Canvas: “I can’t see my Canvas site”

Instructors and students may discover that they cannot see their Canvas site at the start of a term, most often the issue resides outside of the Canvas platform. Below is a concise set of triage steps to aid in determining the nature of the problem and the appropriate channels for resolution.

  1. Browse to the Course Hub.

    1. Can they log in with Middlebury username and password?

      1. No: Visit the HelpDesk to set up credentials

      2. Yes, login successful!: go to Step 1.b

    2. Is the course in the Dashboard?

      1. No.

        1. Language School instructors and students should visit the Assistant Director for the School to make sure the instructor or student has been added to the course in Banner.

        2. Students in other programs should visit the Registrar to make sure they have been added to a course in Banner.

        3. Instructors in other programs should speak with the Academic Coordinator for their department to make sure they have been listed as the instructor of record for their course in Banner.

        4. The Course Hub does not auto-create spaces for Labs, Discussions, Independent Studies, or Senior Work sections. Instructors can create these spaces by logging into the Hub and clicking on the Additional Sections link in the lower left-hand side of the Hub Dashboard.

      2. Yes, it is there!: go to Step 1.c

    3. Is there a link to a Canvas site in the Hub page?

      1. No: The instructor has not made one. The instructor can make a Canvas site using the Course Hub. The student can speak to their instructor to see if they are using Canvas for their course.

      2. Yes, the link is there!: click on the link and go to Step 2

  2. Now that we have the link, visit the site in Canvas.

    1. Can the student see the site?

      1. No, there is an access error: This is the most frequent question we get, and the most common reason is that the instructor has not PUBLISHED the site. The instructor must publish the site for students to see it.

      2. Yes!: Ok, we are good to go.

If you have gone through all of these steps and the instructor or student still does not see the Canvas site then create a HelpDesk ticket that includes the name of the course and the course number.

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