Update on CANVAS 

Dear Campus Community,

I am reaching out with an update regarding the national security incident affecting Canvas. 

Canvas is currently available and accessible. Instructure has restored Canvas services, and the platform is now back online.  

What About Finals and Student Grades?   
A business continuity plan will be provided to faculty to support students who need to make up Canvas-related course assignments affected by the interruption. Faculty will contact their students to provide details about their specific courses. 

Be Aware of Phishing Attempts
Students, faculty, and staff should be cautious of unexpected emails, text messages, or phone calls that reference Canvas, Instructure, assignments, grades, account access, password resets, MFA verification, or urgent login requests. 

• Do not click links in unsolicited messages claiming to be from Canvas, Instructure, Office of IDEAS, or Technology Services. Instead, open a browser and go directly to the official Fresno State Canvas site.
• Report suspicious messages to the Information Security team at reportphishing@mail.fresnostate.edu.
• The CSU will never ask faculty or students to pay for Canvas use, including for exams.

Refer to Fresno State’s Canvas Update page for additional information and recent communications.  

Need help? 

• For technical or performance issues with Canvas, contact the Technology Service Desk at 559.278.5000.
• Students seeking guidance, care, or a confidential space can connect with the Student Health and Counseling Center at 559-278-2734.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Bao Johri, Vice President for IT and CIO 

Dear Faculty,

As you all are well aware, Canvas experienced a worldwide system outage related to a cybersecurity breach affecting thousands of institutions and millions of faculty and students. At the time of writing, Canvas has been restored, and we are hopeful that the situation is resolved. 

We are continuously monitoring how the situation develops, and will provide updates if the status changes.

This is a time that we demonstrate our care for students and each other with empathy, patience, kindness and understanding. 

As a precaution to the recent Canvas interruptions, all faculty are strongly encouraged to go to their course(s) and export the entire course Gradebook frequently as well as any ungraded assignments and upload them to your Fresno State Google Drive. You may monitor any Canvas updates on the CSU Canvas Incident Report page.

In the event that Canvas becomes unavailable again, we truly feel with you for the loss of access to gradebooks, assignments, and other valuable resources that have become part of our teaching. 

If our students experience challenges with not being able to submit assessments to earn course grades, it could affect academic standing, financial aid eligibility, graduation timelines, job acceptance or graduate school admissions. Please communicate with them as often as needed, and work with them with care, flexibility and generosity. Thank you!!

In the event of further Canvas outages, please message your students immediately with your plan for how to adapt and complete the semester. Assure them that their grades will NOT be negatively impacted.

If Canvas is unavailable, it is your decision to use alternative means for gathering remaining assignments and for conducting final exams, or to consider forgoing remaining exams and/or assignments should it not be possible to conduct/collect them. Please refer to our Canvas Continuity webpage for step-by-step guidance and helpful tips. 

Sincerely,

Xuanning Fu, Ph.D.
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Dear Campus Community,

As reported earlier this week, Instructure, the company that provides the Canvas learning management system, identified a cybersecurity incident affecting the Canvas platform. This message provides a current update.

At this time, Canvas is unavailable across multiple CSU campuses, including Fresno State. Instructure is actively working to gather more information and restore services. We are coordinating closely with Instructure to assess the scope of the impact and will continue to share updates as more information becomes available.

In the meantime, we are activating our business continuity plan to help minimize disruption. Additional guidance will be provided to faculty to support flexibility for students who need to make up Canvas-related course assignments affected by the interruption.

Please continue to refer to the CSU Canvas Incident Reports page for the latest updates and resources for affected individuals. 

If you have any questions or concerns, contact the Technology Service Desk at 559.278.5000.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Bao Johri, Vice President for IT and CIO

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to share an important update regarding a cybersecurity incident involving Instructure, the company behind the Canvas Learning Management System. 

As of May 5, 2026, Instructure has confirmed a cybersecurity incident involving unauthorized access to data. Fresno State, along with other institutions, was affected, and some data associated with our Canvas environment was accessed without authorization. 

Based on current information, the data involved may include certain personal information. However, there is no indication that passwords, dates of birth, government-issued identification numbers, or financial information were involved.

The Instructure security incident is a vendor-driven national event affecting multiple institutions. We are continuing to closely monitor vendor updates and assess any potential impact. We will share more information as it becomes available.

If you experience any technical or performance issues with Canvas, contact the Technology Service Desk at 559.278.5000.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Dr. Bao Johri
Vice President for IT and CIO