Canvas will be administered by the Computing and Information Services team at HMC.
There are different user roles in Canvas: Student, Teacher, Teaching Assistant, Designer, Observer, Auditor, Tutor, Faculty Observer, and Librarian. Here is a detailed description of the Canvas roles at HMC.
Third-party tools are integrated with Canvas through the Learning Tool Interoperability (LTI) standard. HMC Canvas users can continue using tools like Gradescope, Piazza and Zoom.
A Canvas course template at Harvey Mudd College is a foundational course shell that provides a consistent framework for your Home page, Syllabus, and Modules. It is preloaded with key information to support students, including where to find academic support, technical assistance, and campus resources.
Using the HMC Canvas course template reduces the number of design decisions you need to make when setting up your course and saves time locating and linking campus-specific resources. The template is designed with accessibility and clarity in mind, and provides a structured starting point while still allowing you flexibility to customize content to fit your teaching style and course needs.
HMC students typically enroll in a rigorous course load each semester. When each Canvas site is organized differently, students must spend additional time figuring out how to navigate each course. A consistent template reduces this cognitive load, allowing students to focus their energy on course content rather than course navigation.
In your new Canvas course (created from the template), click Settings in the left course navigation menu.
On the Settings page, select Import Course Content.
From the Select Content Type dropdown menu, choose Copy a Canvas Course.
In the Search for a Course field, enter the name of the previous course that contains the content you would like to copy.
Under Content, select Select Specific Content.
(Optional) Adjust the assignment and due dates if needed.
Click Import. Your course will appear at the bottom of the page with a status of “Waiting for Selection.”
Click Select Content next to the course name.
In the pop-up window, choose the specific content you would like to import.
After making your selections, click Select Content again. A progress bar will display the status of the import.
Once the import is complete, review your course to ensure all content appears as expected and make any necessary adjustments.
When you import content from a previous Canvas course into the HMC Canvas template, your previously used homepage will copy over as a page. However, it will not automatically be set as the course homepage in the new template site.
To display your imported homepage:
Go to Pages in the left course navigation menu.
Click on View All Pages at the top.
Locate the homepage you imported from your previous course.
Click the three dots next to the page title and select Use as Front Page.
Then click Home in the course navigation.
Select Choose Home Page (if prompted) and confirm that Pages Front Page is selected.
Once this is complete, your imported page will display as the homepage of your new Canvas course. We recommend reviewing the page to ensure that all links function correctly within the new template structure.