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Purpose

91��Ƭ�S�ϼ� (SMU) recognizes the importance of a consistent and stable learning management system in the facilitation and innovation of teaching and learning beyond the traditional classroom setting.

The purpose of the Learning Management System (LMS) Guidelines is to outline SMU's requirements for use of the current official enterprise learning management system and related academic technology integrations.

Scope

These guidelines govern the use, administration, and oversight of the LMS at SMU. These guidelines apply to all instructors, students, staff, and others who use the official university-supported LMS. The sponsoring unit for the university-supported LMS is the Office of Information Technology (OIT), with specific management oversight provided by Academic Technology Services – Instructional Systems. The LMS is the official system used by instructors to deliver content, assignments, and other course materials to students.

Definitions

ATS

Academic Technology Services, a department within OIT

ATSD

Academic Technology Services Director (ATSD)

Canvas

The official university-supported Learning Management System (LMS)

Course Shell

An official course site within the LMS. A standard course shell is generated in Canvas from the Student Information System (SIS) automatically for official courses listed in the Registrar's course schedule. Each course shell contains basic course information including the official course roster as well as access to LMS features and course development tools. For timing on course shell creation, please see V. Access to the LMS, section B.

Integration

LMS integrations are the external software tools through which platforms like Canvas offer additional instructional functionality and share verifiable personal data about LMS users with external software vendors, such as Simple Syllabus and publisher content (McGraw Hill, Pearson, etc.).

Instructor of Record

The faculty member listed in the SIS assigned to teach the course, typically the Primary Instructor. Supervisory instructors, Secondary Instructors, and Teaching Assistants (TAs) are also listed in the SIS as an official part of the course record.

Learning Management System (LMS)

A software application or web-based technology used to administer, deliver, and assess electronic educational technology courses and/or programs. The current approved LMS for SMU is Instructure's Canvas.

LMS Administrator

A role in the LMS assigned to the person(s) who oversee and manage SMU's LMS instances including the main account and all sub-accounts. The LMS Admin can create program and organization courses; add users; view content for all courses; view course and account data; and manage course-level user roles and permissions. The LMS Admin role is managed by ATS.

SIS

Student Information System. SMU's SIS is my.SMU.

Sponsored Account

Created for users who are not official SMU employees or students that receive an account with limited access due to FERPA guidelines.

User

Any employee, student, or guest of the university accessing the LMS.

Appropriate Use

• All users of the LMS must adhere to SMU's Acceptable Use policy.
• All users of the LMS must not use the system for purposes other than University-affiliated activities. Access to the LMS may be disabled or suspended for users who display inappropriate behavior per the SMU Acceptable Use Policy and other guiding policies that define appropriate conduct for SMU employees and students.
• All employees who have access to student information in the LMS are required to adhere to the safeguards included in SMU's Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ("FERPA") policy to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of protected student information. All employees, including faculty and staff, are responsible for demonstrating FERPA compliance through the required FERPA training found in the Vector Employee Training system. This training must be refreshed every three years.
• Illegal content or content that is in violation of SMU's policies or contractual agreements shall be removed from a course if requested by the instructor of record or another appropriate academic administrator.

Access to the LMS

Access to the LMS is granted to current users in the SIS and temporary employees with approval. Course rosters are generated via official enrollments in the SIS. Course owners and administrators must not grant course access to students not listed in the official roster, unless the student is auditing the course as an observer. Students who are permitted access as an auditor must officially register as an auditor through the Registrar and pay the associated fees. Instructors are not allowed to permit auditor access without adhering to this process.

1. SMU Credentials

   All users of the LMS must access the system through a designated account which will be issued by OIT and is the same as the user's SMU network username and password.

   • Student access remains active as long as Single-Sign On (SSO) remains active by resetting the account password once each year.

2. Course Enrollment

   Canvas Course Role	SIS Designation	Canvas Enrollment Method
   Teacher	Primary Instructor Secondary Instructor	SIS
   Observing Teacher	Supervisory Instructor	SIS
   TA (Teacher Assistant)	Teacher Assistant	SIS
   AA (Administrative Aide)	Administrative Aide	SIS
   Student	Student	SIS

   • Canvas course access is determined by the instructor role on a class section. If someone is acting as an Instructor/TA/AA they must be attached to the section in the appropriate role to receive Canvas access. If a person who is not involved with teaching a class needs access to Canvas for administrative reasons, please contact the IT Help Desk for assistance. The Schedule of Class is our record of who taught a section. Do not modify previous terms or add people to the schedule in inaccurate roles to grant Canvas access.
   • The Canvas course roster is required to match the SIS course roster; therefore, any of the roles listed in the grid above, which have access to student records (grades, etc.), are ONLY automatically enrolled through the SIS and will not be added manually.

3. Special Roles and Permissions

   Roles outside of regular course enrollments must be requested using the Canvas Guest Account form in Stable. If a special role or permission is desired that is not one of the roles below, please reach out to the LMS Admin team to discuss.

   Observer	Auditing or viewing a course to see course content but cannot participate in course activities
   Visiting Teacher	Teacher permissions, including copying materials between courses, but with no access to student grades
   Designer	Edit course content
   Organizer	Only used for non-credit course shells
   View Only Teacher	View-only ability to see all content including past student grades, and copying materials between courses
   Librarian	Edit course content

   Note: A Sponsored Account may be necessary. To facilitate this, the sponsor is required to submit an account request to the IT Help Desk that includes the first and last name, email address, and phone number of the person that needs a Sponsored Account, the course number, the duration (if applicable), and the course role access level needed. The request is reviewed by the applicable departments. Access to student data in Canvas is dependent on the course role access level.

   • Some degree programs at SMU contract with Online Program Management entities (OPMs) to help build and promote online course offerings. There are procedures in place to address the specific roles, sub-account access, and data required to manage these programs. Please reach out to the Instructional Systems team within ATS if you have any questions about OPMs.
   • Parents or other individuals with a FERPA release who are not enrolled may not receive sponsored accounts.

4. Incompletes

   If a student is working to complete an Incomplete in a course, the instructor may request that the LMS administrator open the previous course to the student and the teacher for a set duration of time. For more information, please visit our Incomplete Requests page.

Term Creation

Terms in the LMS are created at least one year prior to their start dates as listed in the SIS.

Course Creation

1. SIS For-Credit Courses

   • Courses listed in the SIS generate course shells in the LMS approximately 90 days prior to the start of the earliest part of term in a major term. For example, some graduate programs have earlier start dates than undergraduate programs or other graduate programs in the Fall or Spring terms. The course shells for all the Fall or Spring term would populate the 90 days prior to first graduate program start date.
   • The course dates in the LMS are populated from the SIS. Instructors have the ability to adjust course dates manually in the LMS. LMS admins will conclude courses left open beyond reasonable dates, usually within a month of the official end date. Courses in the LMS are concluded according to their end date. Concluded courses become read-only for students and access to past quizzes is restricted. Instructors/TAs/Designers each have two-week extended access to finish grading or complete other course-related activities.
   • Instructors using the LMS must use the new course shells created each term. Instructors are able to copy materials from one course shell into another as long as the older course shell is still available on the LMS server by using the "Import Content into this Course" or "Export/Import Course Content" features.
   • Ownership of course content in the LMS adheres to SMU Policy 10.16 Intellectual Property, Section 35 – Technology Mediated Instruction: Ownership. Additional guidance can be provided by the Office of Faculty Success.

2. Development and Sandbox Courses

   • Users may request development and/or sandbox courses to use as templates for new course development or for training purposes. There are no official grades or students in these courses. To request a development or sandbox course, contact the IT Help Desk.
   • If instructors wish to view/use content in another instructor's course, they will need permission from the instructor of record. They must contact the IT Help Desk, who will facilitate the process to create a development course and copy the requested content into that course. Neither the IT Help Desk or LMS administrator will add instructors to past or current courses for the sole purpose of sharing content.
   • If the instructor of record is no longer with the institution, then the request should go to the department chair for permission.

3. Program and Organization Courses

   • SMU instructors, academic and administrative units, and student organizations may request Program and Organization courses. Program and Organization courses must be related to official university business or activities. There are no official grades in these courses.

Combining Course Sections

Canvas course shells can be combined with other Canvas course shells in instructional situations where an instructor is teaching two separate course sections of separate students that meet at the same time and in the same location. All other combinations of Canvas course shells are typically prohibited per FERPA guidelines. Instructors should only combine Canvas course shells in a manner consistent with FERPA guidelines and SMU's accrediting body's, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), guidelines.

• SMU FERPA
• SACSCOC

Note: Combining Canvas course shells results in instructors or TAs not being able to view their Simple Syllabus in the course shell, yielding an error message. It may also cause reading list linking issues with SMU Libraries Readings and Resources tool within the LMS. In these cases, the tradeoff when using the functionality of combining course shells requires that instructors use the Simple Syllabus portal for completing their syllabi and working with their SMU Librarian for Readings and Resources.

Course Requirements for Published Courses

1. Accessibility

   LMS course instructors must ensure all published content meets ADA requirements for accessibility. Instructors who need assistance with meeting ADA requirements should contact the IT Help Desk or their school's Academic Technology Services Director (ATSD) for assistance with tools and support to develop compliant content. Additionally, instructors can contact Disability Accommodations & Success Strategies (DASS) or the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE).

2. Copyright

   Instructors must ensure that copyrighted materials being used in Canvas qualify as fair use. SMU Libraries provides guidance on Copyright for Instructors.

3. Course Components

   Instructors are required to utilize the LMS's Calendar, Gradebook, and Simple Syllabus.

Content Storage and Data Retention

1. Course Retention

   • SACSCOC requires SMU to keep all student records (LMS courses) for 5 years; however, our Institutional Planning and Effectiveness office has requested a 10-year retention.

2. Course Data Quotas

   A course data/total of files stored quota of 2.6 gigabytes is in place for each individual course in the LMS. Users are responsible for optimizing the size of content within their courses. In rare circumstances, instructors can make requests to the LMS Admin team to increase their storage quota. Before a quota is increased, a review of content usage will be required to determine whether a quota increase is needed or if content can be compressed, deleted, or presented in different formats.

   • Users should consider using SMU's cloud-based file storage system and/or the video management system to store large files. These files can be linked into the LMS and do not count towards the LMS's storage quota.

Third-Party Integrations

For more information about Canvas' third party integrations, please visit the Canvas Integrations webpage.

Training and Support

1. Academic Technology Services Directors

   The OIT Academic Technology Service Directors (ATSDs) serve as the primary directors of academic technologies to each academic unit. Through these strategic partnerships, the ATSDs ensure that each school's faculty and student technology needs are recognized and fulfilled by the Office of Information Technology.

   While specializing in the differential teaching and research solutions relevant to each academic area, this team of embedded technology leaders and coordinators advocates for the academic unit, supports the university and works to integrate academic outcomes through SMU's shared technology platforms.

2. IT Help Desk

   The IT Help Desk provides basic Canvas support to the entire campus community. In addition to supporting current faculty, staff, and students, the IT Help Desk also provides limited basic Canvas assistance to retirees, parents, and prospective students. If the IT Help Desk is unable to resolve the issue, a ticket will be routed to the appropriate OIT specialist or technician for resolution. 

3. OIT Academic Technology Services (ATS) provides end user training for our LMS, Canvas, and Instructional Systems, including back-to-school Faculty Technology Workshops in each of the fall and spring semesters.

4. Additional

   Additional direct Canvas support is provided at no cost to SMU users. Access to additional direct Canvas support can be found by logging into Canvas and selecting 'Help' on the global navigation menu. Users have the ability to call or chat with Canvas support 24/7.

Additional LMS Instances

1. SMU Continuing and Professional Education (SMU CAPE)

   The SMU CAPE instance is used for SMU's non-credit courses for short courses, certificates, and customized programs. Users in this instance are not enrolled by SMU's for-credit SIS.

2. SMU Commons

   The SMU Commons instance is used for course shells with non-SMU users. This instance does not contain the same third-party integrations and cannot be used as a course of record with student grades. SMU users need to be added directly into courses using their SMU ID or email. Non-SMU users need to create a Canvas account or use a self-enrollment join code.