Update 11:12 p.m.:

According to a university‑wide email from Executive Vice President and Provost Fotis Sotiropoulos, Penn State does not expect the ongoing Canvas outage to be resolved within the next 24 hours, and the disruption “could stretch beyond.”

As such, the University has said that all tests scheduled in the Pollock Testing Center for Thursday night and Friday have been canceled, and faculty are being notified as the university determines next steps for final grading. Students attending commencement may still walk even without final grades, though those receiving deferred grades (DF) will not be issued diplomas until grades are resolved.

Penn State says it will provide further instructions via email and is directing students to its IT status page for the latest updates.

Original Post:

Canvas, Penn State’s cloud-based learning management system, is currently experiencing an outage, per the University.

The outage comes during finals week when faculty and students use the website to complete exams. Penn State urges students to use an “abundance of caution” on the site until the outage is resolved.

“Users should avoid interacting with or clicking on any links, messages, or content posted by threat actors or that appear suspicious during this event,” Penn State said on its website. “Penn State will never direct users to unverified third-party sites for Canvas-related communications or remediation activities.”

A message displayed when users attempt to log in to the website claims that the site has been hacked. It says that schools affected should contact “TOX” immediately to negotiate a settlement, or risk a data leak. The pop-up claims the schools have until the end of the day.

Penn State says it will continue to share updates on Canvas’s status as they become available. To see the latest status information from Instructure, click here.