courses that have been imported from a previous semester

• for newly created courses in Canvas

Click CBU Hybrid/Online Standards to see more complete list of expectations for all hybrid and online courses.

If you need two separate courses crosslisted into one course load or multiple course sections combined under one Canvas Common Shell, please contact us as soon as possible. Once students start entering, performing either of these functions can cause problems with your course.  Contact: CDI@cbu.edu (901) 321-4004.  

The week before class, it's a good idea to send your students a "Welcome Email." This helps prepare them for learning, get to know you and remind them about any textbooks or additional resources they'll need. Here's an example Welcome Email.  This quick guide will show you how to create a classroom email list. 

If you plan on using synchronous lectures or class time via Microsoft Teams, here are some considerations to keep your synchronous time student-centered.  

Provide your students with this guide to join Teams meetings in Canvas. This guide is also located in the Student Resource section located at the top of every Canvas course template. 

Consider adding language similar to this in your course and/or syllabus to provide students with more information about how to use Follett All-Access for their course materials: