Canvas is the university’s official Learning Management System (LMS) — the secure, online platform where teaching and learning happen. Faculty use Canvas to share course materials, post announcements, collect assignments, grade student work, and engage students in discussion. In short, it’s the digital home for instruction.
Canvas is designed to serve students and instructors enrolled in a course. Each Canvas course site is a virtual classroom where instructors have full ownership and autonomy over instructional content. This flexibility is critical to academic freedom and allows faculty to teach and mentor in ways that best meet the needs of their students and disciplines.
Because Canvas is built for teaching and learning, it is not the right tool for marketing, event promotion, or general campus communication. Using Canvas for these purposes can lead to confusion, unwanted notifications, and blurred boundaries between instructional and administrative spaces. It can also create compliance and privacy issues, since course sites are restricted to enrolled participants and are not public-facing. Therefore, CGU does not use Canvas for administrative or other non-instructional activity.
Keeping Canvas focused on instruction helps maintain clarity, consistency, and respect for the instructor’s digital teaching space, ensuring that faculty and students can focus on what matters most: learning.
To access Canvas, please go to the following website: cgu.instructure.com or use the Canvas link from your MyCGU applications list.
Please be sure to scroll all the way down to see all available information
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
For optimal user experience, we recommend a broadband Internet connection, and a computer with recent versions of popular browsers, Java, and multimedia plug-ins. A complete list of system requirements can be found here.
Recommended Internet Browser: Chrome (Latest Version)
Compatible Internet Browsers
- As of Fall 2023, Canvas is also compatible with current versions of Firefox, Edge, and Safari and some mobile apps.
- What are the browser and computer requirements for Instructure Canvas? Is my browser up to date? (website)
JavaScript Required
- To download the most recent version of Java, please visit Java’s website.
CANVAS RESOURCES
You can find documentation, tutorials, videos, OIT services, and other Canvas-related resources at Canvas Resources. CGU Instructors and teaching assistants can learn more about digital learning tools in the Online Faculty Resource Center in Canvas.
CANVAS AT THE CLAREMONT COLLEGES
Each college in the Claremont Colleges Consortium has its own digital campus in Canvas. Faculty and students at undergraduate colleges may need to log into their home college to see their course offered by another college in Canvas. However, faculty and students will need to log in to CGU’s Canvas to see CGU courses.
- Any student enrolled in a course at CGU needs to log in to CGU’s Canvas using CGU credentials at cgu.instructure.com to access courses in Canvas.
- CGU faculty and students enrolled in a course at another Claremont College campus may be able to access the course through CGU’s Canvas. If the course is not available in CGU’s Canvas, please contact the hosting college for assistance. Links are listed below for each college’s Canvas and their IT department help desk.
Canvas @ Pitzer College
Canvas @ Claremont McKenna College
Canvas @ Harvey Mudd College
Canvas @ Scripps College
Canvas @ Pomona College
Canvas @ Keck Graduate Institute*
* faculty and students will need to log in to KGI’s Canvas to see KGI courses