Scheduling Zoom Meetings through Canvas

It's important that instructors schedule their own Zoom meetings so that recordings are connected to their Zoom and Panopto accounts.

Zoom is integrated into all Canvas course sites at Northwestern.

We recommend scheduling meetings through Canvas. The School of Law recommends that its faculty do not use the Zoom integration within Canvas. If you work in this school, check with department administrators for the recommended process.

When you schedule through Canvas, meeting information will appear in three spots: individuals' Zoom schedule page, the course Syllabus page, and the Canvas Calendar. When you create a meeting invitation in Canvas, it's easy for students to find the meeting link as well as access cloud recordings of any meetings.

In addition, everyone within the course has access to the meeting and any recording.

To create a Zoom meeting within Canvas, sign in to Zoom using your Northwestern login credentials. Then sign in to Canvas, open the course site, and select Zoom from the left-hand navigation menu. Remember that the first time you click on Zoom within Canvas, you must authorize Canvas to access your Zoom account.

After granting access, you will be redirected to a Zoom page inside Canvas.

Click Schedule a New Meeting.

A new page will load and lists several options:

  • Topic: Add a topic or meeting title. When instructors are setting up their Zoom meetings for classes, this might be something like "Spanish 102 WI 2021."
  • Description (optional): Enter a description or agenda for the meeting.
  • When: Enter the date and time of the meeting.
  • Duration: Select the length of the meeting (for scheduling purposes only; meeting can start early, end late, and run long.)
  • Time Zone: Confirm the preferred time zone.
  • Recurring Meeting (optional): Schedule a series of meetings (e.g. every Tuesday for six weeks) or create a meeting with no fixed date or time.
  • Registration: Typically not recommended because it requires meeting attendees complete an online registration form.
  • Video: Choose whether or not to share host and/or participant video when the meeting starts. Participants can also turn on video after the meeting starts.
  • Audio: We recommend that both telephone and computer audio be available for attendees.
  • Meeting Options:
    • Require meeting passcode: If you select Passcode, meeting participants will either:
      • Click on the invitation link they receive, which includes the passcode within the URL, or
      • Need to enter a passcode that you distribute to participants prior to the meeting
    • Enable join before host: This allows participants to join the meeting prior to the host.
    • Mute participants upon entry: This ensures only the host has their audio turned on when the meeting begins (participants can unmute themselves once they have joined the meeting.)
    • Use Personal Meeting ID: Your Personal Meeting ID will direct meeting participants to your personal Zoom room. Read more here Links to an external site.
    • Enable waiting room: This will send participants to a Waiting Room; hosts and co-hosts can then admit attendees using the participants tool in the Zoom meeting. (In your Zoom account settings, you can enable Waiting Room for guests only; this allows participants who have logged in to the Zoom app with their NetID to access the meeting while sending outside guests to the waiting room.)
    • Only authenticated users can join: This is strongly recommended for security purposes because it limits meeting access to people with a valid Northwestern NetID.
    • Record the meeting automatically: Not recommended if “Join before host” has been enabled. This will start recording as soon as the meeting begins.
  • Meeting Purpose: optional information.
  • Alternative Hosts: Add the email address for anyone at Northwestern who needs hosting privileges. Be sure to use the email associated with their Northwestern Zoom account. Instructors can designate a co-host during a meeting, so you do not need to be added as an alternative host. During the meeting you, as the instructor, can promote the ZA or TA from participant to co-host.
  • Non-NU participants: Students who are auditing a course should be issued an NU email address and join an NU course Zoom meeting using that address. Guest lecturers who are not affiliated with NU are a special case. Consult with your department for how they should be admitted.

Below is an example of a completed meeting scheduling page:

Remember to click the blue Save button to schedule the meeting.

The meeting now appears in the Upcoming Meetings tab within the course Zoom tab.

Upcoming Meetings in Zoom

The meeting will also appear in the Canvas calendar. Students can click directly on the calendar event to join the meeting.

Class Meeting on Zoom

Changing Meeting Settings

After saving a meeting, you can change options by clicking on the meeting name in the list of meetings, scrolling down, and choosing Edit this Meeting.