December 3, 2025
For the past several years, ITS has automatically created Slack channels for every class each semester and populated them with enrolled students and faculty. Beginning with the upcoming term, we will discontinue the automatic creation of class Slack channels.
What to know
Our review found that only about 3% of automatically created class channels were actively used. As a result, most students received Slack invitations even when instructors did not plan to use Slack for class communication. Because USC’s Slack licensing is based on the number of active users, this has led to unnecessary costs as students logged into Slack solely due to notifications from unused class channels.
Additionally, the automation system that creates and manages these channels requires significant maintenance and technical resources. Retiring this system will reduce complexity and allow us to focus support on the collaboration tools faculty and students use most.
What to do
If you plan to use Slack for your course, you can still create a class Slack channel manually. We have prepared step-by-step instructions to help you easily create a course channel and use USC’s Grading and Roster System (GRS) to invite your students.
You’ll have full control over:
- When to create your class channel
- Which students and teaching staff to include
- How to organize and use Slack for your course
This change provides greater flexibility for instructors while helping USC reduce costs and streamline operations.
Support and next steps
Detailed instructions and support resources are available. If you have questions or would like assistance setting up your Slack course channel, please contact the ITS Slack admins by visiting the trojan-slack-champs Slack channel.
Thank you for your understanding and partnership as we make this transition. By aligning our use of Slack with actual classroom needs, we can continue providing sustainable, effective collaboration tools for teaching and learning at USC.