There are several reasons why you might not be able to see your course in Canvas:  

Students

Possible reasons why a student can't see their course in Canvas:
  1. The semester/term hasn't started yet. You will not be able to access your online class until the first day of class (starting at 12:00 AM) unless your instructor chooses to open the course site early. Check the detailed course schedule to identify the class start date. 
  2. You are not registered for the course. Check the detailed class schedule to confirm whether you are registered for that course.
  3. The Canvas course site is not yet published by the instructor. A course site isn't visible to students until the instructor manually publishes the Canvas site. If the semester/term has already started and you are definitely registered for the course, contact your instructor and ask them to publish the course. 
  4. You may have previously set your Courses List to show other courses. In this case, you need to manually adjust the visibility of courses through the Courses button, then All Courses.
  5. Scroll down to see if the course is listed in the Future Enrollments category. If so, click the star icon next to the course's title to make it visible in the My Courses list. Note that courses in the Future Enrollments category become available about three weeks before the start of the upcoming semester. 


Instructors

Possible reasons why an instructor can't see their course in Canvas:
  1. The blank Canvas course sites (shells) are not yet finalized and are available for the upcoming semester. Canvas course shells become available when designated by the Canvas Administrator and registration. Most often this is approximately up to four weeks before classes begin. You are able to see them in advance from the Canvas global menu (far left vertical menu in any Canvas course), in the Courses List under All Courses.
  2. You are not yet designated as the teacher of record for the course. Check with your Associate Dean or immediate supervisor for confirmation of the detailed class schedule. If you have not been assigned to the course in Banner, you won't see the course in Canvas. Your department needs to update Banner first. 
  3. You haven't set the course to show in your dashboard or Courses short-cut list. All of your courses (past, present, and future) are visible in the Canvas global menu Courses list under All Courses, including the titles of courses that may be closed for access.
  4. Scroll down to see if the course is listed in the Future Enrollments category. If so, click the star icon next to the course's title to make it visible in the My Courses list. Note that courses in the Future Enrollments category become available about three weeks before the start of the upcoming semester. 
Note: In special circumstances, you may need to "accept" entry to a course manually. You'll receive an email with a link, or you'll add the course in the My Courses drop-down menu using the "View all or Customize" feature.


IMPORTANT - since many faculty would like to get an early start on preparing for the upcoming term, we recommend requesting a DEV site to use when Canvas course shells are not available. See How do I request a Canvas development (DEV) site?


-------------------------
REV KLH 08/20/2021