Canvas
Separate Logins: Kenan-Flagler Business School | MPH@UNC | School of Government Non-Degree Courses
Canvas replaced Sakai as the University’s learning management system after the Spring 2024 semester concluded. Learn more about the transition to Canvas.
Training and Support
Canvas Help Resources
- Help menu within Canvas: 24/7 chat and phone support
- Moving from Sakai to Canvas: UNC training videos and resources to help instructors move from Sakai to Canvas
- UNC Canvas FAQ: Curated list of guides to help users get started in Canvas
- Instructor Guides and Videos
- Student Guides and Videos
- UNC Help: Go through help.unc.edu for UNC-specific questions only. For example, select the ‘Get Help’ button for assistance with cross-listing courses and 3rd party tools or search ‘Canvas Support’ and select ‘Canvas Site Rename Request’ to rename a site. All other questions about how to use Canvas or issues should go through Canvas Support (Help menu within Canvas).
Canvas Training
Personal Consultations
Need one-on-one help with Canvas? Sign up for a personal consultation to meet with an ITS-EdTech member over Zoom!
Group Training
Check back for our group trainings. You can also submit a help request if you would like to schedule a departmental training.
Self-Help Resources
See Moving from Sakai to Canvas for video tutorials and guides to help instructors transition from Sakai to Canvas with tool comparisons between the two systems. This resource provides an overview of commonly used tools for instructors to manage their courses, communicate and share course materials with students, and collect and provide feedback on student work.
Request Forms
Note: Faculty/Staff Onyen required to access request forms.
New Site Request Form
New Site Request Form: Submit site requests for a brand new Canvas site for course development or training, instructional, or administrative purposes (committee work, communications, reviews, etc.).
Additional Sakai to Canvas Migration
Sakai migrations have been completed for University Registrar courses taught in 2022, 2023, and Spring 2024. The additional migration request form is now closed.
Note: If you require any Sakai content from course sites (pre-SP22) or project sites for re-use in Canvas, please refer to instructions on how to migrate content from Sakai yourself.
Guest Accounts
Non-Onyen guest accounts may be created for individuals not eligible for an Onyen account who will serve in instructional, advisory, or other coordinating roles in Canvas sites. Guest accounts can also be created for students from other institutions enrolled in credit-bearing courses at UNC-CH as well as for students enrolled in non-credit bearing courses or training sponsored by a UNC-CH operating unit. Only users with the role of Teacher, TA, Designer, Dean Designate, or Tech Support can create a guest account from their site. Important: Once created, active guest accounts are valid indefinitely but will be suspended after one year of inactivity (i.e., user unable to log in) and deleted after four years of inactivity (i.e., all data removed).
All UNC-Chapel Hill Faculty, Students, and Staff who have an active Onyen have access to Canvas. Rosters are added automatically to Canvas for official course sites based on enrollment data in ConnectCarolina.
If needed, you may add other UNC-Chapel Hill users to your Canvas sites. For example: tech support, instructional designers, departmental colleagues, or students not on the roster. To do this, go to the site and select People > +People > select Login ID > enter their Onyen > select role > Next > Add User.
Only complete the following steps if you need to add a user to your Canvas site who does not have an Onyen. Note: Only Teachers, TAs, Designers, and Tech Support can create users in their sites.
- Log into Canvas at canvas.unc.edu
- Go to your site where you would like to add a guest
- Go to People
- Click People+ button
- Select Login ID
- Enter the guest’s Email address in the box
- Select a Role and Section for the guest
- Check the box if the guest should only interact with this section
- Click Next Button
- If the guest does not have an account in Canvas, you will receive the following message: “We were unable to find matches below. Select any you would like to create as new users. Unselected will be skipped at this time.”
- Carefully check the box next to the guest
- Type their Full Name into the Name box (e.g. “First Last”)
- Click Next button
- Confirm that the guest’s name and email are correct
- Click Add Users button
The guest will then be added to the site with Pending status. The guest will also receive an email from Instructure Canvas with steps to create their account. Important: The guest should respond that they Do Not have a Canvas account (in our UNC-CH instance) if prompted during setup, even if they have one at another institution. After creating their account, the guest will be able to log into Canvas at canvas.unc.edu using the Non-Onyen Login button. Note: Users may be added to sites during the current term but not after courses have concluded.