WSU Canvas Catalog Use Guidelines

Weber State University - Canvas Catalog Scope

Canvas Catalog by Instructure is a platform designed for non-credit courses, student training, community education, and other self-enrollment opportunities at WSU. It is intended for use by departments, organizations, and instructors offering courses outside the traditional academic curriculum.

Course enrollments in Catalog are managed independently, providing flexibility in enrollment periods and participant access, including both WSU and non-WSU users. This system is distinct from the Academic Canvas instance, which is reserved for CRN-based, credit-bearing courses.

Acceptable Use of Canvas Catalog 

Academic Courses 

• Weber Catalog courses are specifically intended for self-enrollment in non-credit courses, student training, community education, and other non-Banner activities. All CRN-based academic courses must be hosted in WSU's academic instance of Canvas, for more information view our Canvas Use Guidelines.

Canvas Bulletins, Calendars, and Announcements 

• Global system announcements and calendar events are restricted to issues related to the Canvas LMS, its integrations, and emergencies that affect student, faculty, or staff wellbeing. We pride ourselves on providing an ad-free experience so students can access their course content without interference.
• Global announcements and calendar events are restricted in length to 3-4 sentences and may include links to additional resources.
• All announcements must be approved by the LMS administrators to ensure content is relevant, appropriate, and aligned with WSU policies.
• Announcements and events must only contain text and screenshots (no banners, images, gifs, etc.). Text may be stylized (bolded, italicized, etc.) but the universal font in Canvas is required.

Catalog Course Storage

• Each course in the Canvas Catalog instance is allocated 1 GB of storage. Quotas apply to course content and development files, but Assignment submissions do not count against this quota.
• Archived courses are stored in a read-only mode to help stay within storage quotas. For ongoing course management, use an external file storage system like Google Drive, Box, or OneDrive to host large files, and link to them directly in your Canvas course.
• The integrated Media tool in Canvas supports files up to 500 MB. Bulk uploads are limited to 50 files at a time. Refer to the Canvas File Quotas Guide for more details.
• Course export packages must be smaller than the storage quota of 1 GB to be successfully imported.
• Instructors are encouraged to monitor their Course Settings regularly and to clean up unnecessary files, discussions, and media at the end of each term.

Data Requests

The data housed within the LMS is owned by the users who interact with the system.

• Users with protected data include students, faculty, and administration.
• The data housed within the Canvas LMS is subject to privacy laws such as FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act). Sensitive student and faculty data must be handled carefully in accordance with university policies.
• Accessing sensitive data requires several levels of approval. Any requests for LMS data should be submitted through the appropriate channels, such as the Office of Student Success Analytics or Chief Data Officer, in compliance with university policies and privacy regulations, including FERPA.

Non-Credit Courses

Non-credit courses are courses that do not offer academic credit but are used for training, continuing education, or personal development.

• Non-credit academic courses that do not need Banner CRNs can be requested through the Canvas Course Request form.
• Non-credit courses are typically hosted in the Canvas Catalog instance. Courses requiring Banner CRNs for tracking purposes must be requested through the Division of Online & Continuing Education and will be hosted in WSU’s academic Canvas instance.

Sandbox Courses

Sandbox courses are non-enrollment courses used for testing, content development, or trying out new features in Canvas.

• Sandbox courses are intended solely for testing, course content development, and template creation. These sandboxes are housed in the academic instance of Canvas and are not designed for live course delivery or pilot programs with student enrollment.
• Sandboxes are generally not needed in Canvas Catalog because course development can occur directly within the instance without impacting live course listings. Template or development courses can be provided upon request for specific needs. Course listings in Canvas Catalog should only be published when the course is fully developed and ready for use.

User Accounts in Canvas Catalog

• Canvas Catalog supports both WSU and non-WSU users. Non-WSU users will be granted access to the system for the duration of their course enrollment. All users must adhere to WSU's naming and profile policies to maintain a professional and appropriate environment.
  • Nicknames are not allowed -- your name will appear on certificates and WSU cannot verify completion if your name does not match your record.
  • Please choose an appropriate profile picture to represent yourself. WSU reserves the right to remove pictures that are not appropriate for a classroom setting.
• Active Faculty accounts are marked as Instructors and student accounts are marked as Learners in the Canvas account permissions. A student account should not be granted Instructor permissions in any course unless they are assigned to teach a course.
• Each user account is given 50 MB of personal storage for profile pictures and discussion content. Assignment submissions and course content do not count against this quota.

Common requests that are NOT within the scope of Canvas Catalog

Academic Program Information

Program information, including resources, tracks, requirements, events, and announcements, should be listed on a University-managed website.

Advertising / Marketing 

WSU's instances of the Canvas LMS are not set up for marketing products or services. Instructors and program coordinators may use course announcements to share course-related events with their students.

Faculty / Staff Training and Development

As of 12/11/2020, Human Resources and IT adopted a faculty and staff training platform named Bridge. New faculty and staff training workshops will no longer be hosted in Canvas. 

Record Keeping

Past courses are stored in Canvas in a read-only state for future reference. However, data storage limits may affect how long courses remain available. Instructors are strongly encouraged to back up course data regularly, long-term archival of important files should be done using cloud storage solutions like Google Drive or Box.

Student Clubs and Academic Groups

Catalog courses cannot be used by student-run clubs, academic groups, or similar extracurricular activities. These types of groups are better supported through tools specifically designed for collaboration and community engagement.

User-Generated Tokens

User-generated tokens for API access are no longer permitted for integrating third-party tools or services with Canvas and Canvas Catalog.