How do I add my syllabus to the Syllabus Search?

The Syllabus Search in Canvas is an opt-in, searchable directory of course syllabi. By default, all material on a Canvas course site is only available to students and teachers who are enrolled in the course. However, if your syllabus is posted on your course site, you can use the directory to share your syllabus with all Canvas@Tufts users.  (Syllabus Search uses a Canvas feature called the Public Course Index, which can also be used to share other course content.)

Instructors always control whether a course is added to the Syllabus Search, and you can add or remove your course at any time. You might add an older course to the Syllabus Search to make previous syllabi available to students during the registration period, or add a current course to allow students to review the syllabus in advance of the Add deadline.

Syllabi in the Syllabus Search are available to any logged in Canvas@Tufts user.

Log into Canvas and go to your course site

Add your syllabus to the Syllabus tool

You can type or copy/paste your syllabus text into the text box or create a link to a syllabus document. For more, see How do I post a course syllabus?  

Click on "Settings" in the course navigation menu

Scroll to the "Visibility" section

Check the box next to "Customize"

If you only want to make your syllabus available to users, and not other course content, make sure the first "Visibility" drop-down is set to "Course."

Under Syllabus, select "Institution" from the drop-down menu

This setting ensures that only users who are logged into Canvas can view your syllabus. If you would like your syllabus to be publicly available to anyone without a Tufts login, select "Public" from the drop-down menu.

Check the box next to "Include this course in the public course index"

Click the "Update Course Details" button

Publish your course

In order for your course to appear in the Public Course Index, it must be published. (How do I publish (or unpublish) my Canvas course site?)

When a course site is published, the content is available to enrolled students. If you would like to make your syllabus widely available for an upcoming course, but do not want other content to be available to enrolled students yet, make sure that course content remains hidden until you are ready to show it to your students. The simplest way to do this is to temporarily hide course content tools such as Modules, Assignments, Pages and Files from the course site navigation. (How do I manage course navigation links?)