Faculty Question of the Week (August 21, 2025)

Q: We have some students writing a deferred exam for my course in September, and they would like to access the Quercus materials. Since the course has been concluded, I have restricted students from viewing the course after the term end date. Is there a way I can give Quercus access only to the deferred exam students after a course has concluded, while still restricting other students from viewing the course? 

A: Yes, it’s possible! Normally, Quercus courses become read-only one month after the term ends. If you’ve enabled Restrict students from viewing course after term end date in Course Settings, students lose access as soon as the term ends. 

To keep the course closed for most students while giving deferred exam students access, you can create a separate section just for them. That section can have its own access window, which overrides the course-level restriction. 

How to set up a section for a deferred exam

1. In Course Settings, change Participation from Term to Course (keep the existing start and end dates). 
2. Create a new section for deferred exam students. 
3. Add only those students to the new section. 
4. Set custom start and end dates for the section (e.g., extend access until the deferred exam date). Example: If course access ends May 31, 2025, but the deferred exam section end date is set to August 31, 2025, only the deferred exam students will retain access until August 31. All other students remain restricted after May 31. 
5. After the custom access window ends, remove the student from the deferred exam section. Alternative: Switch the course Participation setting back to Term. Term dates override section dates, so students won’t retain read-only access past the term end date.