Frequently asked questions.
The short version of what CourseShelter is, what it is not, and what an institution should expect during evaluation.
Is CourseShelter another LMS?+
No. CourseShelter is a read-only continuity and archive layer. Faculty do not teach inside it and students do not submit new coursework there.
What LMS platforms are supported?+
The initial release is focused on Canvas LMS. Additional LMS connectors should only be advertised after they are independently validated.
What data is preserved?+
The product is designed around courses, terms, sections, users, enrollments, assignments, submissions, grades, pages, modules, discussions, and files, subject to institutional scope and platform API availability.
What happens when the LMS is down?+
Authorized staff can use the latest completed CourseShelter archive to browse preserved records and retrieve files without relying on the production LMS interface.
Can CourseShelter restore a live LMS?+
The product roadmap includes export and recovery workflows, but CourseShelter should not promise push-button live restoration until each recovery path has been built and tested against the production LMS.
How often is data captured?+
Collection frequency is defined with the institution. The architecture is intended for an initial full capture followed by controlled incremental updates rather than repeated uncontrolled full-instance scraping.
How is student data protected?+
The production service is intended to use role-based access, tenant isolation, access logging, encryption, documented retention/deletion, MFA/SSO, and independently tested security controls. Current certification status is published in the Trust Center.
Is CourseShelter FERPA compliant?+
FERPA is not a product certification. CourseShelter’s customer contracts, data practices, access controls, and institutional relationship must be structured to satisfy applicable FERPA requirements and state law.
Do you have SOC 2?+
Not yet in this pre-launch model. The Trust Center intentionally shows the SOC 2 program as a readiness roadmap rather than presenting a planned audit as a completed attestation.
Do you have a VPAT or ACR?+
The product targets WCAG 2.1 AA. An independent accessibility evaluation and an Accessibility Conformance Report using the VPAT format are planned before public-sector production use.
Is every customer on a separate server?+
Not necessarily. Strong multi-tenant logical isolation can be the standard deployment, with dedicated or customer-cloud deployment available when policy or risk requires it.
How is pricing determined?+
Annual pricing uses three active-student enrollment bands, with separate K–12 and higher-education pricing. Non-standard deployment or contractual requirements can be scoped separately.
What happens when a contract ends?+
The production contract should define a customer export window, verified deletion schedule, retention exceptions such as legal holds, and documented confirmation of disposal.
Who is CourseShelter for?+
The primary users are LMS administrators, institutional IT, registrars, security teams, records/compliance staff, and continuity planners—not students using a second learning platform.