Clarifications & Updates to student access dates for courses in D2L 

As of May 10, 2022 

Information compiled by: 

Kathleen Coate, Instructional Designer/Technologist 
Kris King, D2L Administrator 

If desired – watch this 4-minute video explaining this info. 

  

Definitions:   

D2L Start & End dates refer to the time frame when students can access the course page in D2L. This is not always the same as the official “start and end” of the class as listed in eServices.  
  

Clarification of D2L “Start Dates” for courses 

Note: This clarification is to ensure consistency among divisions – it may be a change for the way some courses were available in the past, but not a change for others. 

D2L Start Dates are listed below: 

• On-Campus courses: The D2L “Start Date” will be the day of the first course meeting. 

• For example, a Fall On-Campus course that meets T/Th will be available to students in D2L starting on Tuesday, 8/23. 

• Completely Online, Mostly Online, or Blended/Hybrid courses: The D2L “Start Date” will be the Monday of the first week of the term, (or Tuesday if the Monday is a holiday). 

• For example, a Fall Blended/Hybrid course with the first on-campus meeting as Wednesday, 8/24 will be available to students in D2L starting on Monday, 8/22. 

What impact do these D2L start dates have on students? 

• Students will see consistency across multiple courses with similar delivery methods. 

What impact do these D2L start dates have on instructors? 

• Instructors will need to ensure that they are ready for their D2L courses to open, based on the Start Date. 

Do instructors have the ability to change the “Start Date” of their D2L course dates to accommodate their needs? 

• Yes. Instructors may edit either the Start Date or the End Date of D2L to accommodate their needs.

• Refer to these instructions for editing D2L Start & End dates. 

  

Update to D2L “End Dates” for courses 

Note: This update comes from a newly-available process through our D2L Administrator. The change does not affect the official “end date” of the course in eServices. 

Starting in Fall 2022, the D2L End Date for courses will automatically be extended by 7 days. 

See examples below: 

• On-Campus courses: The D2L “End Date” will be an additional 7 days after the “Final exam” period of the course. 

• For example, a Fall On-Campus course that has the Final exam date of Thursday, 12/15 will be available to students in D2L until Thursday, 12/22. 

• Completely Online, Mostly Online, or Hybrid courses: The D2L “End Date” will be an additional 7 days after the final day of the term (for example, 7 days after the Friday of Finals week). 

• For example, a Fall Blended/Hybrid course with the final exam date of Thursday, 12/15 will be available to students in D2L until Friday, 12/23. 

Why is this “End Date” update happening? 

• The Minnesota State technology team is now offering this ability to colleges who hope to provide less barriers for students who need to access their courses in D2L outside of the course’s default D2L “End” date. 

• Several colleges already extend the End Dates through their own campus D2L Administrators, and are now using this new centralized ability to provide this extension. 

What impact will this update have on students? 

• Students will no longer have to rely on their instructor to manually edit the D2L “End Date” in order for them to access final grade feedback, or other needs they may have in D2L. 

What impact will this update have on instructors? 

• Instructors will no longer have to manually edit their D2L End Dates in order for students to access final grade feedback, or other needs in D2L. 

Will Instructors still have the ability to change the “End Date” of D2L course dates to accommodate their needs? 

• Yes. As is the current policy, instructors may still edit either the Start Date or the End Date of D2L to accommodate their needs. 

Does this change impact the course dates that students see in eServices, or the Normandale course schedule? 

• No. This change has no impact on ISRS dates, or the Normandale course schedule. It only impacts the timeline for accessing the course’s D2L page. 

How did this change get decided upon? 

• This change has been vetted through the Normandale Technology Committee, and voted upon by the Normandale Campus Academic Technology Team, with input from faculty, administrators, and student services staff. 

Questions?

• Contact the ITS Service Desk