End-of-Term Course Access Guide

Overview

This page outlines important information about Canvas course access, archiving, and deletion at the end of each term or part of term. It includes key timelines for when student and faculty access changes, explains the course archiving and long-term deletion process, and provides guidance for handling Incomplete grades within Canvas. Faculty should review this information carefully to ensure they are aware of what actions can and cannot be taken once a term concludes. If you have questions about post-term access, archiving, or special circumstances, please reach out to Online@JSU at online@jsu.edu.

Students lose access to courses three days after final exams end, at 11:59 PM.
Example: For Fall 2025, student access ends on December 12 at 11:59 PM.

Faculty access becomes read-only at 11:59 PM on the day grades are due in Banner. You can still view content, grades, and submissions, and copy course materials into future courses—but you will no longer be able to make edits.
Example: For Fall 2025, grades are due at Noon on December 12, so edit access ends that same day at 11:59 PM.

  • Note on Parts of Term: If you're teaching a part-of-term course (e.g., Fall A), your access will follow the full term’s timeline—not the part-of-term.
    Example: Fall A 2025 grades are due October 10, but read-only access begins December 12 at 11:59 PM, along with the full term.

About one week after grades are due, courses are moved into an Archive subaccount in Canvas. This doesn’t affect your ability to access or copy course materials.
Archived courses can still be viewed and imported into future courses.

Courses are deleted from Canvas at least 7 years after the term ends.
Example: Fall 2025 courses (including all parts of term) will be deleted in January 2033.

If a student needs additional time to complete coursework due to an Incomplete grade, faculty can request limited course access using the steps below:

  1. Submit the Request Form
    The instructor completes the Request Incomplete Grade Section Enrollment Form, which is automatically routed to Online@JSU.

  2. Section Setup by Online@JSU
    A special section is added to the original course. Both the instructor and the student are enrolled in this section, with an end date set for the end of the next major term (or earlier if specified).

  3. Access and Permissions
    Only the student with the Incomplete will have access to participate in this special section. The instructor can update content, adjust settings, and enter grades—but only as needed to support that specific student's completion of the coursework.

Note: Instructors should avoid making global changes to the course that affect other students. All edits should be specific to the Incomplete student’s needs.

"Restrict students from viewing course after the course end date"
This setting should remain enabled unless a specific exception is needed.

If you have questions or need to grant read-only post-term access to a student, please contact online@jsu.edu.