Update on Canvas outage and next steps
May 8, 2026 8:56 PM
Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,
Earlier this evening, after more than 24 hours of working around the clock, the team at Technology Services received some good news: they were able to restore a connection to Canvas to begin investigating whether the service can appropriately be restored for students, faculty, and staff to use. It will take until midday tomorrow to confirm that continued use does not present undue risk to our university community and their data.
Over the past day, we have listened to concerns expressed by students and instructors. We recognize that the unavailability of our learning management system continues to create uncertainty during an already stressful time of the year. At the same time, we remain committed to prioritizing the security of the members of our university community and their data.
Based on the information currently available to us, we envision two possible scenarios for how the weekend and the rest of finals week will proceed. We do not wish to introduce additional uncertainty but we do want to give students and instructors the greatest possible advance notice that we can. We plan to communicate tomorrow afternoon when we know which path we will take.
If Canvas is restored for use on Saturday.
If it is determined appropriate to restore for use for faculty, students, and staff, our team will reconnect Canvas at Illinois and notify users it is back online. If Canvas is back online by 4 p.m. tomorrow, all exams originally scheduled for Friday, May 8, will take place on Sunday, May 10. All exam times and locations will remain unchanged from their originally scheduled time on Friday, with only the date shifting to Sunday. Students who cannot take exams on Sunday will be offered alternatives as determined by their department and instructor. Instructors who cannot facilitate exams on Sunday will be offered options by their department.
Similarly, course instructors will be able to assign a new due date for any final assignments, projects, or other final evaluations that were originally due on Friday or Saturday. Instructors have discretion to assign new due dates as they deem appropriate and may communicate directly with students about their expectations.
If Canvas cannot be safely restored for use.
If it is determined that Canvas cannot be turned back on safely, we will communicate with deans, department heads, and instructors regarding alternate ways to end the semester, taking into consideration travel arrangements, housing, graduation, and human resources. We will share more information before noon on Sunday, May 10, as previously communicated in my message to you on Thursday, May 7.
We have published FAQs and updates based on the information we have available to us. I strongly urge you to explore those as they address the most common questions we have received.
Thank you for your resilience and adaptability during a difficult situation for everyone. Thank you also for your continued support of each other.
Sincerely,
John Coleman
Provost
Office of the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor
sent to:
Academic Professionals, Civil Service, Faculty, Extra Help, Graduate Students, Undergraduate Students, Incoming Graduate Students & Incoming Undergraduate Students