Canvas Course Retention and Deletion

Background:

Previously, all Canvas courses have remained available in the Canvas LMS.

To comply with WSU's Business Policies and Procedures Manual, courses will only be maintained in Canvas for five (5) years after the end of the fiscal year in which they are taught.

Not all course types are impacted by this policy. Please refer to the table below in the "Criteria" section for clarification on course type.

Schedule:

The first cycle of course deletion will be performed on July 1, 2025, and will be applied to all terms prior to and including Spring 2020. 

This rule will roll forward annually. The table below represents the projected deletion schedule by term and deletion dates.

Criteria:

Courses dating back five (5) years will be deleted on a schedule that is in accord with WSU Records Retention and Disposition Policy. For reference, this policy is presented at the end of this page. 

Continuous course spaces are courses with no specified end date. This can be verified in the course settings (external link).

Impact:

Courses from Spring 2020 and prior will be deleted from the Canvas environment. Going forward, these courses will be deleted in accord with the posted schedule. 

While communications with instructors and departments will be sent in advance of deletion or of any changes to this schedule, it is the department or instructor's responsibility to export course content if they intend to retain it.

Please note that once course content is deleted from Canvas through this process, it can not be recovered.

Exporting Course Content:

Instructors or Departments that would like to retain Canvas course content from prior terms should export the course content and store it locally as a compressed IMSCC file, or import the content into a Canvas sandbox.

More information on exporting course content can be found in the Canvas Instructor Guide "How Do I export a Canvas course?"

Restoring Content:

Instructors or Departments user may wish to import course content that was previously archived as a course export (IMSCC). 

More information on importing course content can be found in the Canvas Instructor Guide "How do I import a Canvas course export package?"

Business Policies and Procedures Manual Policy Reference:

Deletion in accordance with WSU BPPM 90-01

Grade Files

WSU Records Retention and Disposition policy dictates a five (5) year retention policy for Grade file content.

Provides a record of student's class performance for the purposes of evaluation and calculation of transcript grades. Includes, but is not limited to, grade books, instructor's grade data, electronic and paper records of midterm and final grades, changes submitted after grade books are completed, e.g., incomplete grades, supplemental grade changes, college petitions to change already-posted grades, course challenge forms, special exam forms, associated memoranda, instructor's grade data generated by or maintained in an electronic learning management system. Reference copy information includes authorizations from students to release grades to specified individuals.

Department* Retain for 5 years after end of fiscal year, then destroy. (11-12-63444 Rev. 1) 

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