Operating Guidelines - Course Name and Code, Section Name and Code, and SIS ID Standards

This article is a reference for staff responsible for creating courses in Canvas. Use this reference information in making decisions on where to host courses, and how to label them with appropriate information to aid in enterprise support activities administered by CETL.

Before You Begin

  • To create a course in Canvas, people must have an administrative role in their business unit, and they must also have appropriate rights in Canvas.
  • "For-Credit courses" (which includes all courses with rosters either wholly or party managed in PAWS) cannot be created using information in this article with the exception of Continuing Education For-Credit courses.
  • The term "Continuing Education" is used in multiple ways in this article. "Continuing Education" refers to the instance of Canvas. "School of Continuing Education" refers to courses offered by that school.

Canvas Course Types

Canvas is used by all academic areas of UWM, and by many administrative offices. To facilitate the many different business uses, courses are administered based on their type.

List of Course Types and Location
Type Description
SIS Courses Any course which has a roster managed at least partially in PAWS (UWM's Student Information System) is managed as an SIS course.
Sandbox Courses Sandbox courses are used by instructors to stage courses for future semesters, experiment with or modify materials, or experiment with Canvas. Sandbox course cannot have students. University administrative staff may also use Sandbox courses as repositories of information.
Blueprint Courses Blueprint courses are used to share common course materials to multiple courses on a continuous basis. 
Course Templates Course Templates are courses which are used to automatically copy course materials into new courses when they are created. Colleges, schools and departments may use Course Templates so syllabus infomration and important links into courses when they are first provisioned for an upcoming semester.
Supplemental Courses Supplemental courses contribute to the academic success of a student, but are non-credit in-nature. Instructors can add participants as Students in a supplemental course.
Continuing Education Non-Credit Courses Continuing Education Non-Credit courses are courses offered by the School of Continuing Education, and other schools/colleges where the audiences are people obtaining certificates or gaining experiences. Course of this type are usually managed by their offering university business unit in-partnership with Canvas Administrators.
Continuing Education For-Credit Courses Continuing Education For-Credit courses are intended to compliment SIS courses to facilitate offering content to non-UWM course participants, such as non-credit students from a K-12 school, or non-credit students from another country.
Continuing Education Protected Courses Continuing Education Protected Courses are intended to facilitate coursework and training for individuals where the information shared is highly sensitive in nature. Examples include training courses for professionals the discussion of criminal acts, personal experiences of abuse, and other highly private, potentially damaging information which is in-line with UWM's mission of research and community service. Courses in this space are minimally exposed to support staff and others for the protection of people in the course, and support staff.

Note: Canvas is not designed to house Private Health Information (PHI) or information which requires handling practices in-line with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). 
Training and Development Training and Development courses are used to distribute non-credit, non-academic training and development opportunities to UWM staff, students and affiliates.

Course Name and Code Standards

In-General

  • Parts of course codes should be delimited by periods. 
  • All courses should start with "UWM." and a letter which namespaces the course to a particular Canvas instance or sub-account.
List of Course Types and Their Naming Standards
Course Type Course Name Course Code Course SIS ID Notes
SIS The name is assigned to the course in the Schedule of Classes in PAWS. 
  • Single Section:
    <Subject> <Catalog>-<Section>
    • Example:
      PYSICS 120-402

  • Sections Crosslisted in the Schedule of Classes and PAWS Between Departments: <Subject 1> <Catalog 1> (<Department Section> ), <Subject 2> <Catalog 2> (Department section>) <Primary Section> <Primary Catalog>-<Primary Section> 
    • Example:
      FILMSTD 206, ARTHIST 206 (404) ARTHIST 206-404

  • Section Crosslisted in the Schedule of Classes and PAWS Between Careers: <Subject> <Catalog 1>/<Catalog 2> (<Section Numbers>) <Primary Subject> <Primary Catalog>-<Primary Section>
    • Example: 
      COMPSCI 557/557G (001) COMPSCI 557G-001

Refer to the DLE SIS ID Explained article provided by the Universities of Wisconsin Administration

 Instructors should only change the course name and code to facilitate clarity to students. Making changes makes it more difficult for support staff to assist instructors.
Sandbox
  • General: Sandbox - <Name> <Number>
    • Example: Sandbox - David Delgado 1

  • For-credit prep:
    Sandbox - <Course Name> -  <Term>
    • Example: Sandbox - Intro to English - Fall 2025

The requester of the sandbox can ask for a specific course name. Variations are acceptable based on need and the nature of request, and are generally accepted.

All Sandbox course codes start with "UWM.M." to differentiate them from other course types, and UWM courses from other universities. No exceptions are allowed.

  • General: 
    UWM.M.<Epantherid>.<Number>
    • Example:
      UWM.M.DELGADCD.10

  • For-credit-associated: 
    UWM.M.<Epantherid>.<Subject>.<Catalog>.<Term>
    • Example:
      UWM.M.SUBJ.CAT.TERM

The requester of the sandbox can ask for a specific course name. Variations are acceptable based on need and the nature of request, and are generally accepted.

 Only if needed for automation: Same as course code. The "M" in the course code is a legacy practice. Sandbox courses used to be "Master" courses.
Blueprint
  • General:
    Blueprint - <Catalog Course Name> <Term>"
    • Example:
      Blueprint - Intro to Creative Writing - 2252

All Blueprint course codes start with "UWM.B." to differentiate them from other course types, and UWM courses from other universities. No exceptions are allowed.

  • General:
    Blueprint - UWM.B.<Subject> <Catalog> <Term>
    • Example:
      UWM.B.ENGLISH.102.2252
 Only if needed for automation: Same as course code. Blueprints may only be used for courses from one term for multiple reasons. Exceptions must be approved by a UWM Institutional Canvas Administrator.
Course Template

The dollar currency ($) character is used at the start of names to make courses easier to search for by administrators, and to identify as a system-related course . No exceptions are allowed.

  • General: $<Name> Course Template
    • Example:
      $ZCPH Common Course Template

All Course Template codes start with "UWM.E." to differentiate them from other course types, and UWM courses from other universities. No exceptions are allowed.

  • General: UWM.E.<Custom>.<Term>
    • Example: 
      UWM.E.COMMON.COURSE.ZCPH.2249

Terms help administrators identify when the course was first used. Omission is allowed but discouraged due to the transitive nature of Course Templates.

 Only if needed for automation: Same as course code. None
Supplemental The name assigned is at the discretion of the requester.

All Supplemental course codes start with "UWM.S." to differentiate them from other course types, and UWM courses from other universities. No exceptions are allowed.

  • General: UWM.S.<Custom>.<Term>
    • Example:
      UWM.S.STUDENT.SEMINAR.2252

  • Associated with a For-Credit course: 
    UWM.S.<Subjecct>.<Catalog>.<Section>.<Term>
    • Example: 
      UWM.S.ENGLISH.101.002.2252

The term and Section number values are optional but encouraged to tie the supplemental course to the for-credit course as closely as possible to avoid ambiguity.

 Only if needed for automation: Same as course code. None
Continuing Education (All)
  • General:
    The name assigned is at the discretion of the requester.

  • For-Credit:
    The name is assigned to the course in the Schedule of Classes in PAWS. 

All Continuing Education course codes start with "UWM.C." to differentiate them from other course types, and UWM courses from other universities. No exceptions are allowed.

  • General:
    UWM.C.<Requested Code>.<Term
    • Example:
      UWM.C.STUDENT.EVAL.2252

  • For-Credit:
    UWM.C.<Subject>.<Catalog #>.<Section>.<Term>
    • Example:
      UWM.C.ARCH.100.202.2252

Terms are optional unless for For-Credit courses.
  • General:
    Only if needed for automation: Same as course code.
  • For-Credit:
    Same as for-credit course, prepended with "UWM.C."
 None
Training and Development The name is assigned to the course in the Schedule of Classes in PAWS. 

UWM.T<Requested Code>.<Term>

Terms are optional.

 Only if needed for automation: Same as course code. None

Section Names and SIS ID Standards

Section standards below are provided for courses with student cohorts to administer. Sandbox, Blueprints, and Course Templates can't have students, so no section guidance is provided.

List of Course Types and their Section Naming Standards
Course Type Section Name Section SIS ID
SIS
  • General:
    The name is assigned to the section in the Schedule of Classes in PAWS. 

  • Special Enrollments: 
    Special Enrollment - <Date and Time>
    • Example: 
      Special Enrollment - 2025.02.20 14:35

  • Extended Student Access:
    Extend - <Student Name>
    • Example:
      Extend - Pounce Panther
Supplemental
  • General:
    <Course Name> - Section <Number>
    • Example: Intro to Creative Writing - Section 2

  • For-Credit-associated with mirrored enrollment: 
    <Original Section Name> - (Supplemental)
    • Example:
      001-19578-Special Topics in Information Science and Technology (Supplemental)

If a section is mirrored to more than one course, add a unique value at the end of the Section Name to associate the section with the given course.
  • General:
    Only if needed for automation: Same as parent course code. Include a number at the end for multiple sections.

  • For-Credit-associated with mirrored enrollment: 
    UWM.S.<Original SIS ID>
    • Example:
      UWM.S.009390-01-2201-1-01-01618

If a section is mirrored to more than one course, add a unique value at the end of the Section SIS ID to associate the section with the given course.
Continuing Education (All)
  • General:
    <Course Name> - Section <Number>
    • Example: Intro to Creative Writing - Section 2

  • For-Credit-associated with mirrored enrollment: 
    <Original Section Name> - (CE)
    • Example:
      001-19578-Special Topics in Information (CE)
  • General:
    Only if needed for automation: Same as parent course code. Include a number at the end for multiple sections.

  • For-Credit-associated with mirrored enrollment: 
    UWM.C.<Original SIS ID>
    • Example:
      UWM.C.009390-01-2201-1-01-01618

If a section is mirrored to more than one course, add a unique value at the end of the Section SIS ID to associate the section with the given course.
Training and Development


<Course Name> - Section <Number>

 Only if needed for automation: Same as parent course code. Include a number at the end for multiple sections.


Keywords:
canvas user course creation reference name code new 
Doc ID:
88812
Owned by:
David D. in CETL
Created:
2019-01-02
Updated:
2025-02-24
Sites:
UW-Milwaukee Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning