Canvas Non-Instructional Sites (NIS)

Non-Instructional Canvas Sites (NISs)

 

Training opens Monday, January 26

Are you interested in gaining admin privileges for a student-facing NIS for Summer/Fall 2026?

  • Training request form due no later than February 9
  • Training course to be completed no later than March 16
Requirements for completion include an accessible home page and one module of accessible content according to the Course Design Checklist. The training course walks you through this process as you build your NIS. 
 

Optional Workshops

NIS Orientation

Friday, January 23 from 12:00 - 12:30 PM in Zoom
  • Preview the asynchronous training modules
  • Review examples of effective NISs
  • Q&A 

Canvas Accessibility Made Easy

Tuesday, January 27, from 12-1 PM (attend via Zoom)

Tuesday, February 10, from 12-1 PM (pre-register in Zoom)

  • Discuss new ADA requirements for online learning
  • Review the time-saving Pope Tech Accessibility Dashboard
  • Draft a plan for accessibility remediation and locate template resources

Using Canvas Tools to Create Community in Online Environments

Thursday, January 29, from 12-1 PM (pre-register in Zoom)

  • Boost confidence and belonging in online courses
  • Determine which Canvas tools work for online Regular & Substantive Interaction requirements

Accessibility Basics

Wednesday, February 2, from 12-1 PM (pre-register in Zoom)

  • Remediate an existing page or create an accessible Canvas template
  • Focus: headings, styles, lists, descriptive links

Jazz Up Your Canvas Space

Wednesday, February 18, from 12-1 PM (pre-register in Zoom)

  • Incorporate buttons, boxes, lines, and tabs to reduce cognitive overload and use space efficiently, with a focus on student-centered design
  • Format images across a Canvas page without a table

Intermediate Accessibility

Monday, February 23, from 12-1 PM (pre-register in Zoom)

  • Format images across a Canvas page without using tables
  • Focus: tables, color, alternative and descriptive text

Ongoing: Drop-In Office Hours

Mondays from 11 AM - 12 PM in 453T (second floor of 400 building) or Zoom

 


What Is a Non-Instructional Canvas Site?

Canvas is a Learning Management System (LMS) with the primary purpose to facilitate instruction. Chabot has a small number of Non-Instructional Canvas Sites available for Student Services groups on campus geared towards supporting students academically.

 

Alternate Communication Platforms

Before requesting a Canvas Site, please familiarize yourself with other communication platforms at Chabot to ensure that Canvas, as a Learning Management System, best meets your needs.    

My Portal (most inclusive option) 
  • Audience: Internal; targeting current students  
  • Purpose: Sharing resources and events with students to encourage retention and engagement, making pathways to completing certificates and degrees transparent to currently enrolled students (there is already an Academic & Career Pathways tile that sends users to the Chabot Website)  
Chabot Website (most accessible option)  
  • Audience: Public facing; targeting prospective and current students, and the public.  
  • Purpose: Provides general public information to promote enrollment and provide broad based resources for current students. Events opened to the campus and the public are displayed here through 25Live. Class or course specific materials (e.g., syllabi, pdf textbooks, etc) are not posted here.
CRM Advise (most targeted option)  
  • Audience: Internal (although CRM Recruit can be external); targeting current and prospective students  
  • Purpose: System allows Counseling, Faculty and Student Success teams to document, message, and support students using a central repository of communication as the student moves through their program of study 
Chabot Student Support Hub  
  • Audience: Internal; targeting current students (it is a current Canvas repository already familiar to students)  
  • Purpose: Sharing resources and events with students to encourage retention and engagement, making pathways to completing certificates and degrees transparent to currently enrolled students  
Chabot Social Media  
  • Audience: Public facing; targeting prospective and currently enrolled students  
  • Purpose: Encouraging enrollment, sharing resources and events with students and community, etc.  

 

Responsibilities of the Instructor of Record  

If you or your manager decide to request a Canvas Non-Instructional Site, you acknowledge that Non-Instructional Canvas Sites are typically created for a one-semester term to be managed by one official “Instructor of Record.” This person is responsible for the following.  

Course Design and Maintenance  

Canvas Sites take a significant amount of time to build and there should be dedicated time in this person’s schedule for completing appropriate training, designing the course, maintaining the accuracy of information in the course, and moderating any interactions.  

Accessibility Training  

All content must be fully accessible. Non-faculty “instructors of record” must complete the COOL-approved Non-Instructional Canvas Site training.  

Both Ally and PopeTech are available in all Chabot Canvas Sites (instructional and non-instructional) to facilitate and track accessible design. We recommend using both accessibility checkers on every page before publishing and remediating as needed.  

FERPA Compliance  

Self-enrollment is not allowed. To maintain FERPA compliance, students must be individually enrolled each semester, and the People tab in the global navigation menu must be disabled (or invisible to students).  

Please note if students withdraw from the Sponsoring Organization during the semester, they will still need to be removed from the Non-Instructional Site.  

 

Additional Access and Site Administration  

All users with administrative and/or editing capabilities must complete accessibility and design training, with Instructors of Record responsible for verifying training and compliance.  

Instructional and Non-Instructional Canvas Sites expire at the end of each semester. Instructors of Record must request a New, Non-Instructional Canvas Site for each new semester of proposed use.  Instructors of Record will be able to copy content and add new student users. Additional Teacher Roles can be added by Instructional Technology.   

 

Please note  

  • Submit your request for a Non-Instructional Canvas Site by using form for each new semester .
  • Submitting the request does not guarantee approval.
  • Monitor your Chabot email for follow-up.
  • Each training cohort is open for approximately seven weeks. Please record application and training deadlines when participating.