01-Admin Prerequisites and Conduct

Last updated by neal.legler 3 years ago

How to Become a Canvas Admin

Prerequisites: To receive a Canvas admin account, you must do the following:

Complete the university FERPA training for important information on how to protect student privacy.

Read and submit the IT Confidentiality Agreement .

Complete up to Unit 3 in the CIDI and Accessibility Onboarding course , or participate in an in-person Canvas admin training by one of USU’s Canvas admins.

Fill out the Canvas Admin Account Request form and let Neal Legler know at neal.legler@usu.edu or on Slack, to @neal.legler.

Ground Rules for Admin Conduct

“With great power comes great responsibility.” - Uncle Ben

A Canvas admin account of any type comes with significant trust, responsibility, visibility, and accountability. AIS reserves the right to revoke admin privileges and pursue other punitive action according to university policy if they are abused.

The USU policy on acceptable use of computing, network, and information resources applies to Canvas admin account privileges. Additionally, Canvas admins are expected to adhere to these five key ground rules:

Honor and protect user privacy and data. For example:

Do not look up protected information about somebody when it’s not for a job-related task.

Don’t share or display protected information to others who aren’t authorized to see it.

Do your best not to send protected student data over unsecure email. Use Box or some other method.

Do not use administrative privileges to obtain academic advantages or provide them to others. Be careful not to put yourself in a situation where you might be accused of doing so. For example:

Don’t enter as an admin any course you are or were enrolled in or will take in the future. If asked to troubleshoot an issue in the course, pass the issue to someone else.

Never look up answers or content for the purpose of cheating or helping someone cheat.

Guard your administrative access and credentials. For example:

Do not share your administrative password with anybody.

When you leave your workstation, lock your computer screen.

Logout and close the browser any time you login as an admin on a public computer.

Maintain a strong password and change it periodically.

Change your password immediately if you have the slightest fear it has been compromised.

Use safe browsing habits. Stay away from sketchy websites that may add malware or spyware.

Don’t make substantive changes to content, accounts, or settings without permission from the appropriate person.

If you do not fully understand the steps or consequences of an administrative action, get help from a more experienced administrator.

If in doubt, ask.