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Canvas Support - Reference: About Course Creation, Name, and Code 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.
Who Can Create Courses?
- Instructors - Instructors can not create courses managed by PAWS. Instructors can perform some operations (cross listing, creation of sandbox courses) as self service but due to the potential risk of catastrophic data loss and training issues, instructors are strongly encouraged to submit a Special Course and Participant request.
- School and College Teaching and Learning/IT Offices - Offices may opt-in to support all or some course/participant requests in their area of responsibility. All requests should be routed through the Special Course and Participant request maintained by CETL where practical.
- UWM Help Desk - The UWM Help Desk is not tasked with creating courses of any kind. Any requests to create courses should be directed to the Special Course and Participant request.
- Canvas Tier I Support - Instructure has been directed to not create courses or accounts under any circumstances.
Types of Canvas Courses
| Type | Description | Canvas Location | How to Create |
|---|---|---|---|
| SIS | SIS courses are courses created by PAWS via the PAWS-Canvas integration. | Instructional instance, SIS Courses sub account | |
| Sandbox Courses | Sandbox courses are empty courses used by instructors to host the ongoing, evolving primary source of course development. An instructor may have one sandbox course that populates SIS courses for multiple semesters. Should an instructor leave their course to their department upon departure, the instructor would provide access to the sandbox course, rather than generations of SIS courses. Students can not be enrolled into SIS courses manually. | Instructional instance, Sandbox Courses sub account |
|
| Blueprint Course | Blueprint courses are sandbox courses that are associated with multiple SIS courses. Once information is placed in a blank course, the information may be "pushed" or "sideloaded" from the Blueprint course to the SIS courses. Students cannot be enrolled into Blueprint courses. Blueprint courses are converted from existing Sandbox Courses typically. | Instructional instance, Sandbox Courses sub account |
|
| Blank Courses | Blank courses are non-authoritative sandboxes where instructors may experiment, stage, process old course information, or test new technologies. Blank courses are ideal for staging experimental course imports and learning objects to repair or resolve issues.Students cannot be enrolled into Blueprint courses. | Instructional instance, Sandbox Courses sub account |
|
| Supplemental | 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. Supplemental course sites have the same Navigation as an SIS course and are also used to create CETL Workshop courses. | Instructional instance, Supplemental Courses sub account |
|
| Supplemental - SIS-Associated | Supplemental SIS-Associated courses are intended exclusively to facilitate adding non-credit participants to SIS courses through a special enrollment process. Participants can be added as Students in a supplemental - SIS - Associated course. | Instructional instance, Supplemental Courses sub account |
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| Continuing Education - Non-Credit | Continuing Education courses are courses offered by the School of Continuing Education, and other schools/colleges where the audiences are pre-college, post-degree or grants a certificate. | Continuing Education instance |
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| Continuing Education - For-Credit | Continuing Education - For-Credit courses are intended to compliment SIS courses to facilitate offering content to non-UWM course participants. Instructors can either re-offer an SIS course in a CE-For-Credit course, or invite all SIS students to the CE-For-Credit course for a unified cohort. | Continuing Education instance, For-Credit sub account |
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| 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 who have UWM Digital Identities. | Training and Development instance |
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Units that Administer Their Own Courses
Divisions, schools/colleges, departments, programs and other administrative units listed here administer their own courses.
| Unit | SIS | Sandbox and Blank Courses | Blueprint Courses | Supplemental | Supplemental - SIS | Continuing Education - Non-Credit | Continuing Education - For-Credit | Training and Development |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| College of General Studies2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| School of Continuing Education | NA | NA | Yes | NA | NA | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| School of Information Studies | NA | NA | Yes | Yes | NA | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Division of Academic Affairs - Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning1 | NA | Yes | Yes | NA | NA | Yes | NA | Yes |
| Division of Enrollment Management - Panther Academic Support Services | NA | NA | Yes | Yes | NA | NA | NA | Yes |
| Division of Finance and Administrative Affairs – University Safety and Assurances | NA | NA | Yes | NA | NA | NA | NA | Yes |
1 - Information describes internal course management for business activities, and does not describe enterprise support activities.
2 - Courses are managed by UW Administration.
Course Name and Code Standards
Course names are human readable and consist of letters, numbers and punctuation. Course codes consist of bits of information separated by periods.
Example:
- Name: Sandbox - Introduction to the Earth
- Code: UWM.M.EPANTHER.GEOG.100.F.2920
Courses Associated with SIS Courses
- Supplemental courses used to enroll course participants into SIS courses
- Continuing Education courses hosting non-UWM cohorts
| Field | Supplemental Courses | Continuing Education Courses |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Name of the SIS course, followed by "(Supp)". | Name of the SIS course, followed by "(ContEd For-Credit)" |
| Code | Associated courses SIS ID, followed by ".SUPP". | Associated courses SIS ID, followed by ".CONTED-FC". |
| Example | Introduction to Physics (Supp) 001003-01-2189-1-201-21232.SUPP |
Introduction to Physics (ContEd For-Credit) 001003-01-2189-1-201-21232.CONTED-FC |
Non-Credit Courses Administered by CETL for UWM
- Sandbox courses for development during an academic term
- Blank courses for testing and experimentation
- Supplemental courses hosting academically focused activities such as PASS student training
- Continuing Education, Pre and Post-Education courses administered by CETL
- Training and Development courses administered by CETL
| Field | Sandbox Courses | Blank Courses | Supplemental Courses | Continuing Education Non-Credit Courses | Training and Development Courses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | "Sandbox - " + defined by requester | "BLANK - " + defined by requester OR first and last name followed by a digit to differentiate from other courses | Defined by requester | Defined by requester | Defined by requester |
| Code | "UWM.M." + sequester's UWM username + course identifier + optional DLEREQ issue number (if available). | "UWM.B." + sequester's UWM username + course identifier + optional DLEREQ issue number (if available). | "UWM.S." + requester's UWM username + course identifier + optional DLEREQ issue number (if available). | "UWM.C." + requester's UWM username + course identifier + optional DLEREQ issue number (if available). | "UWM.T." + requester's UWM username + course identifier + optional DLEREQ issue number (if available). |
| Course Identifier | Subject in PAWS + course number (including X for FLEX courses) + type (F: face-to-face, B: blended, O: online, X: Flexible Option) + 3 alphanumeric digits picked at random | 3 alphanumeric digits picked at random | 3 alphanumeric digits picked at random | 3 alphanumeric digits picked at random | 3 alphanumeric digits picked at random |
| Example |
Sandbox - Into to Geometry |
BLANK - Jamie Lynn - 3 UWM.B.SMITHB.R3F.1450 |
PASS Student Training Workshop UWM.S.JOHNSONE.94F |
Intro to Business Planning |
Title IX Training for UWM UWM.T.EPD.9CD.2103 |
Name and Code Standards for Courses Administered by Other Offices
NOTE: while offices are welcome to amend or define standards appropriate to their needs, offices are encouraged to use service standards where practical.
| Field | SIS | Supplemental courses associated with SIS | Supplemental Non-Credit courses | Continuing Education For-Credit courses | Continuing Education Non-Credit courses | Training and Development courses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Defined by PAWS | Follow standards | Determined by office | Follow standards | Determined by office | Determined by office |
| Code | Defined by PAWS | Follow standards | "UWM.S." + admin code + determined by office | Follow standards | "UWM.C." + admin code + determined by office | "UWM.T." + admin code + determined by office |
| Example | Not applicable | Not applicable | UWM.S.EM-PASS.2192.SCI | Not applicable | UWM.C.SCE.2192.BUSADM.100 | UWM.T.FAA-SAFETY |
Admin Codes
| Unit | Code |
|---|---|
| Lubar College of Business - Executive Education | LUBAR-EXED |
| Lubar College of Business - Executive MBA | LUBAR-EMBA |
| School of Continuing Education | SCE |
| School of Education | SOE |
| School of Information Studies | SOIS |
| College of Nursing | NURS |
| Division of Academic Affairs - Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning | AA-CETL |
| Division of Enrollment Management - Panther Academic Support Services | EM-PASS |
| Division of Finance and Administrative Affairs – University Safety and Assurances | FAA-SAFETY |