Category: Canvas Instructors

Create an Assignment That is Due Before the Term Begins

May 6, 2024

Any due date used in a Canvas Assignment must fall within the dates for the term. Otherwise, students won’t be able to submit the Assignment.

However, if needed, you can create an Assignment in Canvas that is due before the official start of the term. To do this, simply leave the Due, Available from, and Until fields blank.

For a list of important term dates, please see the CIIS academic calendar.

If needed, you can create an Assignment in Canvas that is due before the official start of the term. Simply leave the Due, Available from, and Until fields blank.

  1. While you are in edit mode for the Assignment, scroll to the bottom, to the section called Assign. 
  2. Leave all of the date fields (Due, Available from, and Until) blank.
  3. Select the Save & Publish button at the bottom right.

Online Learning Resources Overview for New Faculty

May 6, 2024

Canvas is the University’s Learning Management System (LMS). Log-in with your university email address and email password here: https://ciis.instructure.com/

Find updated information and resources on Online Learning’s Knowledgebase: CIIS Knowledgebase – Online Learning Support (vclhub.com) (this website).

Access live chat support for virtual course meetings here: www.vclhub.com

Canvas Course Spaces

All academic courses (e.g., face-to-face, blended/hybrid, online) at CIIS have an associated Canvas Learning Management System (LMS) virtual, online course space.

Pandemic response virtual instruction modality format information: Virtualized and Hybrid Courses – CIIS Knowledgebase (vclhub.com)

Enrollment in a Canvas Course Space

A faculty member is enrolled in a Canvas course space(s) once they have been assigned to teach a course(s) in the student information system; a student is enrolled in a Canvas course space(s) once they have successfully registered for their first academic course(s) (no enrollment holds). Enrollment in Canvas course spaces is done by an automated process between the University’s student information system and Canvas that can take up to 24 hours from the time a faculty member is assigned to a course, or from the time a student successfully registers for their first academic course.

Canvas Course Space Access

Canvas course spaces are made accessible to students by faculty. Once made accessible, full course space functionality is available from 14 days prior to the start of a course’s term.

All Canvas course spaces conclude on the day that grades are due for a term and faculty and students maintain access to concluded Canvas course spaces indefinitely in a read-only format (refer to the CIIS academic calendar for specific term dates). The read-only format of concluded courses allows faculty and students to return to a concluded Canvas course space(s) at any time in the future from the CIIS Canvas website (ciis.instructure.com) to download course materials and past assignment submissions.

Special Circumstances (Incompletes)

Students who are granted an incomplete for a course may be provided temporary access to a Canvas course space after it has been concluded only to submit an assignment(s) through the Canvas assignment feature. Email onlinelearningsupport@ciis.edu for information after an incomplete has been granted for a course if the student needs to access Canvas to submit an assignment.

Special Access and Policy

Access to a Canvas course space(s) is guided by FERPA and policies established by the Human Resources, Provost, and Registrar’s offices. All access to Canvas course spaces outside of established policies must originate as a registration record in the University’s student information system or upon

approval of the Human Resources office. This includes any access by auditors, resident scholars, visiting scholars, teaching assistants, accessibility services staff or contractors, guest lecturers, and all other individuals not enrolled in a Canvas course space via the University’s student information system.

Privacy

The CIIS Canvas website is not public and is not in any way searchable externally. All communication (through the Canvas grade feature) between a student and a faculty member is private, as is all content of any submitted assignment (through the Canvas assignment feature).

Grades

The Canvas gradebook is an LMS feature that allows an instructor to provide feedback on an assignment(s) and for a student and instructor to privately communicate about a student’s submitted academic work in Canvas. The Canvas gradebook feature may include letter grades and a final grade for a course(s); however, a student’s official grade for any course (as it appears on the student’s official University transcript) is viewable only on the Self-Service website.

International faculty and students

The CIIS Canvas website, ciis.instructure.com, is expected to be accessible anywhere with an internet connection. If you experience an inability to connect to CIIS Canvas from outside of the United States, please email onlinelearningsupport@ciis.edu for support. For up-to-date Canvas Internet browser compatibility information, visit: What are Canvas browser and computer requirements – (canvaslms.com)

Department of Online Learning:

Tyler Daneman, Technology Coordinator, tdaneman@ciis.edu

Jessica Gunther, Virtual Course Manager / Senior Instructional Designer, jgunther@ciis.edu

Jamie Lopez, Consultant Instructional Designer, jlopez@ciis.edu

Ellen Prescott, Instructional Designer, eprescott@ciis.edu

CPTR CIIS Systems Access Information

May 6, 2024

After completing the steps below to set-up your CIIS university email address, see this knowledge base article for how to access your CPTR virtual course space in CIIS Canvas: Log-in to CIIS Canvas – CIIS Knowledgebase (vclhub.com)

Canvas direct URL: https://ciis.instructure.com/

CIIS utilizes Microsoft Azure single-sign-on for systems access.  You will be issued a university email address (@mymail.ciis.edu) as a log-in credential for this purpose .

Setting-up your university email

Prepare your Syllabus for Canvas

May 6, 2024

The Prepare your syllabus for Canvas training contains multiple videos and slides.

To advance to the next screen, select the arrow icon: Bracket pointing to the right.
To jump to a specific section, select the menu icon: 3 horizontal lines

Then choose a chapter, or type a term into the search field and select a returned result.

Select here to open the Prepare your syllabus for Canvas training in a new tab.

This training is useful for both new and returning faculty. It demonstrates looking up course dates in Self-Service so that instructors can enter them into a syllabus. It also discusses how to label your syllabus by week, handle holidays, make schedule and holiday changes, and indicate exams.

Also, it contains important information on setting up grading scenarios, naming your readings, and making changes to your course after it has been created in Canvas.

Online Courses

March 21, 2024
  • This is a course that will meet entirely in the Canvas space.
  • There will be no course webinars automatically scheduled by the Online Learning department.
  • Students will have set milestones and deadlines per your syllabus, but will complete the course work asynchronously.  Course meetings are not required but you can add optional webinars at your discretion. If you’d like us to send webinar links for you, please email onlinelearningsupport@ciis.edu the dates, times, and duration; please copy your PCPM. To prepare for a virtualized meeting, please see the section called How can I prepare for my virtualized course?
  • If you need assistance developing your Canvas course space, please email onlinelearningsupport@ciis.edu.

Rubrics Workshop with Dr. Anne Huffman

February 22, 2024

Topics covered include:

  • Matching the assessment to the assignment
  • Using VALUES rubrics or creating your own
  • How to partner with the students to build the skills needed for the assignment
  • Using Bloom’s Taxonomy in rubric building