Automatic Canvas Course Conclusion Starts May 2027 (No Action Required)

Posted November 3, 2026 in Educational Technology News, JMU Libraries News

Starting in late May 2027, JMU will implement an automated process to conclude Canvas courses. “Concluding a course” is a standard Canvas process that changes course sites to read-only status for instructors and students, preserving all course materials while preventing further edits.

JMU’s Canvas courses will automatically conclude one week after final grades are due in the following semester (or one semester and one week after each course ends), starting on May 25, 2027.

What is changing?

• First Affected Semesters: On May 25, 2027, all Fall 2026 courses and any active courses prior to Fall 2026 will automatically conclude.

• Ongoing Schedule: Moving forward, courses will automatically conclude one semester plus one week after they end — e.g., Spring courses will conclude after the following Fall semester).

What does this mean for you and your students?

• No Action Needed: You do not need to change course settings. If you have been manually concluding courses, you can stop doing so starting in May.

• Read-Only Access: Concluded courses will automatically move to the Past Enrollments section of Canvas.

• Content Preserved: You and your students retain full read-only access to past course content and materials. You can copy or import content from concluded courses into future semesters, and students can download their submitted work.

• Easy Reopening: If you need to extend student access or make updates to a past course, you can reopen a concluded course within the course settings.

Why is this change happening?

• Decluttering Dashboards: Automatically archiving past courses keeps your active Canvas Dashboard focused on your current teaching terms.

• Record Retention: Concluding courses ensures that Canvas activities are formally finalized while safely preserving course records and student work in compliance with JMU’s record retention policies.

Questions? Please contact the Libraries’ Learning Innovations & Design Desk.