Canvas and Banner (Ellucian Company L.P.)
Student, instructor, and course information in Canvas is passed from Banner (Ellucian Company L.P.) into Canvas via a nightly batch process. The registrar maintains Banner information.
Guidelines and Important Notes
Roll-over:
Course data rolls over automatically from one semester to the next within the same term (e.g., Fall to Fall, Spring to Spring). Data does not transfer between different terms (e.g., Fall to Spring). To ensure accurate data flow, be sure to plan Banner updates according to the specific term.
Cancelled classes:
Course cancellations do not automatically update in Canvas. Once a course is imported from Banner, it must be manually removed if canceled.
Course activation:
One of the most common user support calls received at the beginning of any semester is from students who don’t see a particular class on their list. The instructor must publish the course in Canvas in order for anyone else to see it.
See a tutorial on how to make a course visible in Canvas: How to Publish a Course
Instructor of Record:
Instructors who don’t see their courses in Canvas should verify their "Instructor of Record" status in Banner with their department. Only those listed as an Instructor of Record in Banner are automatically enrolled in Canvas courses.
Lab and clinical instructors listed in Banner are also enrolled in Canvas. Instructors can:
- Ignore these courses by leaving them unpublished.
- Request to merge lab/clinical sections with lecture sections.
- Publish the course to make it visible to students.
Reminder: There can be multiple instructors assigned as "Instructor of Record" in Banner.
Read more info about Terms, Start and End Dates, and Instructors of Record: Terms, Start and End Dates
Merging:
Many faculty choose to merge separate sections of the same course in Canvas. It is necessary for an instructor or a program to identify sections to merge each semester. This merge information should be communicated to MSU's Helpdesk staff by sending an email to canvas@montana.edu with the Course Rubric, Number, Title and Sections to be merged.
When to merge:
The best time to request a merge is before setting up course content and before students are given course access. Merging after students begin work (quizzes, discussions, assignments) will result in lost student data.