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Canvas Onboarding for Students

Canvas is Northwestern’s learning management system (LMS). It can be used to share course content and files, submit assignments, post discussions, take quizzes, or collaborate with peers and instructors. While Northwestern instructors can decide how extensively to use Canvas in conjunction with their courses, most classes at Northwestern have an active Canvas course site. Whether you are new to Canvas or have used it before, we hope you find these resources helpful.

Getting Started

Incoming undergraduate and graduate students will have their Canvas accounts created either when they register for classes (in CAESAR) or when their program adds them to a course site to share information such as pre-enrollment instructions, placement exams, or other onboarding steps. Students do not need to request a Canvas account.

Log in to Canvas

Canvas, as well as several other university systems, uses single sign-on and Duo Multi-factor Authentication to ensure secure access for all users. You’ll need to set up Duo on your device to access Canvas.

Navigating Canvas

Once you have logged into Canvas, you can configure the following aspects of your account:

Within Canvas, the global navigation menu is on the far left of your screen and contains quick links to things like your account settings, courses, and Canvas dashboard. In a course site, the course homepage and course navigation menu will help you find the content in the course site.

Getting Help in Canvas

Canvas support is available from Northwestern Information Technology and Instructure, which operates Canvas. Instructure is generally best for “how-to” questions. Northwestern IT supports questions about enrollments, logging in, and using tools that connect to Canvas (such as Panopto, Zoom, and learning apps).

  • Instructure Canvas support (email, phone, or chat) is available within Canvas under the Help button in the global navigation menu. 

You can also get answers to many Canvas questions using the NU Canvas Chatbot, which is available by clicking the Ask button in the Canvas global navigation menu.

Accessibility Tools and Student Customizations

Canvas at Northwestern has many built-in accessibility features available to all students:

  • Immersive Reader – customize the display, access resources, and listen to text-based content
  • Sensus Access – convert content and files to more accessible formats and different outputs
  • Dark Mode and Font Selection - available in your account settings

Students needing additional accessibility support should contact AccessibleNU.

FAQs

Find answers to commonly asked questions about using Canvas.

Where is my Canvas Course?

Enrollments in CAESAR-based courses pass from CAESAR to Canvas 2-3 times per day on a fixed schedule. For courses where students register in CAESAR, the corresponding Canvas course enrollment will be visible within 24 hours. Future, past, and current courses will appear on a student’s dashboard and/or in the All Courses link. Instructors typically publish course sites to students a few days before the start of the term.

Any questions about Canvas course enrollment and access should be directed to Northwestern IT Support.

Is there a Canvas app?

There is a Canvas student app available for iOS and Android. We recommend using the app for viewing course content and details, not submitting graded work. Learn more with the Canvas student app video guide or by selected the relevant Student app guide from the Canvas Mobile information page. 

Where can I learn more about Canvas?

The Canvas student guides provide detailed information about most areas of Canvas, including how to submit graded work, view feedback, use the Canvas calendar, and more. 

Can I update my name and pronouns in Canvas?

The name and pronouns displayed in Canvas match what has been entered into NUValidate, so students should update their profile in NUValidate (rather than Canvas) to ensure consistent information across all Northwestern systems. 

Canvas isn't acting as expected. Is it broken?

Users are advised to use Firefox or Chrome as their browser to access Canvas. Most Canvas display issues can be resolved by clearing browser cache and cookies. If that doesn’t work, see above for information on getting help in Canvas. 

The operational status of Canvas can be viewed at Instructure Status. 

How long can I access courses after the term ends?

Most courses at Northwestern go into a read-only state after the term for the course has ended. In this state, students can view most course content but not submit any work, view quizzes, post to discussions, etc. Some courses restrict student access after the course ends, so students would need to contact the instructor for access to course materials. 

Students retain access to Canvas generally as long as they have an active NetID. For more information about NetID expiration upon graduation, please review NetID Expiration.