Canvas - How to Set a Gradebook Status for Submissions
This guide explains how to apply gradebook statuses to student submissions in Canvas courses. These can be useful to highlight when a student's submission is late, missing, or excused.
Also, when a student’s Canvas submission is being reviewed for plagiarism, it’s important to indicate this using the Canvas gradebook, to ensure the student knows their submission was successfully uploaded to Canvas and that their grade is pending an update. This guide explains how to mark these submissions with the "Under Review" gradebook status.
What are Gradebook statuses?
When grading assignment submissions and grades in Canvas, instructors can assign a status to a submission. These statuses include “Late”, “Missing”, “Excused”, and “Under Review”.
Each status is associated with a color; when applied to a cell in the gradebook, that cell will be colored to match the chosen gradebook status. Cells in the gradebook without a status applied will not have a colored background.
Students can also see statuses you apply. The student's grades page will display a label corresponding to the status setting in the Gradebook.
How do I apply a Gradebook status?
- Open your Canvas course Gradebook by clicking Grades in the course Navigation menu.
- Click the cell you’d like to apply a submission to. Canvas should indicate the cell is selected and reveal an arrow icon on the right side of the cell.
- Click the “Grade Detail Tray” right-arrow icon. This will show the tray on the right side of your Canvas window.
If the cell you selected has already been graded, “Status” will be displayed on the right side of the tray, next to “Reply to Topic”. You can click whatever status is currently applied (including "None" to select from the other preconfigured options).
If the cell you selected hasn’t been graded, “Status” will be listed below the “Grade out of X” text entry field. The “None” status will be selected by default. Select another status to immediately apply it; the color of the cell in the gradebook will change to reflect the newly-applied status.
When do I use the Under Review status?
Please apply the Under Review status to any assignment submission that will not be graded right away. This ensures students know when a grade entered in Canvas may change and clarifies why an ungraded submission is blank.
This is particularly important for submissions under plagiarism review. To comply with policies and external regulations, apply the “Under Review” status to these submissions, regardless of whether you’ve entered a temporary grade or left the field blank.
Need Help?
If you have questions about how to apply gradebook statuses in Canvas, please contact Canvas Support via the Help menu.
If you have questions about how UW-Superior utilizes the “Under Review” status, please email the UW-Superior Canvas Team.