Key Resources for Canvas LMS Administrators

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As a former LMS administrator, I understand the effort it takes to manage an organization’s learning management system. I also recognize that admins at different organizations have different responsibilities. Admins at smaller orgs might wear all the proverbial hats - enrollment manager, security specialist, SME, support specialist, designer, data analyst - while at other orgs, there may be a complex network of specialists handling bespoke tasks and workflows. 

Adopting a new LMS brings both opportunities and challenges. The LMS project enables the orgs to reevaluate past decisions and existing workflows, taking into account the features and tools of a new LMS. At the same time, some processes may be restrictive or inflexible and so the LMS needs to bend to those rules.

Best Practices for Canvas Admins

Use SIS IDs

Over the last few months, I have had the privilege to work with several long time Canvas admins and program directors to reevaluate their processes and workflows and optimize their Canvas LMS considering the latest features and functionality that's been introduced since they initially adopted Canvas. I realized that many of the tasks they were doing 3, 4 or 5 years after adoption would be helpful for new Canvas admins to be aware of so they can plan accordingly.

For example, after a period of time - perhaps quarterly or annually, depending on the volume and schedule of courses and enrollments your org manages - an admin will want to make changes quickly and efficiently. This can be done by applying an SIS ID to an object when it is created. The SIS ID is a unique identifier for an object and can be used with a CSV import or the Canvas API to make changes in bulk, and even automate processes. 

 You can add a SIS ID when creating a new user via the user interface (UI) (above), or via CSV import (below). 

Best practice: When creating objects in Canvas, apply an SIS_ID to each object so that making changes in bulk is quick and easy. An object may be a User, a Course, a Section, a Term or a Subaccount. 

Establish Workflows

As an LMS administrator, there are decisions to be made about how you will manage users, courses and enrollments. It is helpful to establish clear workflows and revisit them from time to time to ensure LMS administration is effective in your programs. When there are multiple admins, it is important to ensure everyone understands the rationale for the processes and workflows you establish; having everyone working together ensures LMS data is accurate, up to date and useful for your organization. 

Some key variables include but not limited to:

• Enrollment model: Cohort (everyone starts at the same time) or rolling (users starting/stopping individually on different days/weeks/months)
• Enrollment method:  Are users enrolled from a master list or self-enrolled? How are enrollments processed? 
• Time to complete or access period: How much time would a learner typically need to spend in the course to complete it? How long are they allowed access?
• Reporting: What types of learner data do you want to assess or report on? 
• Content revision: How often is content updated or the course design modified? 

Enrollment Management

If there was one piece of advice I could give to any organization’s LMS Admin, it would be this: sketch out a plan for enrollment management. 

Depending on the delivery method for your courses and programs (self-paced, open enrollment; cohort-based, instructor-led) and the duration of a course or program (how long users will be active) your enrollment management strategy will differ. You might even have more than one strategy because you offer many different programs or because you serve different partners or member organizations.

Depending on your data needs, you may wish to compare cohorts or enrollment periods year over year. Or you might need to provide detailed reports and data summaries to stakeholders. You want to be able to segment users, courses and enrollments over time. To do this efficiently, it is a best practice to architect the LMS to provide the framework for good reporting. This also allows you to manage user access and course availability.

For example, your program might run on a 12-month schedule and your organization wants to limit user access on that 12-month schedule (this is common in subscription-based learning programs). Some member or partner orgs in your network may renew from one year to the next - and those that do might have the same learner users or different learner users. 

During the auditing period or end of year activities, consider the goals for user access and enrollment management:

• If the goal is to allow users to login and view past courses, leave the USER as ACTIVE but change ENROLLMENTS to CONCLUDED.
• If the goal is to prohibit users from logging in, change the USER to SUSPENDED and CONCLUDE their ENROLLMENTS.
• If the goal is to purge both users and their data, then change the USER status to DELETED. 

Conclusion

In summary, preparation is key to ongoing LMS administration. Discover what the organizations’ end goals and business needs are for the LMS-based programs. Architect the LMS to your best advantage for administering the users, courses and enrollments. Become familiar with the tools and features Canvas offers to help you manage the data and user access. 

Further reading

• How do term dates, course dates, and section dates work in Canvas? Canvas includes tools to help manage user access to enrolled courses. Without course or term dates, enrollments may never end! Learn what options are available and think about how you want to manage your enrolled user access. 
• What are SIS Imports? SIS means “student information system” and may be a dedicated SIS platform, or an HRIS or CRM, or maybe just a series of spreadsheets that you store on a cloud drive. It is wherever you keep lists of courses, users and program details that pertain to how, where and when learning happens and for whom. 
• How do I format CSV text files for uploading SIS data into a Canvas account? Follow the instructions, noting which fields are required -- and check out the free file examples (csv)! 
• Canvas SIS Import Relationship Diagram Understand how data objects relate to one another in your system architecture.
• Canvas Administrator Guides All new and existing Admins should have this collection of tutorials bookmarked for easy reference.  

Please reach out to your CSM or Account Manager for further guidance when needed!