SIRS – Canvas Course Block

Student Instructional Rating Survey

Under limited circumstances, Canvas may block students from entering the course site until the student completes or opts-out of the survey for that course, or the survey ends. The course block only applies to specific programs (Rutgers Business School, School of Social Work Intensive Weekend, and Rutgers Arts Online as of Fall 2023). Faculty may view a video demonstrating the Canvas course block from the student perspective.

Prior to the survey

  • The “Student Instructional Rating Survey” link that is in the Canvas site must remain there for the canvas survey integration to work correctly. If faculty have hidden or removed it, they need to restore it.
    1. To restore the link, go to the “Settings” page in your canvas course
    2. Click “Navigation”
    3. Find the “Student Instructional Rating Survey” tool, click the dots to the right and choose “Enable”
    4. Click “Save”
  • Add a statement to the syllabus stating that the survey is required, and that access to the course site in Canvas will not be possible until the survey is completed.
  • Consider changing the survey dates to avoid conflicts with major assignment due dates. Canvas requires 24-hours to sync date changes, so changes must be made at least a day before the survey start.

During the Survey

  • Remind students on or near the survey start date that the course site will be blocked until they complete the survey.
  • For online meetings, send Zoom, Webex or Teams links by email. Links posted in Canvas will not be accessible to students who have not completed the survey.
  • Do not make same-day changes to survey dates! and never postpone the survey start after the course-block has begun. Canvas requires an overnight sync to change the block settings, same-day changes will leave students blocked from your course site until the following morning. Contact otear@rutgers.edu if you need assistance with late changes.
  • Note that only the individual course site is blocked – students enrolled in other courses will be able to access those courses in Canvas
  • Students can opt-out using a button on the survey form itself.
  • Canvas will recognize that the survey has been completed (or opted out) after a page refresh. Students should reload the Canvas dashboard page, or click away and come back, before trying to access the course site.

If students run into any problems:

  1. Using the direct survey link – https://sirs.rutgers.edu/blue – will alleviate most problems. Access through the canvas link can be affected by pop-up blockers, privacy/anti-tracking plugins, browser cookie settings etc. The direct link will eliminate the impact of most of these variables.
  2. Try waiting one or two minutes then refresh the Canvas page (longer is not necessary – this is just to eliminate any temporary network connectivity issues)
  3. Clearing the browser cache or simply trying a different web browser may resolve the problem.
  4. Students can use the Canvas App for iPhone or iPad, or the Canvas App for Android Phone / Tablet which will be unaffected by the block.
  5. If problems continue, the student should write to otear@rutgers.edu
    • Do not write to the Canvas help desk, they will not be able to assist with course surveys.
    • OTEAR must work directly with the student to resolve any issues. Faculty writing on behalf of the student usually results in a delay.