Requesting a Canvas site for a Wharton Course

This article will help you request a Canvas course site, review the new site for accuracy, and publish the site.

Before You Start

Wharton instructors may make Canvas course site requests, as well as requests for Study.Net copyrighted readings and instructional consultations, using Wharton's Courseware Request Form.  This form is one of several teaching-needs surveys made available to faculty in Wharton Instruction Center (under the Tech Surveys menu choice).

When filling out the form, if your course is not listed in the Which Course(s) selection box, choose "my section is not listed."

Please note that most student teaching assistants cannot currently access our form and will instead need to email our team with requests; TAs must always cc: the course instructor when emailing us with requests.

When preparing either to use the Courseware Request Form or to submit an emailed service request to courseware@wharton.upenn.edu, you'll want to gather the following information:

  1. The course, section number(s) and cohort for any Wharton course (including Lauder Institute courses). Consider whether sections should be in separate Canvas sites or combined within a single Canvas site.
  2. If requesting content to be copied over, please provide the full course name, section, and past semester; whenever possible, also include a link or URL for the past Canvas site to be copied. You can find a list of your past and current courses at Courses > All Courses; we can only copy other instructors' courses with their express permission.
  3. Whether the course requires group work.
  4. The PennKey username for any other instructors or TAs who need access (no passwords are needed)
  5. If not using the Courseware Request Form, a finalized syllabus or other guidance about desired features as described in Step 1 below.
  6. See below for guidance on placing non-curricular or non-Wharton requests for Canvas.

Guidance for Non-Curricular and Non-Wharton Canvas Needs

As stated in our policies, the Wharton Computing IDEA Courseware Team cannot currently create or design net-new non-curricular Canvas sites, nor can we afford the time to consult with staff seeking to establish these. Please also note that the Penn Libraries' non-course/special-use Canvas service offering is unavailable for Wharton School needs.

Faculty who teach for other Penn schools may request a course Canvas site through the following teams:


Note: All Canvas sites for the Lauder Institute are supported through Wharton Computing, rather than Penn Libraries.

Expect up to 3 business days for a standard Canvas  course site request to be completed (e.g., a single Penn Canvas site configured for a Wharton course).  For specialized learning tool setup or in-depth feature configuration, we’ll extend best-efforts service; note that some setups will be identified as projects requiring a consultation followed by an agreed-upon project plan.

Step 1: Choose your desired structure and features, or request a consultation

The Courseware Request Form guides you through a series of simple questions intended to help you obtain the functionality you need for each course you teach.  For most faculty, using that form will be the easiest way to request Canvas on your own; please note that most student teaching assistants cannot currently access our form.

If you need to request a Canvas course site by email, or to have a staff colleague or TA request it on your behalf, here's what to include in that email.  Wharton Computing historically offers a choice of four standard Canvas site types, or configurations: template, starter, advanced and site copy.  In addition to those standard types, specialized Canvas projects for teaching are usually planned by requesting an instructional design consultation.

Step 2: Review your completed site

Please check your site to ensure that...

Step 3: Publish your site

You must publish your Canvas site before students may access it. Only instructors (not TAs or administrators) may publish a site, and the Courseware team will not do so unless asked. 

Questions?

Email: courseware@wharton.upenn.edu