Montana State University is adopting Canvas by Infrastructure as its new learning management system (LMS). As we approach the changeover, here are some important things to keep in mind:

  • Canvas will be the LMS used for all MSU courses starting the first summer session on May 19, 2025.
  • Three years of courses (summer session 2022 through spring semester 2025) will be migrated for you from D2L Brightspace. You should start to see your migrated courses in your Canvas account beginning in December. Please note that they will not all appear at the same time, so be patient.
  • You can begin migrating your courses from D2L Brightspace or build new courses in Canvas anytime. To learn more about how to do this, visit the migration page on the Canvas website. Your existing courses, as mentioned above, will still be auto-migrated into your Canvas account, but they will not override any courses you have built or migrated yourself.
  • To request auto-migration for any non-credit, practice or master courses — or courses outside the summer 2022 to spring 2025 window — please request a course to be migrated.
  • Courses that you migrate, or which are migrated automatically for you, will still require you to do some work to make them usable. Please review them as early as possible.
  • Migrated courses will not include any student data, grades or submissions. Before June 1, 2025, faculty and departments must download any work samples, student data, or artifacts needed for annual reviews, assessment, accreditation, I-grade completion or other purposes. To learn how to do this, visit Retaining Student Data from D2L Brightspace on the Canvas website.
  • Plan ahead! On June 1, 2025, you will no longer have access to D2L Brightspace.

You can find information about training and support on MSU’s Canvas website. If you have questions or need more information, write to canvas@montana.edu or contact us another way

Dr. Tracy A.O. Dougher
Vice Provost for Curriculum, Assessment, and Accreditation
Accreditation Liaison Officer
212 Montana Hall
(406) 994-3790