Faculty/Staff - Campus Communication & Canvas

While Canvas’ purpose is instructional rather than communicative, DVC has a small number of non-instructional Canvas shells available for other interest groups to support programmatic implementation geared towards supporting students academically. Before beginning, please familiarize yourself with the primary (and suggested) communication platforms at DVC to ensure you choose the option that best meets your needs and the needs of the campus.

Note the responsibilities of Canvas instructor of record below and, if your request aligns with a Canvas course need and you agree to the instructor of record responsibilities, submit your request through the form at the bottom for consideration. A submission of this form is not an approval of use and it will be sent to the Dean of Educational Technology & Learning Resources for further deliberation. Expect feedback in no more than 2 weeks regarding your request.

Primary Platforms for Campus-wide Communication

DVC Website (most accessible - highly recommended)

Audience -- Public-facing, targeting prospective and currently enrolled students and accreditors
Purpose -- Encouraging enrollment, making pathways to completing certificates and degrees transparent and clear to currently enrolled students, sharing events with the campus community and public, documenting college programs and processes for accreditation, etc.
- Submit a Website Request Links to an external site.

DVC eConnect Student Newsletter (most accessible - highly recommended)

Audience -- Internal email to current students - also posted to website (public-facing)
Purpose -- Sharing resources and events with students to encourage retention
- Reach out to the Marketing and Communications Department Links to an external site. for more.

DVC Social Media

Audience -- Public-facing, targeting prospective and currently enrolled students
Purpose -- Encouraging enrollment, sharing resources and events with students and community, etc.
- Reach out to the Marketing and Communications Department Links to an external site. for more.

DVC Events Calendar

Audience -- Public-facing on website, targeting prospective and currently enrolled students
Purpose -- Sharing events with students to encourage retention, access to resources, etc
- Reach out to the Marketing and Communications Department Links to an external site. for more.

DVC Campus Monitors

Audience -- On-campus monitors, targeting currently enrolled students
Purpose -- Sharing events and resources with students to encourage retention, etc
- Reach out to the Marketing and Communications Department Links to an external site. for more.

DVC Sync

Audience -- Student organizations, student government, and club advisors
Purpose -- For communication and transparency with student clubs, government, and advisors
- Learn more -- Student Life Links to an external site. Manager, Todd Farr

GROW@4CD

Audience -- Employees only, requires InSite authentication (management, instructors, and staff)
Purpose -- Employee professional development system for advertising, tracking, and hosting professional development locally and across the state. GROW also has “communities” meant to facilitate discussion and materials sharing with colleagues.
- Learn more -- GROW@4CD Links to an external site. or contact Jessica Martin, PD Program Coordinator at jmartin@dvc.edu

Canvas Instructor of Record Responsibilities

If your manager has decided to proceed in requesting the use of Canvas, please review the Canvas instructor of record responsibilities below as these are your committed agreements of use:

Non-instructional Canvas shells are typically created for a one-year term and are designated with self-enrollment to be managed by one official “instructor of record.” That person needs Canvas training Links to an external site. appropriate for being responsible for:

Course design. Canvas shells take a significant amount of time to build and there should be dedicated time in this person’s schedule for completing appropriate training (Beginner’s Guide to Canvas, Becoming an Effective Online Instructor, or equivalent courses), designing the course, maintaining the accuracy of information in the course, and moderating any interactions.
Ensuring all content is fully accessible (See Online Accessibility at DVC Links to an external site. for support.) Ally is turned on in all non-instructional courses to facilitate and track accessible design.
FERPA-compliance (See the FERPA Quick Guide Links to an external site.)

Making clear to students when others in the course can see their interactions (ie on discussions) and making sure students can opt out or into these.

Managing enrollment, including

Adding any additional “teachers” (See “How to give access to a Canvas shell. Links to an external site.”)
Managing self-enrollment links (Emailing link to appropriate students, checking rosters, etc.) Please do not manually add students as anything other than students. The ability to opt-out or opt-in through self-enrollment is an important element of FERPA compliance.
Closing courses at the end of each year and requesting a new course shell to copy content and add new student users, or removing/deactivating students no longer active in the course (if given Non-instructional Canvas Admin permission).

Lastly, submit your Canvas Admin. request for a non-instructional Canvas shell by using the embedded form. Please note that submitting the request does not guarantee approval. Monitor your email for possible follow-ups.

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