Background

The project to select and implement a new Learning Management System (LMS) for the University of Virginia was announced by the provost during the June 21, 2021, Deans meeting and through follow-up email communication to the Deans, Academic Associate Deans, and Associate Deans for Administration.

“The goal of the project is to implement a modern LMS that will provide an engaging online learning environment that has both a great user interface and the flexibility to easily integrate new tools that we may want now and in the future. This single LMS, to be used by all undergraduate schools and hopefully also many of the graduate schools, will provide a much better experience for our faculty and students, who are currently using up to three different learning management systems.”

To lead this important work, a project steering committee was formed with representation from faculty, staff, subject matter experts, and undergraduate students. The steering committee, with broad input from stakeholders, spent nearly six months comprehensively evaluating LMS platforms. At the steering committee’s February 24, 2022, meeting, committee members were polled and polling results, along with summary vendor/product evaluation results, were documented and shared with Provost Ian Baucom by the project’s executive sponsors. During the March 21, 2022, Deans meeting, it was announced that the University would be implementing Canvas.

The University will be in good company with a strong network of peers using our new LMS. Canvas has been adopted by 98 of the 131 R1 Doctoral Universities. A significant factor in our selection is the overall usability of the Canvas system. Faculty survey results stressed the importance of ease of transition and usability of the new system. We have selected Canvas based upon the platform’s ease of use and projected ease of transition and adoption.

Project Phases

The project will be conducted through four phases. With the launch of our Fall 2022 Pilot Program, we are now in the LMS Transition phase. 

• Complete - LMS Information Gathering & Preparation

• Complete - LMS Evaluation & Selection

• Complete - Implementation Planning

• In Progress - LMS Transition

Project Structure

The overall project governance and management structure is depicted below, and includes the LMS Project Steering Committee comprised of representatives from each school, as well as additional faculty, staff, subject matter experts, and students. 

Project Contact

For additional information about the project, please email the LMS Project team at: [email protected].