Spring Course Shells Now Available in Canvas

Published on 11/10/2025 09:00 AM

Texas A&M University Center for Teaching Excellence

Spring 2026 course shells are now available in Canvas in an unpublished state. Once you publish your course, it will be available to students in a read-only state until the first day of the spring term.

Combine Course Sections Prior to First Day of Classes

The deadlines to merge course sections through the self-service feature in ORCA are as follows:

Texas A&M University at Qatar

December 30, 2025 ( 11:59 p.m. AST)

Texas A&M Main Term for College Station and Galveston

Jan. 7 2026 (11:59 p.m. CST)

Late section merge exceptions are only possible under certain criteria.

Use ORCA's Self-Service Features to Assist with Course Management

Combine course sections prior to the start of the term.

Add others to your course in any of the four course associate roles: Teaching Assistant (TA), Lead TA, Grader and Designer.

Confirm the status of training requirements for course associate roles.

Request a duplicate Canvas shell for sections that need two sets of content.

Log in to ORCA to Get Started

Canvas Template Accessibility Checker Update

Each term, TAMU provisions Canvas courses with a template that has a 100% accessibility score in Ally and passes link validation checks. Over the past few semesters, however, some newer TAMU websites have been flagged by the Canvas Link Validator and Ally, incorrectly identifying some functioning links as broken despite navigating correctly. The digital learning teams are communicating with MarComm and the vendor to determine any appropriate fixes. No action is required on your part at this time. Panorama should maintain a score of 100%.

Spring 2026 Simple Syllabus Template Update

Based on faculty feedback from the fall 2025 semester pilot of Simple Syllabus and a review of all components, there will be a few changes coming to the Spring 2026 Simple Syllabus template. The changes will be communicated to faculty soon with the template becoming available to faculty no later than Friday, 11/14/25. Please contact Dr. Kelley Shaffer with any questions or concerns. The LMS website Simple Syllabus page includes resources for how to get started with the tool as well as recommendations related to the Syllabus button provided in the spring 2026 Canvas templates.

Upcoming University-Wide Tools in Canvas

Cidi Labs TidyUp: this tool offers instructors and course designers a streamlined way to clean up duplicate files and pages within their courses with a target availability of 1/5/2026.
GivePulse: in support of the Aggieland Serves initiative, this tool will be available for pilot use during Spring 2026 to help facilitate community engagement and service-learning opportunities. The target availability date is 1/5/2026.
Microsoft Education: the digital learning teams will continue to test throughout the Spring 2026 semester with O365 remaining available in Canvas.

Central-Supported/Funded Tools

Texas A&M University supports the teaching and learning mission through the integration of centrally-supported/-funded technologies that are available to all users within Canvas. By leveraging these tools, faculty can reduce burdens for students including financial costs, external logins to manage, and time spent learning new tools in addition to their coursework. The LMS website provides resources for these tools, and the LMS support teams and partners also offer various training and professional development sessions throughout the year.

Colleges and schools may request additional tools that are supported by the requestor and/or vendors. Although some tools may be paid for by colleges/schools/departments, other tools may have additional direct costs for students. To learn more, explore the LMS Tool Filter which includes a fee-incursion chart as well as options to filter tools that may have an extra cost.

Review Customized Checklists

To support all faculty, whether returning or new Canvas, a comprehensive checklist has been developed. This resource includes tutorials on setting up the gradebook to streamline the final grade submission process. Faculty can visit the Start-of-Semester Checklist page to ensure a smooth start to the semester.

Get Help 24/7/365

Canvas support is offered around the clock. Just click the "Help" button on the left-side navigation within Canvas. You can ask any questions by phone, live chat, or email to get the help you need. For questions about support options available to you at Texas A&M, visit CTE’s LMS Support page.

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