OSI Academic Org Structure changes in Canvas and UTS Open

The UTS OSI program includes changes to the Academic Org Structure. These changes are being implemented in IT systems starting with CASS on August 19 2026.

From late August 2026 onwards, Canvas will maintain two separate sets of faculty structures – the current structure and the new OSI Academic Org Structure. This is required so that teaching and learning can continue for subjects being taught in 2026 sessions (for example in DAB and FASS) through to the end of Summer Session 2026 in Febraury 2027.

At the same time subject provisioning and enrolment for 2027 sessions will be transitioned to the new faculty, school, and discipline structure (for example Design and Society) in preparation for the first 2027 teaching session, Session 1 2027, in January 2027. This will also provide sufficient time for professional support staff to adapt to the changes, while ensuring continuity of operations, accurate record-keeping, and any necessary adjustments during the transition period.

Please note: only 2027 subject availabilities onwards will be provisioned and enroled in the new OSI Academic Org Structure.

During this transition period, some professional staff in elevated roles will need to retain their existing access while also being granted access to the new faculty sub-account structure, enabling them to work effectively across both environments. To support this change and maintain the security of our Canvas instances, we have introduced new OSI-based access request forms earlier than the usual end-of-year access review cycle. This ensures that access permissions remain current, appropriately governed, and aligned with operational requirements throughout the transition.



Canvas

  • Week of August 26: The new three level structure will be created in Canvas in addition and separately from the current one in order to maintain separation of elevated access in future sessions.
  • Faculties and Schools under the current structure will have “2026” appended, until the conclusion of the Summer 2026 session, after which this will change to “archive”. This is so that faculties with the same name under the current and future structures can be differentiated while navigating in Canvas.

UTS Open

  • Week of August 19: The existing structure will be updated only at the faculty level including the addition of the new Design and Society faculty, plus some minor changes required to match CASS.
  • Links to forms to request access to the updated structure will be made available by email, targeted to the roles which require early access to FDS.

An email will be sent to the relevant approvers closer to the implementation time for each system.

The forms for elevated access requests to the current structure will be disabled during a transition period (August to December) while the forms for elevated access to the new structure are made available. This is to help make the process clear and avoid accidental submission of the wrong form. Necessary new requests for access to the current structure can be made by submitting a Service Connect request during the transition period, and the form will be made available temporarily to that person.

New OSI based Structure

At the start of September 2026, ADTLs, faculty representatives, and managers will receive a communication containing a link to the forms to request elevated access to the new OSI academic org unit structure (including FDS) in Canvas:

In July 2027, ADTLs, faculty representatives, and managers will receive a communication containing the new forms relevant to their elevated access requirements for Canvas in the new OSI structure, including FDS. The access approved through this process will remain valid until December 2027, when it will be renewed for 2028.

Pre-2027 Canvas Structure:

In December 2026, ADTLs, faculty representatives, and managers will receive a communication containing a link to the forms to request elevated access to the pre-2027 academic org unit structure (including DAB and FASS) in Canvas, for 2027:

In December 2027, ADTLs, faculty representatives, and managers will receive a communication containing a link to the forms to request elevated access to the pre-2027 academic org unit structure (including DAB and FASS) in Canvas, for 2028.

There is no plan at this stage to retire the Pre-2027 structure. Access will be able to be requested and approved for as long as there is a need for access to historical data.