This FAQ addresses commonly asked questions after arranging for a student continued access to your Canvas site for an incomplete or delayed grade after the semester, or custom enrollment period of a Self-paced Canvas course, has ended. Please follow these instructions to give a student with an incomplete access to your Canvas course.
How do I request a student gain access to Canvas to complete an incomplete/delayed Grade?
Follow these instructions to give a student with an incomplete access to your Canvas course. It will take about three hours to create the new section from the time of the request.
How will I know that the student has access?
Once your CRS request is complete, both you and the student will be added to an additional section on your Canvas course site. You will see that addition in your Canvas course roster. It will take up to three hours for your CRS request to be processed.
To verify that this has occurred, select People from the Canvas Course Navigation menu. Find the student who you awarded the incomplete/delayed grade, and verify that they have an additional row in the Section area that ends in _INC (See Fig. 1).
Figure 1: Incomplete section
How long will the student have access?
The length of access varies by campus; faculty with concerns or questions about Delayed Grades should contact their campus registrar.
- UMKC, S&T, and UMSL campuses will allow access for up to one calendar year past the end date of the original course to complete work.
- MU will allow one semester beyond the original course end date.
- Incompletes assigned in the fall term will expire at the end of the following spring term, while incompletes assigned in the spring or summer term will expire at the end of the following fall semester.
- These are registrar policies and cannot be changed.
How does the student access the course?
The incomplete section is housed within the original course site; no new course is being created. Once you have requested that the student be added to the incomplete section, the original course will be restored to their dashboard.
How do I edit the assignment due dates/availability dates for the student?
If you have used availability dates for your assignments, make sure to add an additional date range for the student with an incomplete. Navigate to the assignment and select Edit. Scroll down to the Assign To field and select + Add (See Fig. 2).
Figure 2: Adding a new Assign To group
Enter the student's name, the updated Due Date, and the availability dates.
⚠️Note: Do not delete the existing Assign To group, as this will remove the grades from the gradebook.
Is there anything to avoid doing?
- Do not change the course's beginning and end dates in the course settings. This could result in the entire class regaining access to the course. If you would like to change the start and end dates for the incomplete student, please reach out to the Academic Technology team.
- Do not change any existing rubrics, quiz questions, or assignment point values, as this could change the grades reflected for previous students. If an edit needs to be made to an existing assignment, create a new assignment and assign it only to the student with the incomplete.
How do I submit the final, corrected grade?
The final grade will be entered in your campus' student information system (MyZou, Pathway, MyView, or Joe'SS). For specific instructions on resolving an incomplete, please reach out to your campus Registrar's office.
What should I do if I would like my student to use my current-semester course to satisfy their incomplete?
The best practice is to have your student complete the course utilizing the Canvas course and section that they were originally enrolled in. There are some situations that do warrant the student completing work in a current semester course. If you have a situation where this might be the case, reach out to your campus's Registrar Office via email to obtain approval. Include the student name, the course they will be enrolled in, why they need access to the current semester's course, and the work they will be completing in the course.
Canvas campus and vendor resources