Official LMS

Quick Tips

Canvas allows you to customize your personal settings to enhance your online learning experience. Add your mobile phone number to receive text message alerts when submissions are graded. Connect your Box account, Facebook account and more.

For the following tips, you must be logged in to uvu.instructure.com with your UV ID username and password. After logging in, click on your name in the top-right corner to access your user settings.

Text Message Alerts

Add your mobile phone number to receive text message alerts when your submissions are graded, you receive messages, and other announcements. Note, your standard text-message rates, as outlined in your personal carrier service agreement, will apply.

1. Click on '+ Add Contact Method' button found on the right-hand side of the page.
2. Click on the 'Text (SMS)' tab if not already selected
3. Enter your mobile phone number in the 'Cell Number' field.
4. Select your mobile phone carrier from the 'Carrier' list.
5. Click on the 'Register SMS' button.

After registering your phone number, you will receive a confirmation text message on your mobile phone.

NOTE:  If you change your mobile phone number, please update your phone number in Canvas, so that you continue to receive your alerts. Also, failing to update your phone number may result in the subsequent recipient of your old phone number to receive you Canvas alerts.

Add Your Picture

Adding your picture to your Canvas profile enables your instructors to know you better. You can update your picture at any time.

1. Click on the image placeholder icon at the top of the screen.
2. In the subsequent window that appears, click on the 'choose a picture' button.
3. Locate the desired picture on your computer.
4. After selecting your picture your picture, click the 'Save' button.

Your picture will be visible to your instructors and classmates. Please choose a picture shows your face clearly. Do NOT  upload offensive material.

Add your Box Account

Box is an online personal document repository. You can access your free Box account at https://uvu.account.box.com/login. After registering for an account, you can link Box account to your Canvas account. Doing so allows you to upload material stored in your Box account for course submissions.

1. Click on the 'Box' link on the left-hand side of your settings page.
2. Click on the 'Login to Box' link on the subsequent page.
3. After logging in, you will be asked to drag a cloud icon from an area of the page into its intended position, a shadowed outline of the same cloud. This is an additional security measure to ensure your Box account remains protected.

Other Registered Services

Other services are available for you to use within canvas, such as Google Drive, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Skype. Please review the Canvas Student Guide for further information.

The process to add Instructional Assistants (formerly called "Teaching Assistants") to a class section has CHANGED

If you are using an Instructional Assistant (IA) in a course, you will need to have that person added as an instructor with 0% workload to the class section in Banner, through the standard methods provided by Academic Class Scheduling. This will enable the IA to access the class lists in myUVU and the course in Canvas.

Parts of this change became effective beginning Summer 2017, and was made by the Academic Affairs Council in response to the following few issues:

1. The Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state reporting require institutions accurately account for the work that “TAs” perform in courses. USHE policy only refers to graduate students as teaching assistants, so we are changing our designation of TA to IA to make sure we don’t create confusion.
2. IA’s must be paid appropriately. We will be adding a step in our processes to check to see whether the IA is a paid employee or not.
3. The Academic Affairs Council has determined that IA assignments must be visible in our institutional system of record, where the deans and department chairs can accurately and fairly approve the use of IA’s when discussing workload with faculty members.
4. Improving the clarity of roles: TA/IA has become a catch-all term for students who work with faculty members in assisting in classes, including tutors, graders, and mentors, among others. Different student roles require different forms of access.

Therefore, all faculty who intend to submit forms for IA additions to Canvas for Fall 2017 will need to work with their departments to get the IA added through Banner. Once the IA is added to Banner, they will automatically be granted access to the course in Canvas. There will be options to add students with roles other than IA.

If Department Chairs and Schedulers have questions about the process, they can work with Academic IT and Academic Scheduling by contacting academic_scheduling@uvu.edu.

We also encourage Department Chairs to speak with their Deans so any unconventional IA/Faculty Instructor Workload related issues can be discussed.

There are still a few items we are working out with HR and other departments (i.e., eSAF implications) and we’ll keep you posted on those processes and how they are affected by this change.

Canvas Course Access

Banner-Managed Roles

• Teacher

  • 'Team Teachers' must be added to the course through the normal Academic Scheduling process. Work with your department scheduler who will submit the request to Academic scheduling. We will NEVER add a person to a course in Canvas as a Teacher. There are no exceptions.

• Instructional Assistant (IA)

  We no longer add IAs to courses directly in Canvas. If you are using a Instructional Assistant (IA) in a course, you will need to have that person added as an instructor to the class section in Banner via the standard Academic Scheduling process. Typically, the IA will be added to the course in Banner with 0% workload, which will add the IA to Canvas with full Teacher access. This will also enable the IA to access the class lists in myUVU. 

• Students

  We will NEVER add a person to a course in Canvas as a Student. Students MUST register for courses in Banner via myUVU. Banner automatically adds students to the Canvas course. There are no exceptions.

Custom Roles

• Observers

  • This role is reserved for employees with our Accessibility Services department, who provide accommodative assistance for some students.

• Future Instructors

  • Typically for newly-hired Faculty and Adjunct Faculty who will need access to a current or previous-semester course to adequately prepare for teaching the course in the upcoming semester.
  • NOTE:  We will NOT  add a user to your course in this role unless that user is already in Banner. Also, work with your department chair to ensure workload constraints and preparation pay are being accounted for, especially when adding Adjunct Faculty to your courses.
  • Send an email to canvas@uvu.edu to discuss the best option.

• Faculty Mentors

  • Typically reserved for department chairs and other designated faculty who have been asked to mentor new faculty, or faculty that are teaching new courses.
  • Send an email to canvas@uvu.edu to discuss the best option.

• Instructor Colleagues

  • Typically members of the community, faculty from other universities, research assistants, etc.
  • NOTE: If the person to be added has never been associated with UVU, and therefore would not have ever been issued a UV ID, you will need to have the user complete the UV ID Request form. A UVU sponsoring department staff submits the request for the non-employee. The request is reviewed by the Registrar's Office Systems Admin and a copy is sent to the college or school dean (where applicable). A UVID is created and the submitter receives a confirmation email. The person will need to complete the online FERPA training with a score of 100% before access to Canvas can be granted.