Quick Tip: Cross-listing

Cross-listing is a Canvas feature that allows instructors to combine multiple course section of enrollments into a single course. Cross-listing can be helpful for faculty who teach multiple sections of the same course and only want to manage course data in one location.

Pros and Cons of Cross-listing

Pros:

• Instructors only need to add, maintain, and update content in one course.

• The course roster and grades, for all cross-listed sections, is available in one course. The Gradebook, People, and Assignments can be filtered by section when needed.

• Allows instructors the flexibility to create announcements, send messages, assign items, discussions and manage the grade book of multiple sections either simultaneously or by individual section.

• Virtual or remote office hours can be administered from one course.
   

Cons:

• Once the course has started and there is student activity (grades, submissions, discussion posts) the courses CANNOT be separated, and instructors will be required to use the cross listed primary course for the duration of the semester.

• All the cross-listed secondary sections will have the primary course section name in the Canvas dashboard and students may get confused thinking they were enrolled in the wrong section. It is crucial that the instructor communicate the name of the primary course that students should expect to see on their Canvas dashboard.

• Cross-listing multiple full-size classes can sometimes make it difficult to maintain the large roster, due to the extended size of the Gradebook, Speedgrader, or Analytics.

• Currently it is not possible to use the Full Teams Experience option in cross listed courses. Faculty can use the Microsoft Teams Canvas integration for class meetings in cross listed courses.

• For class sections that do not meet together but are cross-listed into a single Canvas course, the instructors may need to change the course settings to ensure student privacy and compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

• Courses need to be cross-listed (combined) prior to the start of the semester.
   

What course information is needed to submit a Cross-listing request?

• Instructors need to provide the following information for each course they wish to cross list:
  • Course reference number (CRN)
  • Subject
  • Course number
  • Section number
  • Semester
     
• When submitting a cross-listing (combine) request, the instructor will need to designate one of the courses as the “primary” course. Once the request has been processed the instructor will only see the primary course in the Canvas dashboard.
   
• If a primary course is deleted all course content will be lost. Instructors may want to contact their scheduler and ask that them not to delete the course they have designated as their primary course.
   

When should a Cross listing request be submitted by?

Cross-listings need to be requested before the start of the semester while the courses are unpublished and before any content is added.
 

Where do instructors submit a Cross-listing request?

This link connects to the Cross-listing request form.

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