Current UC Santa Barbara students will be the last to use Gauchospace — the university’s individualized learning management system — before it’s replaced with Canvas by Fall 2023.
The transition away from Gauchospace has already begun, with nearly 200 courses having already made the switch to Canvas — a system already employed by most University of California campuses.
“Right now, Canvas is taking place gradually over the 2022-23 academic year, and the vast majority of courses should be on Canvas by Fall 2023,” UCSB Media Relations Manager Kiki Reyes told the Nexus in an email statement.
The transition away from Gauchospace is rooted in upcoming changes to Moodle, the platform that runs Gauchospace. Moodle, in its current form, will not be available come Fall 2023, which would deprive Gauchospace of security updates and could risk the safety of critical campus data, according to UCSB Information Technology’s website.
Gauchospace is scheduled to end operations by the end of the academic year as part of a systemwide transition to Canvas. Guidance and oversight of the transition is provided by a project steering committee.
“The transition to Canvas will require time, effort, and careful thought, with engagement and representation from faculty, students, and staff,” read the UCSB Canvas Transition page.
Funding for the transition is provided by the California 2021 Budget Act, which allocated funds to all UC campuses to shift to one common learning management system by the start of the 2023-24 academic year.
With the exception of UC San Francisco, all UC campuses are making, or have already made, the switch to Canvas.
Spring Quarter 2023 will be the final quarter that Gauchospace is generally available to instructors, with limited exceptions, before it will be removed as an option in Fall 2023.
Students and instructors will have the chance to ask questions and learn more about the shift to Canvas during a virtual town hall on Oct 20. hosted by the university.
A version of this article appeared on p. 3 of the Sept. 29, 2022 print edition of the Daily Nexus.
