Course shells for the Fall 2026 semester are officially available in Canvas for all instructors. As you prepare for the upcoming term, remember that students won\u2019t see your course until you choose to publish it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Publishing your course makes it visible on students\u2019 Canvas dashboards and opens the door for them to access your materials. If you need a quick refresher, you can review step\u2011by\u2011step guidance on how to publish or unpublish a Canvas course<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re working through your end\u2011of\u2011semester checklist and could use a little support, we\u2019ve got you covered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For a quick overview of available resources for both Canvas and Kaltura, head over to the Help & Resources<\/strong><\/a> tab on the Learning Systems website<\/strong><\/a>. It\u2019s a great starting point for guides, troubleshooting tips, and ways to get assistance as you close out the term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Final grades are due by noon on May 12, 2025<\/strong>, via Faculty eServices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you use Canvas to store and calculate your course grades, you\u2019ll see an option in your course navigation (Ellucian Grade Passback 1.3<\/strong>) that allows you to send those grades directly to Banner once they\u2019re finalized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For instructors teaching cross\u2011listed courses, grades can be submitted from the merged Canvas roster, eliminating the need to enter grades separately in eServices for each individual section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Please note that only the instructor of record<\/strong>, as listed in Banner, is able to submit grades through this tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After you\u2019ve pushed your final grades from Canvas, we recommend taking a moment to confirm that everything transferred correctly into eServices. Verifying your grade submission helps ensure that all student records are accurate and complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For general information about grade entry and available support, visit the Banner Grade Entry<\/strong><\/a> page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For more information, please see: go.vcu.edu\/canvas-ilp<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last day for grades of incomplete to be converted from spring semester or summer sessions is December 7, 2026. See the Academic Calendar<\/strong><\/a> for details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have students finishing the course with an Incomplete, there are a few required steps you\u2019ll need to complete before the term concludes on May 31, 2026<\/strong>. After that date, the course will move into Read\u2011Only mode, and you won\u2019t be able to make changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For step-by-step instructions, visit the Managing Students with an Incompletes Status<\/strong><\/a> page or contact lsrequest@vcu.edu<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Starting June 1, 2026<\/strong>, the university will transition away from LTI 1.1 integrations. Please review the following changes to ensure your future course materials remain accessible and compliant:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Key Changes & Deadlines:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Resources for Faculty:<\/strong> To see a list of tools currently available, view the status of in-progress requests, or start a new request for a vendor, please visit our dedicated resource pages:<\/p>\n\n\n\n VCU remains committed to providing an inclusive digital learning environment that meets the needs of all students. To support this mission, we have curated a suite of resources and tools within Canvas designed to streamline the creation of accessible course content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For personalized assistance or to learn more about creating accessible materials, please visit the VCU Digital Accessibility<\/strong><\/a> site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Effective April 1, 2026<\/strong>, the university began the annual records retention process for legacy course data. To comply with the Library of Virginia\u2019s records destruction policies, academic <\/strong>courses that concluded prior to June 30, 2021<\/strong>, have been identified for permanent deletion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What you need to know:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When creating course shells you should use the export<\/strong><\/a> and import<\/strong><\/a> workflow for moving course information from old courses into new shells. You can use our non-academic course creation tool <\/strong><\/a>to make a primary template to store course exports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Upcoming Opportunities<\/strong> – For upcoming training, you can register at www.training.vcu.edu<\/strong><\/a> (Keyword:<\/strong> Canvas, Kaltura, or Mobius)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Faculty who would like individual or group\/departmental training can request a session anytime by selecting the \u201c<\/strong>Request Training<\/strong><\/a>\u201d<\/strong> button on the Learning Systems website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These sessions are designed for instructors who want to learn how to use the instructional tools supported by Learning Systems, including Canvas and Kaltura.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We hope you had a chance to take part in this spring\u2019s training opportunities. If you weren\u2019t able to attend, you can still explore the recorded sessions<\/strong><\/a>; most of which were led by Learning Systems\u2019 Support Lead, Jon Reed, in collaboration with the LEDstudios instructional design team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can also visit the Learning Systems Academy<\/strong><\/a> to browse a library of short, on\u2011demand videos covering everything from getting started in Canvas to using Kaltura effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To stay current on IT systems and service outages, you can subscribe to updates on the IT Status<\/strong><\/a> page (click \u201cSubscribe to updates\u201d<\/strong> in the top right corner).<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you run into any issues with subscribing or have questions, email itstatushelp@vcu.edu<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong> The IT Service Management Office is available to provide assistance and support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Academic Technologies regularly shares updates about the support services we offer, and we encourage you to stay connected by subscribing to our blogs. You can subscribe to all of them or simply choose the ones most relevant to your work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you visit each blog, look for the \u201cSubscribe\u201d<\/strong> section on the right side of the page. Enter your email address and click the subscribe button to receive updates directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Additionally, the Instructional Technologies Toolkit<\/a> will help you navigate to the information and resources you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your feedback is a valuable resource to our team’s continued success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019d like to provide general feedback about any of the systems we support, the training we offer, suggestions for improvement, or comments about our website, please email lsfeedback@vcu.edu<\/strong><\/a>. We appreciate hearing from you and value your input.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Have a wonderful and refreshing summer break!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Greetings VCU Faculty, We hope your Spring semester has gone well. As you wrap up your course and transition into the summer, please review the items below to help guide your end\u2011of\u2011term preparations. Fall 2026 Course Shells Available Now Course shells for the Fall 2026 semester are officially available in Canvas for all instructors. As […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":574,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[110,79,85,23,80,90,81],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-accessibility","category-canvas","category-end-of-semester","category-faculty","category-online-teaching-and-development","category-teaching-with-technology","category-workshops-and-training"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/learning-systems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/learning-systems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/learning-systems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/learning-systems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/574"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/learning-systems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/learning-systems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5750\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/learning-systems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/learning-systems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/learning-systems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":5753,"date":"2026-04-02T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/learning-systems\/?p=5753"},"modified":"2026-04-01T10:16:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T14:16:43","slug":"voicethread-training-april-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/learning-systems\/2026\/04\/02\/voicethread-training-april-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"VoiceThread Training – April 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n Join VoiceThread for their free workshops! If you are new to VoiceThread or just want some new ideas, this interactive and hands-on explorations is just what you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All sessions are led by VoiceThread\u2019s instructional designer and online educator, George Haines, who will share his expertise to help you get the most from VoiceThread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using\u00a0VoiceThread\u00a0in Canvas: Part 1- non-graded uses<\/strong> – April 7 at 1:00pm <\/strong><\/em>– Register<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is for educators who use VoiceThread in Canvas. In this hands-on workshop, you will get to practice creating the two basic non-graded links: VT Home and Individual VT. We will review examples of non-graded uses like lecture delivery, discussion boards, class introductions, syllabus review, and virtual office hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using\u00a0VoiceThread\u00a0in Canvas: Part 2- Graded Assignments and Rubrics<\/strong> – April 21 at 1:00pm<\/strong><\/em> – Register<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is for educators who use VoiceThread in Canvas. In this hands-on workshop, you will get to practice creating assignments through VoiceThread’s Assignment Builder. We will work on the new “Stacked Assignments”, along with the standard Create and Comment assignments. You will see how students submit assignments, and we will review the Instructor’s grading interface, including the new rubric interface.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Join VoiceThread for their free workshops! If you are new to VoiceThread or just want some new ideas, this interactive and hands-on explorations is just what you need. All sessions are led by VoiceThread\u2019s instructional designer and online educator, George Haines, who will share his expertise to help you get the most from VoiceThread. Using\u00a0VoiceThread\u00a0in Canvas: Part 1- non-graded […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":574,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,80,90,56,81],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faculty","category-online-teaching-and-development","category-teaching-with-technology","category-voicethread","category-workshops-and-training"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/learning-systems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/learning-systems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/learning-systems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/learning-systems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/574"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/learning-systems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/learning-systems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5753\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/learning-systems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/learning-systems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/learning-systems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":5752,"date":"2026-04-02T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/learning-systems\/?p=5752"},"modified":"2026-04-01T10:07:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T14:07:32","slug":"respondus-training-april-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/learning-systems\/2026\/04\/02\/respondus-training-april-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Respondus Training – April 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n Join these expert-led training to learn best practices and get your questions answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\nNeed a Hand Wrapping Up the Semester?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Submit Final Grades Directly into Banner<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Verify Grades After Submitting from Canvas<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Carrying Over Incompletes to the Next Semester<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Updates to Canvas 3rd-Party Tool (LTI) Integrations<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
Canvas Accessibility Resources<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
Annual Academic Records Retention Update<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
How you can Prepare & The Course Creation Tool:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Training Opportunities<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Individual or Group Faculty Training<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Training Recordings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
VCU IT Status<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Academic Technologies Support<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
Share your Feedback<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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