Cross-List (Combine) Sections

Updates have been made to the Cross-listing Guidelines for Fall 2022.

Cross-listing allows Instructors to add section enrollments from individual sections into a single Canvas course. This allows for all course materials to be managed in one location.

  • Child sections are cross-listed (combined) into a parent section
  • Lecture, lab, and/or recitation sections can be cross-listed in any configuration

Why cross-list sections?

  • Add materials and content into a single parent course for students in all sections
  • Instructors may view the gradebook with all students at once, or by one section at a time
  • Assignments may be set up with different due dates for each section
  • By default, all students can interact with each other

New Cross-listing guidelines for Fall 2022.

Cross-listing RI and CSU Online Courses

College of Business Instructors, please contact the COB Instructional Services Team for questions on cross-listing.

Usually, Resident Instruction (RI) and CSU Online courses are taught separately in Canvas.

If there is a need to cross-list an RI and CSU Online academic course, please cross-list the CSU Online course (8xx, 7xx) as a child section into the RI (00x, 4xx) parent course, for pedagogical and software licensing reasons.

HonorLock proctoring is not licensed/available for RI courses.

RI/CSU Online cross-listed courses utilize Echo360 for video creation and storage, and Respondus LockDown Browser for proctoring.

If the CSU Online course was designed by a CSU Online instructional designer, you can copy/import content from the 8xx/7xx course, which is quality and accessibility checked, into the blank 00x, 4xx parent course.

Note: CSU Online noncredit (20XXFA-NCT-) courses are taught separately from academic courses.

4xx Summer Sections

If a summer 4xx section is cross-listed in the ARIESweb class list with an 8xx/7xx section, then it has been licensed to use CSU Online tools. In this situation, instructors should cross-list the summer 4xx child section into the CSU Online section as the parent in Canvas.

Ariesweb cross-list course

Contact the CSU Canvas Team for questions on cross-listing.

Prerequisites Before Cross-listing

  • Must be an Instructor in each Canvas section
  • It is recommended to cross-list sections before adding content to the parent section
  • Sections must be cross-listed before classes start to avoid the loss of student activity including grades, discussion posts, and assignment\quiz submissions

To Cross-List Courses

All cross-listed sections take on the parent section’s name

  1. Determine the Parent and child sections.
    • The parent section is the section that the Instructor will teach from.
    • All sections that are cross-listed into a parent section are called child sections.
    • When cross-listed, the child sections will share the same course name and content of the parent section.
      • For example. An Instructor is teaching History 100, sections 001 and 003. The Instructor designates section 001 as the Parent section. The child section, 003, is cross-listed into the parent section, 001.
      • The child section (003) now takes on the name and the content of the Parent (001) section.
  2. Navigate to the child course (section) in Canvas and click on Settings on the left course navigation.
    • In this example, HIST-100-003 is going to be cross-listed under the parent section, HIST-100-001.
      Screenshot of Canvas showing settings for cross listing. Click the settings link.
  3. Click on the Sections tab and then click on the section name.
  4. Click on the Cross-List this section button.
  5. Type in the name of the parent course as it appears in Canvas, starting with the semester code (2020FA-HIST-100) Click on the parent course to select it.
  6. When the correct parent course is selected, click on the Cross-List This Section button.
  7. The cross-listed section now appears in the parent course. The breadcrumbs show the new course code.
  8. After cross-listing, we recommend making a home page that shows students which sections are combined together.

CSU Section Numbers

0xx (001, 012)Resident Lecture Sections
1xx (100, 101)Key Academic Community Sections
2xx (201, 202)Honors Sections
4xx (401, 402)Campus Online Sections
6xx-9xx (701, 801)CSU Online Sections
Lxx (L01, L02)Resident Labs
Rxx (R01, R02)Resident Recitations