By default, sections inherit course dates set for your entire institution. If a course does not include specific dates, the section dates default to term dates. However, as an instructor, you may need to change the start and end dates for a course section. Dates can be shorter than or overlap the course or term dates.

Adding section dates may also affect the Courses page and the placement of the section's course in the Past, Current, or Future Enrollments list for students. For more information, view the interactive Student Course Visibility and Participation flowchart.

Limit User Participation Dates

You can set whether or not students can only participate in the section during the specified section dates using the Student Participation checkbox. Participation means that students can submit assignments, post discussions, upload files, or take part in any other action-based task for the course section. If you limit students to only be able to participate during the section dates, they can accept the course section invitation, access the course section, and look at content, but they cannot fully participate until the first day of the course for the section. When the course section is concluded, the course section is placed in a read-only state.

Section Override Dates

Section override dates are only created if the Student Participation checkbox is selected as part of creating section start and end dates (both dates are required). Students can participate in the course section before and after the start and end date, and participation will always be determined by the course dates. If a course does not include override dates, dates are determined by term dates.

Dashboard Considerations

The Student Participation sections checkbox may also affect courses that have been marked as a favorite and display in the Dashboard. If a section includes an override date and the Student Participation checkbox is selected, students cannot participate in the course after the section end date, and the course will be removed from the Dashboard.

Moreover, if the Student Participation checkbox is not selected, the course will still display in the Dashboard as a favorite course after the section end date since the course section still allows participation as an active course. The course will not be removed until the course section is concluded via course/term dates. However, if the Student Participation checkbox is not selected for the section, the section dates determine the placement of the course section in the Past, Current, or Future Enrollments list regardless of the course/term dates.

Note: You can only change section end dates when your enrollment is active. Section dates cannot be changed once your enrollment has concluded for the course.