Faculty Semester Startup Checklist

Instructors should review the following procedures every semester.

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Copy previous semester's course into live course containing enrollments

If this is the first time you are teaching a course or if the course was recently redesigned, request a master course.

Import an Entire Course

You can copy course content such as assignments, modules, pages, and discussions from previous Canvas courses into existing courses.

You only have access to copy content from current or previous courses in which you are an enrolled user.

View a guide on how to import an entire course or specific content into your upcoming course. Please adjust the due dates and check all links.

The import may also display errors as part of the import status. Learn more about course import statuses.

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Import Question Banks

You can easily share Question Bank questions among several Canvas courses.

View a guide on how to import the Question Banks.

Note: If you import only selected content, make sure you import the Question Banks and Rubrics category, or they will not be attached to the quiz or assignment after they are imported.

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Ensure your course copied correctly

Use the Validate Links tool to check an entire course for broken links.

As an instructor, you can verify all external links throughout your course to ensure they are valid. You can check these links using the course link validator, which searches through course content and returns invalid or unresponsive external links in both published and unpublished material. However, please note that some links flagged as unresponsive are inaccessible by Canvas servers and will still work for students.

The link validator also includes deleted links. Deleted links are links that are still in the course, but their linked content has been removed (such as a course file or page).

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Update course content

Homepage

• Update textbook information, including ISBN.
• If you do not have a current course banner or would like to create a new one, please submit an Instructional Design Support Request.
• Update term, email address, office hours, and other instructor information.

Syllabus

Follow this guide to ensure your syllabus is submitted for Approval in Simple Syllabus.

Remember, Simple Syllabus will send a copy of your syllabus to the required parties when you submit it!

Files

• Organize files and remove old data.
• Lock files and folders you do not want students to see. Be careful NOT to lock images, or they will not display.
• Create Group Assignments in your class if you would like.
• Add Peer-reviewed Assignments and Peer-reviewed Discussions if you are interested.
• Record and post a Welcome Video

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Send a Welcome Email to Students

Once the term has started, send a Welcome Email to all your students from your FSW email address. Email by inputting the course CRN then typing @bucs.fsw.edu directly after the number.

For example, if your name is John Doe and the CRN of your class is 10101, you would send an email from john.doe@fsw.edu to 10101@bucs.fsw.edu. You will receive a copy of the message if it is successful. Your username@fsw.edu email address must be set up to use this function.

For other options to share information with your students, please read the How to: Share Important Information with Students before the first day of classes article.

You can synchronize your various email accounts.

Set your Canvas notifications preferences to receive notifications of inbox messages to any email you choose.

If you haven't done so already, set up your FSW Outlook account on your phone.

Follow these basic steps to synchronize your Canvas and Outlook accounts so you can reply to students from either account, and the replies will register in Canvas and Outlook.

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