In order for Canvas courses to be available to students in advance of the term start, and available to instructors after the term end for grading, there is a setting that must be set in the course. This setting cannot be set globally and must be verified for each individual course.
This check box in the course settings on the Course Details tab for "Students can only participate in the course between these dates" needs to be checked off as seen below:
If you have any further questions or issues with this setting, please reach out to the Helpdesk by emailing helpdesk@bridgeport.edu.