Non-academic courses have a lifecycle allowing teachers, leaders, and administrators to manage when courses are retired or deleted. Before the end of Spring term, teachers and leaders will be prompted via email to participate in the Canvas Course Renewal process. They will have 3 weeks to decide whether their non-academic courses should be renewed, or in some cases, deleted.
Table of Contents
- Why Have a Non-Academic Course Renewal Process?
- How Does the Process Work for Teachers and Leaders?
- How Often Do Courses Need Renewal?
- Courses with Multiple Teachers or Leaders
- What if I Do Not Take Action?
- Questions and Support
Why Have a Non-Academic Course Renewal Process?
Course renewals help keep our system running smoothly with quick load times. The course renewal process empowers teachers and leaders to conclude their courses when they no longer need to have active participation. It also can help teachers and leaders save money for their departments or programs. By concluding courses with external users, we can save costs related to external users (non-JHED).
The LMS Steering Committee, formed by the Executive Vice Provost and composed of nominated faculty, students, and staff from the academic divisions and key University offices and departments, guides how to use Canvas, including approving a plan guiding course record retention.
Visit the Office of the University Registrar’s page on Canvas course archival and retention (specifically the Other Canvas Course Lifecycles section) for more information.
How Does the Process Work for Teachers and Leaders?
Once a year, teachers and leaders of non-academic course types will have the opportunity to renew or (in some cases) delete their courses. Renewing will keep the course active for the coming year (July-June). Choosing not to renew will place the course in a read-only state for students, teachers, leaders and other roles (but it can still be copied). Teachers and leaders will have 3 weeks to make their selections when the process is started.
Process Summary
- At the start of the process, all impacted teachers and leaders will receive an email to their JH email address with directions.
- They will then be able to access the My Courses page to select “renew,” “don’t renew,” or make additional choices for each of their non-academic courses.
- After making their selections for each course, they should submit their choices.
- The teachers and leaders will receive a total of 3 emails (1 per week during the process) to remind them to complete the renewal process. (If they submit their choices, they will no longer receive the subsequent emails).
- The next step in the process is that the division’s teaching and learning centers (specifically the Elevated Subaccount Admins) will review the selections.
- Then the process will close, and IT@JH will update the courses based on the selections by the teachers, leaders, and admins.
How Often Do Courses Need Renewal?
All non-academic courses need to be renewed to keep our system working smoothly and to reduce costs. The type of course determines the frequency of the renewal process.
| Course Type | Course Prefix | Renewal Schedule |
|---|---|---|
| Community* | CO | Yearly |
| Learnmore.jhu.edu (Catalog)* | LM | Yearly |
| Sandbox | SAND | 2-year |
| Stage | STAGE | 5-year |
| Blueprint | BLUPT | 5-year (unassociated) |
| Template | TMPLT | 5-year |
*All Community (CO) and learnmore.jhu.edu (LM) courses are included in each renewal cycle.
Courses with Multiple Teachers or Leaders
If a non-academic course has multiple teachers or leaders, only one needs to make a renewal selection. We recommend that teachers or leaders coordinate with their colleagues before making a selection for a shared course.
Once a selection has been made, the choice is locked, and no additional changes can be made by other teachers or leaders. Contact your division if you need a locked course’s selection changed.
What if I Do Not Take Action?
If you are a teacher or leader of a non-academic course, we encourage you to review your courses during the yearly renewal period. We have some default selections to help teachers and leaders.
For example, if a CO or LM course is less than a year old and has not been made read-only, then the default selection will be “renew.”
If you take no action during the renewal process, the course will be assigned the default choice.
| Course Prefix | Age of Course | Course’s Current State: Read-Only | Default Choice |
|---|---|---|---|
| CO or LM | Less than a year old | No | Renew |
| CO or LM | More than a year old | No | Don’t Renew (becomes read-only) |
| CO or LM | Less than a year old | Yes | Don’t Delete |
| CO or LM | More than a year old | Yes | Delete |
Questions and Support
If you have questions or feedback on the course renewal process, please contact your teaching and learning center.