Canvas Messaging

The Canvas Messaging feature allows CES Administrators and Node Administrators with the Project Admin role to schedule and send automated messages through Canvas to students and/or instructors within a project. Continue reading to learn more about setting up and using this feature.

Setup Requirements and Considerations

Before setting up the Canvas Messaging feature, ensure the Canvas Administrator account that generated the access token for the integration between your institution's Canvas and Course Evaluation & Surveys has the following permissions:

• Conversations - send messages to entire class.
• Conversations - send messages to individual course members.

For assistance in enabling these permissions, we recommend contacting the Canvas Support Team. Our Canvas Data Integration article can be referred to for more integration details and additional permissions that can be assigned to the Canvas Administrator.

Before proceeding with setting up canvas messaging for your project, keep the following items in mind:

• Only courses imported via the course import option will support the Canvas Messaging feature. Courses added via Excel upload or courses deleted from a project after a course import then added via Excel will not be supported with the Canvas Messaging Feature, and Canvas Messages will Fail.
• The Canvas message will be sent from the Canvas Administrator account used to create the token for the Course Evaluations & Surveys Data integration.
• Canvas Administrators will receive confirmation emails from Canvas for each message that is sent from CES, which can result in a large volume of emails. To disable these notifications, see the "Disabling Confirmation Notifications" section within this article.

Getting Started

To begin setting up Canvas Messaging for your project, follow these steps:

1. Login to Course Evaluations & Surveys (CES).
2. Navigate to Surveys & Projects from the top navigation bar and select Projects to access a list of your projects.
3. From Projects, choose the specific project for which you wish to enable Canvas Messaging for. Once the project is selected, go to the project's Communication tab.
4. In the Communication tab, locate Canvas Messaging and click on it's + Add New button to create a new Canvas Messaging communication for a chosen role (Student or Instructor).
5. After clicking the "+ Add New" button and selecting a role, you will be taken to the communication's email properties. From here, you can customize your communication by filling out the following details:
   • Title: Enter a title to reference the communication.
   • Subject: Enter the subject line for the communication.
   • From Email and Name: Enter the default email address for outgoing communications and sender's name. Note the email and name should be validated and follow the formats outlined in Outgoing Email Settings beforehand.
   • Schedule: Set the frequency for the communication.
   • Include enrollments from other projects: Manage email communications across multiple projects within a single project.

   • Message: Enter the body text of the message. The system automatically includes a personalized link to the survey, eliminating the need for placeholders that provide a link to the survey.

     Note: For more information on scheduling frequency options, setting up communications across multiple projects and formatting your message, visit Setup Email Communications.

6. After customizing your communication, click the Save button to save your settings. The communication will be scheduled according to the set frequency.

Once a Canvas Messaging communication is live, recipients will receive the message in their Canvas inbox with an embedded survey link to easily access the survey from Canvas, as shown in the image below.