Canvas @ YaleInstructor Guides CommunicationCreating and Managing Appointment Slots in the Sign-Up Tool

Creating and Managing Appointment Slots in the Sign-Up Tool

The Sign-Up tool is an external application created by Yale to function as an enhanced scheduling tool to the calendar's native scheduler. The Sign-Up tool allows instructors to set up office hours or other time slots for appointments for students enrolled in their current Canvas course sites.

We recommend that you do not create more than 50 time slots per appointment group.

If you need more than this, you should consider splitting the time slots into multiple appointment groups.

Table of Contents

This article will address the following information:

Accessing the Sign-Up Tool

  1. Click on the "Sign-Up" tool from your Global Navigation.

Creating a New Appointment Group

  1. In the Sign-Up tool, click the “+Appointment Group” button.
  1. In the pop-up box that opens, fill out the Title, Details, Location, and Address in the "General Info" tab.

The only information which is required is Title. However, you can also include the Location, Details, and Address for the appointments as well if you deem them relevant / necessary.

  1. Switching the tabs over to "Create Slots," choose the Date and Time Ranges of when the appointments will begin.

Unlike setting up an Appointment Group in the Calendar through the Scheduler native to Canvas, you can set these appointments to repeat if your office hours / events occur regularly.

  1. Click the "Add Slots" button, and a slot for each appointment will appear below.
    1. Here, you can modify or delete individual slots if necessary.
Create and add slots
  1. Under "Calendars" tab, you can select every course calendar applicable for the appointments.
    1. You can also select individual course sections, or specific groups in a course for more finite control of who can view and sign-up for these appointment slots.
  1. Under the "Options" tab, you can set the maximum of users per slot, maximum of slots per users, and the slot visibility.

If the Slot Visibility is set to "Visible," students will be able to see who has already signed up for that time slot.

  1. Under the "Notifications" tab, you can modify the type of notifications that are sent out to the Instructors and Teaching Assistants.

Currently the notifications are global for all instructors and Teaching Assistants. This means either everyone receives notifications or no one receives notifications.

  1. Under the "Files" tab, you can upload a document which is relevant to the appointment group.
  1. Once all of the information and settings are completed, click "Publish" to make the appointment slots available / visible to students, and then click "Submit" to actually create the appointment group.

To make the slots available to students, you must publish your appointment group. Once it is published there will be a green check mark next to it. 

  1. Your newly created appointment group will now be listed in the Sign-Up tool, as well as on the calendar.

Editing an Appointment Group or Individual Time Slots

  1. From the Sign-Up tool, click the "Edit" pencil icon.
  1. A pop-up box very similar to when you created the appointment group will appear. Make your changes under any of the tabs:
    1. General Info
    2. Create Slots
    3. Manage Slots
    4. Calendars
    5. Options
    6. Notifications
    7. Files
  1. To modify an individual time slot, go to the "Manage Slots" tab. You can change the date and time of individual time slots.
    1. Click the "Save" icon to the right of the appointment slot to save your changes to that slot.

If you see an orange exclamation point next to a time slot you are trying to edit, it means that students have already signed up for that time slot. 

  1. When you are done making your changes to the Appointment Group as a whole, click the "Save and Close" button.

Reserving a Time Slot for a Student

  1. In order to reserve a time slot on a student's behalf, open the appointment group by clicking on the appointment group name.
  1. Click on the "Manage Reservations" calendar icon for the time slot you would like to choose for the student.
  1. Choose the student from the drop down in the "Reserve For" section.
  2. Add "Reservation Comments" if applicable.
  3. Click "Reserve" to complete the reservation.
  1. The student will now appear under the reservations, and the time slot will show that it has been "Filled."

Viewing Who Reserved a Time Slot

  1. In order to view who reserved a time slot, open the appointment group by clicking on the appointment group name.
  1. Click the "Participant Summary" button in the top-left corner.
  1. You will see the students' names listed under "Participant" column for each date and time slot.
    1. You can also download the participant summary as a .CSV file by clicking the "Download" button.

Removing a Student's Reservation

  1. In order to remove a student's reservation, open the appointment group by clicking on the appointment group name.
  1. Click on the "Manage Reservations" calendar icon for the time slot you would like to remove the reservation for a student.
  1. In the pop-up box the opens, click on the "X" button in-line with the student you want to remove the reservation of for that appointment slot.
  1. Enter a "Cancellation Reason" in the text box provided.
  2. When ready, click "Unreserve."

Emailing Appointment Group Participants

  1. From the Sign-Up tool, click the "Message Students" envelope icon.
  1. From the "Message students who" drop down select a specific category of student such as:
    1. All students
    2. Have reserved a timeslot
    3. Haven't reserved a timeslot
  2. Provide a "Subject" for the message, as well as your actual "Message" text in the boxes provided to you.
  3. When ready click the "Send Message" button. The students will receive this via their Yale email address.

For student instructions on how to use the Sign-Up tool, please refer to hour "How to Reserve a Time Slot  in Sign-Up Tool" article.

For more help, please contact canvas@yale.edu.