Dear Faculty,

The Provost’s Office and CITS Instructional Development would like to share with you some exciting updates about our transition from the current Learning Management System (LMS) Blackboard to the new system, Canvas.

This past May, we launched our transition by assembling a small pilot of 19 faculty and 62 courses. Over the summer, they trained on the new system and are teaching some of their courses in Canvas this fall. Feedback from the pilot faculty has been positive, and we are looking forward to the entire campus using Canvas in Fall 25.

We ask that faculty, especially advisors, note that a few students are enrolled in two different LMS systems for their courses. We are providing resources and support to these students, but they may need a few weeks to settle into the rhythm of navigating both systems simultaneously.

In October, the Provost’s Office will invite faculty to apply to participate in an extended pilot of Canvas for the Spring 25 term. Training will be similar to the summer pilot and include the self-paced “Growing with Canvas” faculty orientation course, Q and A sessions with the ID team, and demonstrations with Canvas representatives. All spring pilot faculty must participate in the training before teaching in the spring pilot program.

Ultimately, the entire campus will be migrated to Canvas starting in Summer 25 and finalized before the start of Fall 25. In anticipation of this, the Instructional Development team and the Office of Faculty Development will offer training and information sessions about Canvas throughout the year with a more intense focus in the spring term. We will publish a schedule of these activities later in the fall.  In Spring 25, all faculty will be given access to Canvas to learn more about the system and prepare for the campus transition.

Here is a timeline of the Canvas migration:

Timeline of Transition:

Fall’24	A few pilot courses from various departments are already using Canvas. Most courses will still use Blackboard.
Winter’25	A few courses from various departments will use Canvas. Most courses will still use Blackboard.
Spring’25	Additional courses will be added to the number of courses on Canvas. Most courses will still use Blackboard.
Summer’25	All courses will use Canvas.
Fall’25	All courses will use Canvas.

If you have questions about Canvas and the transition, we invite you to visit the Canvas information page, which will be updated as new information is available. If you have additional questions, you are welcome to email the ID team using the Canvas Feedback and Inquiries Form.

We hope your fall semester is off to a great start, and we look forward to working with you during the transition to Canvas.

Sincerely,

Ramprasad Balasubramanian, PhD 
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs