[ARCHIVED] How do I set read-only access for a limited time?

[jlubkinchavez]

My institution runs a variety of programs that all use Canvas as an LMS but run on different timelines (not a semester schedule). The program leads decided they want students to retain read-only access for six months after the end of a given program. Can anyone help me out thinking through the best way to set this up? Would it work to 1. put the last day of the program as the course conclude date and 2. check the box that "Students can only participate in the course between these dates" and 3. six months after the program end go back into course settings and check the box "Restrict students from viewing this course after end date"? Is there a better or more automated way to do this? Or any implications that may not be on my radar? Thanks!

[lekern]

I wonder if you could use Terms for your programs and control access with

the Terms settings. I have experience with a Canvas instance that runs

concurrent terms that are on different schedules and we haven't seen any

issues with that.

On Mon, Jun 3, 2019 at 7:48 AM jlubkinchavez@ml4t.org <

[jlubkinchavez]

Leslie, I'm still thinking through terms--I'd love to hear more about your experience. I'm cognizant that terms will impact how I can run reports..but I haven't thought through all the implications yet. My initial thought was to set terms by program and to use the dates to restrict instructor access (while using course dates to restrict student access).

[jsavage2]

In our experience, terms are useless for even moderately complex organizations, since they can—for mysterious reasons—only exist at the root account level, not the subaccount level.

If you have even six departments, and each department has only two start and end variations, that’s 36 terms per calendar year (assuming you have a summer session). If you’re an even moderately-sized university with 7 or 8 schools, and each school has multiple departments with multiple schedules, it runs to the hundreds: 8 schools *, say, 6 departments on average * 3 schedules on average * 3 semesters = 432 Canvas terms per year.

Try navigating that pull-down menu…

[lekern]

We don't have exactly your situation - our students retain read-only access

in perpetuity (unless the instructor restricts it), so our Term file gives

them full access to the end of term, at which point they have read-only

access. Our instructors have full access for 1 year + 1 quarter. Our term

file for Spring 2019 looks like this:

Term Runs from

Jun 24 at 6am

to

Aug 31 at 6am

Students can access from

term start

to

term end

Teachers can access from

whenever

to

Sep 1, 2020 at 12am

We also participate in a Canvas instance that is shared across our state

University system, so the Term file contains both quarters and semesters

that overlap.

On Mon, Jun 3, 2019 at 8:32 AM jlubkinchavez@ml4t.org <

[jsavage2]

How did you get all (12?) of your colleges/divisions to agree on single start and end date?

Online classes start at the same time as in-person? Nobody does six- or eight-week intensives (or six *and* eight-week intensives...)? Business isn't on trimesters while everybody else is on semesters? Graduates don't start later than undergrads? Education doesn't have some crazy model school class that runs on the public high school calendar? No EMBA off in space with full-year sessions?

I am beyond jealous...

Can you loan some of your UC central office folks to a couple of private universities in NY?

[lekern]

Sorry if I wasn't clear ...

No, there is no consistency in start/end dates for terms across the system.

We do have a cross-campus instance of Canvas where multiple terms run

concurrently, and this works reasonably well, although there are some

challenges decoding which school's content is in which term in the

drop-down. I can see where too many programs would have issues with trying

to use terms.

On Mon, Jun 3, 2019 at 9:13 AM jsavage@branded-edu.com <

[jsavage2]

Hi Jennifer,

That’s essentially what we do. It works pretty well.

The other option we’ve also used is to set the course end date six months out and make sure assignments, discussion boards, and other participation items have dates attached. That has the added benefit of making it easier for faculty to accept late work if they want to, since the course is technically open.

Best,

--jay

[jlubkinchavez]

Good to know, Jay! And that's an interesting alternative to think about. I'm thinking the course settings might be easier to do because it's more in my control and it involves fewer settings, but if accepting late work becomes a complication, this is a good back-pocket potential solution.

[jlubkinchavez]

I'm curious, does anyone manage access more through student status than course dates? What's your flow?