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Weber State University has used Canvas as its Learning Management System (LMS) since Summer 2011, and now hosts over 225,000 courses. To improve system performance and comply with data retention policies, ³Ô¹Ï¹ÙÍø Online is implementing a rolling 7-year archival policy starting May 2025. Faculty will be made inactive in courses older than 5 years, then after 2 years, the courses will be archived and no longer accessible in Canvas.

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Archival Timeline & What’s Affected

Starting May 2025, courses older than 7 years will be archived.

5-Year Access Window

• After 5 years, instructors' access is made inactive, but the course remains in the system for quick recovery access.
• Course content can still be recovered by the LMS Support team during this period.
• Faculty can download any necessary materials before access is removed.

What Will NOT Be Archived?

• Sandboxes and Course Development
• Rank & Tenure Courses
• Independent Study
• Non-Banner Courses
• Student Training Courses (to be housed in Canvas Catalog)

Implementation Timeline

‌  January - February 2025: Present process to key groups (Faculty Senate, TLC/CETL, ASSET, etc.)

‌ March 2025: Campus-wide announcement & Canvas bulletin posted.

‌   May 2025: First archive script runs (courses before May 2018 removed).

‌ May 2026+: Rolling archival process continues annually.

Annual Canvas Archive Schedule

Canvas courses move through two retention stages each May. After five years, instructor access is made inactive, but the course remains available to LMS Support for quick recovery. After seven years, the course is archived and removed from standard Canvas access.

Upcoming Canvas archive and instructor access changes by annual May process

Annual Process	Courses Archived	Instructor Access Made Inactive
May 2026 (current cycle)	Academic Year 2018–2019	Academic Year 2020–2021
May 2027	Academic Year 2019–2020	Academic Year 2021–2022
May 2028	Academic Year 2020–2021	Academic Year 2022–2023
May 2029	Academic Year 2021–2022	Academic Year 2023–2024
May 2030	Academic Year 2022–2023	Academic Year 2024–2025

Note: May 2025 was the initial Canvas archive cleanup year. Beginning May 2026, the annual rolling schedule follows the standard 5-year and 7-year retention windows.

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Archiving FAQs

• ‌  Why is Canvas archiving old courses?

  While our extensive Canvas data backlog provides a rich history of academic content, it also introduces significant challenges:

  • Course lists are too long, making navigation difficult.
  • Canvas Inbox performance issues increase as faculty course lists grow.
  • Slower course imports due to excessive stored data.
  • User frustration with outdated and duplicate courses.
  • Data privacy risks in a web-based storage system.
  • Legal compliance with (Government Data Privacy Act).

• ‌  Are there legal requirements for record retention?

  Final grades, enrollments, and official student records are securely stored in Banner. The Registrar’s Office confirms that assignment submissions and grading comments need to be retained only for one year within Canvas.

• ‌  How can I securely store my downloaded Canvas data?

  You can store your course data securely using:

  • Secure cloud storage (Google Drive, OneDrive, etc.).

• ‌  What if I need an old course for a recommendation letter?

  Courses remain hidden for two years after the five-year mark, allowing for quick recovery. If a course must be retrieved after seven years, LMS Administrators can access the archived data on a case-by-case basis.

• ‌  What is the technical process for archiving?

  • After 5 years → Faculty enrollments are deactivated.
  • After 7 years → A script built by ³Ô¹Ï¹ÙÍø IT archives the course.
  • These processes take place every May as part of the rolling archival schedule.

• ‌  How do other USHE institutions handle archiving?

  SUU currently with no interim period.

  Other USHE institutions are developing their own policies, but current practices vary.

• ‌  How long do I have access to my Canvas courses?

  Courses remain available for 5 years before faculty access is made inactive. However, the course is still stored in the system for an additional 2 years.

  • After 5 years, instructors will no longer see the course in Canvas.
  • Courses remain in the sytem for an additional 2 years to allow for quick recovery or relevant content.
  • At 7 years, the course is archived and no longer retrievable without additional approval.

• ‌  Course Recovery Request

  If your course is older than 5 years but not yet archived (less than 7 years old), LMS Admins can temporarily restore it for content retrieval. Course recovery requests must be submitted by a faculty or staff member.

  If you need to retrieve an archived course, please complete the request form below:

• ‌  Can I recover my own course after it's been archived?

  We understand faculty invest significant time in building instructional content. While we encourage ownership and reuse of materials, requests for recovery must follow university guidelines. Only current ³Ô¹Ï¹ÙÍø faculty and staff may request recovery of their own archived courses. If you are no longer employed by the university, we cannot restore access to past Canvas materials.

  Faculty are encouraged to export course content while they have access. Content created using university systems (such as Canvas, instructional design services, or media production) may be considered university-sponsored and subject to institutional ownership.

  PPM 5-41 Section III.B: When a faculty member produces instructional materials with substantial university support—such as assignment during paid time or use of campus systems, staff, or services—the resulting materials are considered university-sponsored works for hire and may be owned by the university.

• ‌  Can I request access to another instructor's archived course?

  Archived course recovery is limited to the original instructor(s) of record. If you need access to a former colleague’s course content (e.g., for program continuity or departmental review), please coordinate with your department chair or college dean.

  Ownership of instructional content created using ³Ô¹Ï¹ÙÍø systems may fall under the university’s copyright policy. Requests for access to another instructor’s work must be reviewed in compliance with PPM 5-41.

 

Need Help? Contact Us

• Email: lmsadmin@weber.edu
• Phone: (801) 626-6188