Update: Guidance to Address Canvas Outage
Dear Students,
The nationwide Canvas outage, which began yesterday afternoon, appears to have ended. We recognize that for students, this disruption affected coursework, exams, and the submission of assignments.
Please be assured that you will not be penalized for circumstances beyond your control related to this outage.
What this means for your coursework
- Assignment deadlines that relied on Canvas should have been paused or flexible unless your instructor communicated otherwise.
- You were not expected to submit work through Canvas while the system was unavailable.
- Your instructor may have shared alternative ways to submit assignments (such as email or another approved method).
- If you are unsure how or where to submit an assignment, do not guess — contact your instructor by email.
What you should do now
- As a precaution, save copies of your work and keep timestamped files.
- Monitor your KU email for course‑specific instructions from your instructor.
- If you receive academic accommodations and believe you need additional accommodations due to the Canvas outage, please reach out to the Student Access Center.
- For future reference, you can visit the IT Alert page for the most up-to-date information and to subscribe to alerts.
- Work directly with your faculty when you have questions.
As a reminder, today is Stop Day, meaning university organizations cannot schedule academic assessments, such as exams, per University Senate Rules and Regulations. If you feel you have been treated unfairly as a result of the Canvas outage, please first work with the appropriate unit or department to seek a resolution.
We understand this disruption added stress and uncertainty during an already busy time. Thank you for your patience and flexibility as systems are restored and instructors work to ensure fair and supportive academic practices.
Sincerely,
Arash
Arash Mafi, Ph.D.
Chief Academic Officer, Provost & Executive Vice Chancellor
Professor, Physics & Astronomy