What are the important policies and rules for UVACanvas and UVACanvas Connect?

This article provides information about policies and rules related to UVACanvas and UVACanvas Connect, and answers to frequently asked questions regarding policies. Please note that the information on this page is subject to change.

Open one of the sections below for information on the corresponding topic. Here is a list of quick links to access each topic:

Data storage and security in Canvas

Canvas is considered a data storage service for content that UVA policy defines as "sensitive data". It is not an appropriate repository for "highly sensitive" data, including but not limited to the following:

  • Social Security numbers
  • Passport numbers
  • Financial account numbers
  • Data protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

Review the University Institutional Data Protection Standards (opens new window) for additional information on the University's data sensitivity classifications and recommendations for proper use.

Copyrighted content usage

It is recommended that any individuals who upload copyrighted content into their Canvas sites consult the University Library's Copyright and Scholarly Communication Resources (opens new window), particularly the Copyright Guidelines for Instructional Sharing (opens new window), to ensure that their use of this content complies with current copyright laws.

The maxim outlined in the University Library's video Fair Use in Seven Words (opens new window) is a good general rule: "Use fairly. Not too much. Have reasons."

Data retention policies

Integrated tools

The following tools integrated into UVACanvas (and UVACanvas Connect, when applicable), have data retention policies applied:

  • Online Meetings (Zoom): UVA Zoom recordings are automatically deleted 180 days after they are saved to the Zoom cloud. For more information about this policy, see the UVA Zoom FAQs page (opens new window).
  • Panopto: Files that have not been played in 4 years are automatically deleted.
  • Microsoft OneDrive and Collaborations: If an instructor uses the Microsoft OneDrive integration or the Collaborations tool in UVACanvas, a "Microsoft Group," which houses the associated files, is created for the course. This "Group" must be renewed each year by an instructor in the course. The instructor will receive an email with a subject line similar to the following: "Course: 24Sp Online Media is set to expire on Saturday, January 11, 2025." They must use a link in the email to renew the Group before the expiration date if they would like to continue to access and/or reuse the content that was linked or embedded in the Canvas course site via OneDrive or Collaborations.
  • Microsoft Teams: A UVA Teams site must be renewed each year by the owner of the site, or it will be deleted. For Teams sites created via the UVACanvas integration, an instructor in the Teams site will receive an email one year from the site's creation date asking them to renew it. A link in the email will allow them to renew the site if they need to retain it. For additional information, see the UVA Microsoft Teams page (opens new window).

Student data

For information about the storage and retention of FERPA-protected student data, such as assignment submissions, grades, and course recordings that include students, see the following resources.

General information about FERPA and data storage:

Specific guidance on course recordings:

Tip: If you have questions about UVA's retention policies for student data, you can reach out to the UVA Records & Information Management team at [email protected]

Requests for Canvas sites

A UVACanvas site is created automatically for each course roster in the Student Information System (SIS).

The Learning Technology Services (LTS) team also fields requests for other types of Canvas sites, including workspace sites, template or blueprint courses, sites for professional development courses, and sites that include non-UVA participants. Below is information about the types of sites that can be included in UVA's Canvas instances and links to details about other tools available at UVA for collaborative work.

UVACanvas

The scope of UVACanvas includes official course sites in SIS and sites which support official courses or academic requirements for UVA students.

The LTS team can create a site in UVACanvas if it meets all of the following criteria:

  • The site is associated with an academic course or requirement.
  • All participants have active UVACanvas accounts, such that they can log into UVACanvas via NetBadge using a UVA computing ID.
  • Participants will need to use course tools such as Assignments, Quizzes, or other tools that are specific to Canvas Learning Management System (LMS).

If your desired site meets these criteria, please email the LTS team at [email protected] and include the following information:

  • A summary of how you plan to use the site, including the Canvas tools that will be used. For example: "I and other instructors in my department would like a UVACanvas site to co-create quizzes for import into our courses. We plan to use Quizzes and Discussions to communicate about the quizzes we are working on."
  • A name for the desired site, for example, "French Instructors." You will be able to edit this name later.
  • The number of sites required if you need more than one site for the same purpose. For example, some instructors might need two sites to co-create quizzes that are associated with different sections of courses. Sites after the first one will be automatically named with a number appended on the name, for example, "French Instructors," "French Instructors-2." You will be able to edit the name of each site later.
  • The UVA computing ID of at least one person you would like added to the site in the Teacher role. If you know that several people will be managing the site, you can list them separated by commas, for example: "mst3k, tj4u". Anyone in the Teacher role will be able to add other participants to the site later.

UVACanvas Connect

If your desired site does require Canvas-specific tools, but does not meet the other criteria for a site in UVACanvas, you might consider using UVACanvas Connect (opens new window).

UVACanvas Connect can be used for:

  • Training or course sites that are not associated with official UVA academic requirements,
  • And/or sites that need to include participants who do not have active UVACanvas accounts.

If you think UVACanvas Connect may be the right fit, please schedule a UVACanvas Connect consultation (opens new window) to discuss this option with the LTS team.

Other types of sites

If you need a site for collaborative use that does not meet the criteria above for the use of Canvas at UVA, Microsoft Teams (opens new window) is a robust communication and collaboration tool that includes features for posting messages, sharing and collaborating on files, creating and submitting assignments, and adding non-UVA guest participants.

If your requirements are more limited (for example, you only need to share files or schedule online meetings) you can find additional recommendations for collaboration tools on the UVA Collaboration Tools page (opens new window).

Adding participants in Canvas sites

UVACanvas

Instructors, TAs, and students enrolled in SIS

Instructors, TAs, and students enrolled in an official course roster in the Student Information System (SIS) are added automatically to the UVACanvas course site where their roster section is included. Instructors or TAs can combine multiple roster sections into the same course site through a process that Canvas refers to as cross-listing.

The Manage SIS Sections tool makes it easy to cross-list roster sections into a single site. The tool can also be used to include waitlisted students in sections in a course site for the current academic term or a future term. For more information, see How do I combine/cross-list multiple courses or sections into one course site? (opens new window).

Note: Each SIS roster section within Canvas can only be included in a single Canvas site. For example, if you are teaching a large lecture course with multiple discussion sections, you can either have separate Canvas course sites for the lecture section and each discussion section or a single Canvas site that includes all sections. If you have questions about whether you might prefer to use separate sites or a single site for multiple sections, please reach out to the Learning Technology Services (LTS) team at [email protected] and describe how you think you might like to set up your course.

Additional course participants

For security and privacy reasons, all participants in UVACanvas course sites must have active UVACanvas accounts, such that they can log into UVACanvas via NetBadge using a UVA computing ID.

Instructors may add users with active UVA accounts to course sites by following the steps in How do I add users to a course? (opens new window). Select the Login ID option and enter the user's UVA computing ID. Please note that trying to add someone to a site using the Email option and entering a UVA email alias, @uvawise.edu, or @uvahealth.org email address might not work.

Instructors do not have permission to add participants to UVACanvas sites using non-UVA email addresses. Please see below for additional information about specific types of participants and how UVA computing IDs can be obtained or activated for them.

Note: As described in the IT Checklist for Leaving UVA (opens new window), individuals who have left UVA lose access to UVACanvas after their grace period. For students who graduated, the grace period is 6 months.

If you plan to have an alum assist with an upcoming course, their UVA account will need to be reactivated for them to log into UVACanvas. See the section below on Instructors and instructional support staff for details.

Tip: You can add a non-UVA guest's email address to a Course Email list by following the steps in How do I set the Preferences for a Course Email list? (opens new window).

Guests may also be invited to Zoom meetings by following the steps in How do I invite a non-UVA guest to a meeting in Online Meetings? (opens new window).

Students

Users cannot be added in the Student role in UVACanvas with non-UVA email addresses for two reasons—one technical, and one contractual. From a technical perspective, Canvas' native authentication options do not meet the University's minimum requirements for FERPA-protected data, so students participating in courses in the system must sign in with NetBadge. From a contractual perspective, students who are not enrolled at UVA are not included in the University’s institutional agreement with Instructure. Accordingly, any non-UVA students participating in courses in UVACanvas would incur additional fees.

For a non-UVA student to obtain a UVA computing ID:

  • The student can register as a Community Scholar (opens new window) and enroll in a course as an auditor.
  • Alternatively, an instructor can request an Academic sponsored account (opens new window) for the student. Instructors can complete the account request form and select Visiting Student as the sponsored account type. The following information will be needed from the student to complete the form:
    • Legal first/middle/last name (Note: If the person was previously at UVA, and had a different legal first, middle, or last name at the time, this information will also be required to reactivate their UVA computing ID.)
    • Date of birth
    • Home or work address
    • Non-UVA email address
    • Mobile phone number
    • UVA computing ID (if the person was previously at UVA)
Instructors and instructional support staff
New employees

New hires can get early access to UVA systems, including UVACanvas, before their employment start date by emailing [email protected]

Unpaid volunteers, visiting professors, contractors

A UVA employee can request an Academic sponsored account (opens new window) for the user needing access to the Canvas site. The following information will be needed from the user to complete the form:

  • Legal first/middle/last name (Note: If the person was previously at UVA, and had a different legal first, middle, or last name at the time, this information will also be required to reactivate their UVA computing ID.)
  • Date of birth
  • Home or work address
  • Non-UVA email address
  • Mobile phone number
  • UVA computing ID (if the person was previously at UVA)

UVACanvas Connect

Users with active UVACanvas accounts and guest participants who have non-UVA email addresses may be added to course sites in UVACanvas Connect.

Depending on what types of participants will be included in a site and the method by which they will be added to the site, for example being added individually by the site owner or via self-registration, there may be a cost associated with their participation.

For more information, please schedule a UVACanvas Connect consultation (opens new window).

Canvas site access

The Learning Technology Services (LTS) team does not add people to Canvas course sites or copy content from Canvas course sites without the permission of instructors or site owners due to departmental policies designed to ensure the integrity of all sites in the system.

Occasionally, however, individuals require access to a site or course content belonging to an instructor or site owner who is indisposed or no longer affiliated with the University. In these situations:  

  1. The person who needs access should fill out the electronically stored information (ESI) request form on the Records and Information Management (RIM) site (opens new window). The link to the form can be found in the Submit a Request section of the page. Please include in your request as many details as possible about the content you need to access, so the LTS team can locate the desired content if the request is approved:
    • The name of the course or site, for example, "25Sp History of UVA."
    • The semester when the course was taught, for example, "Spring 2025."
    • The course mnemonic, for example, "CIS_1031-001."
    • The computing ID of the instructor who taught the course, if known; for example, "mst3k."
    • A description of the content you need to access; for example, "I would like a copy of the syllabus and files the previous instructor uploaded so I can adapt the materials for this semester's iteration of the course."
  2. If the request is approved, RIM will coordinate the fulfillment of the request with the LTS team.
Data requests

The following types of requests for data from UVACanvas need to be approved by Records and Information Management (RIM) (opens new window):

  • An instructor would like information on student activity in Canvas that they cannot access themself.
  • A student would like information on their own activity that they cannot access themself.
  • A student who has graduated or left UVA, whose grace period for accessing UVACanvas (opens new window) has expired, would like to obtain their assignment submissions or other content from UVACanvas.

Current UVA users

To request any information on activity in Canvas that you cannot access yourself, fill out the electronically stored information (ESI) request form on the Records and Information Management (RIM) site (opens new window). The link to the form can be found in the Submit a Request section of the page.

RIM will determine if the request warrants an investigation that requires additional data. If it does, RIM will coordinate the fulfillment of the request with the Learning Technology Services (LTS) team.

Note: While the description under the Submit a Request section of the ESI page does not specifically mention students, current students may use the ESI form to request information on their own activity that they cannot access themselves.

Alumni and former students

If you are a student who has left UVA and your grace period for accessing UVACanvas has expired, you can submit a request for the release of your data as detailed on the Release of Electronically Stored Information page (opens new window).

As a former student, you will not be able to access the online request form in ServiceNow as directed on that page. Instead, please reach out to the Records Management office directly at [email protected] for assistance with submitting your request.

If you are looking for specific content that could not be obtained by following the steps in How do I download assignment submissions from all my courses? (opens new window), please try to be as specific as possible in describing the types of content you would like to obtain. For example, the name of the course and instructor if you are looking for files from a specific course.

Canvas file upload limits and Files quotas

As described in the help article Canvas File Quotas (opens new window), there are limits to the size of files that can be uploaded to Canvas and the maximum amount of storage space (quota) in each course's, group's, and individual user's Files tool. The following are key limitations to note:

  • The default quota for the Files tool in UVACanvas course sites is 4 GB.
  • The default quota for a group's Files tool is 100 MB.
  • Individual user file quotas are 100 MB. This limit cannot be increased on a per-user basis.
  • The file upload limit for video and audio files is 500 MB. This limit cannot be increased.

Note: The Learning Technology Services (LTS) team will not increase the quota for a course's or group's Files to allow for storing video or audio files. Please see below for guidance on uploading and sharing media files.

Uploading and sharing video and audio files

Files is not recommended for sharing video or audio files with students, as the tool does not provide accessibility features that support diverse needs and learning styles. You can find information about this in How can I make video or audio accessible? (opens new window).

You can use My Media and Media Gallery (Kaltura), Panopto Video, or Canvas Studio for video and audio files. Note: The LTS team recommends Kaltura for audio files, as it has a dedicated audio player.

Kaltura, Panopto, and Studio have very high file upload limits, files uploaded to them will not count against the Files quota in your course, their streaming features allow media to be displayed nicely on a variety of devices (computers, phones, or tablets), and you can easily add captions to files in them.

Below are links to some help articles with steps to get started using one of the media tools.

Tool integrations

Many external tools are integrated into UVACanvas. You can find more information on available tools on the UVACanvas Integrated Tools list (opens new window) and the Learning Tech website (opens new window).

UVACanvas Connect currently offers Online Meetings (Zoom), My Media/Media Gallery (Kaltura), and Canvas Studio as integrated tools.

In addition to the tools that are currently integrated into UVACanvas or UVACanvas Connect, in certain circumstances it is possible to add additional tools to the system. The following steps must be completed before a new external tool can be considered for integration:

  1. An accessibility review: A VPAT or other documentation will need to be provided by the vendor regarding their accessibility compliance, and compliance will need to be approved.
  2. A security review: For more information on the need for a security review, see the UVA Information Security page: When to Request a Review (opens new window).
  3. A signed contract: A contract will need to be obtained with UVA Procurement that contains UVA's data protection clause.

To begin this process, fill out the Tool Request form on the UVA Learning Tech site (opens new window).