As an online student, Canvas is your main website to view course materials, submit assignments, view assignments grades, and more! This page is dedicated to outlining important information and tips for using Canvas.
Log into Canvas for all of your coursework and assignments.
You’ll use the MySanDiego portal for tuition payments and view final course grades and unofficial transcripts.
Canvas at USD
If this is your first time using Canvas, navigating this new platform can be difficult. You are never alone here at USD, so we have laid out this road map to help guide the way. If after reviewing this page you are still having difficulty with Canvas, please reach out to your Program Coordinator or professor and they will be happy to assist.
Access Canvas by opening a browser and navigating to: canvas.sandiego.edu – bookmark that link!
Your Canvas login credentials are your USDOne username and password, the same credentials you use to log into your MySanDiego student portal.
Ex: if your email is “[email protected]”, your username for Canvas will be “diegotorero”.
Browsers
It is recommended that students access Canvas using either the Firefox or Google Chrome internet browser application (Not Internet Explorer or Microsoft Edge).
Once logged into Canvas, click the “Help” tab on the top left part of the sidebar. Options exist for support, academic support, media support, and more. You may also view the Canvas Student Guide for additional support.
Subscribe to Course Notifications
You can receive notifications of course activity by clicking on your name on the left panel of your Canvas page and then on the “Notifications” link. You can now select how often you wish to receive notifications, via email or push notifications. It is recommended that you select the “notify immediately” option.
If you do not see a class you have been enrolled in, it may take up to 24 hours for your enrollment to load through Canvas.
Please note, you will not gain access to your courses in Canvas until the Thursday before the start date of your course (unless otherwise specified). During the early preview period, you will not be able to start any coursework until the first day of class, but you may start with your readings.
If you do not see one of your course sections in Canvas, please contact your Program Coordinator or the USD Student Success team at [email protected].
Need help navigating your course?
View a guide about how to navigate your Canvas Orientation course.
Please note, it is not recommended to complete coursework through the app, but it does help stay up to date with class notifications and discussion boards.
Search for the University of San Diego and log in with your MySanDiego credentials.
To set mobile notifications preferences (announcements, grades, etc.), click Settings > Notifications.
Now that you know how to navigate your course, we have some tips and tricks for success. What’s the best way to name an assignment? How do I see my grades? We have your answers below.
File attachments and Naming Convention
Canvas will allow you to attach ANY type of file format so check with your instructor for his/her preferred document type.
It is highly advisable to consistently name your attached files with your name in the title and to following a standard convention such as: Diego_AssignmentOne.docx
Avoid using the following characters in filenames as they cause errors: % & # < > = + / ‘ , ” : ! ? $ @ | [ ] { }
Assignments
Upon assignment submission, you will receive a confirmation screen with the date and timestamp.
To view grades and feedback from your professor, from your browser go to the “Grades” area in your course. If you do not see any comments under your grade, you can click on the assignment title, which will take you to a “Submission Details” page. On the right-hand side, you can view comments or select “View Feedback”.
To view instructor feedback on the mobile app: go to the “Grades” area in your course, click on the assignment name, and then click on “Submission & Rubric”. Comments from the professor (if any) should pop up.
Grades
To view grades for all current courses, click on “View Grades” on the right-side dashboard screen. It will show your current grades for the courses you are enrolled in.
If you want to check the grade of a single previous course, you can access the course through the “Courses” link in the sidebar. The previous courses will be found in the “All Courses” link, and then you can view the “Grades” page.
If you want to check the grades of multiple courses, we recommend viewing them on the MySanDiego portal using the “View/Print Unofficial Transcript” link under the “Torero Hub” > “My Academics”.
Quizzes
Answers should autosave; verify that each question saves as you go along to ensure that any network issues or glitches will not affect the work you have already done.
It is highly recommended that you take all tests using a hard-wired connection versus wireless. Sometimes wireless connections drop, which may cause you to get locked out of your test.
Discussion Board
When responding to an existing conversation/thread, always hit “Reply.”
When you submit a reply to a discussion board post, it will automatically subscribe you to the related thread. You can also subscribe to threads by clicking the “Subscribe” button on the right-hand side of the discussion board.
Writing
By default, the content editor (text editor where you compose submissions and posts in Canvas) contains one row of formatting icons. Click the toolbar headers (Ex. Edit, View, Insert, etc.) in the content editor to view advanced content editor features.
An auto-save feature can sometimes save your work before any unexpected outages, but we recommend you do all of your writing in a plain-text editor such as Google Docs. Once you are ready to post, you can copy/paste it into the content editor in Canvas.
You can use Microsoft Word to compose your submissions; however, Word often includes extraneous formatting when pasting into Canvas. Using plain-text editors is preferred.
When composing a discussion or assignment post using the content editor, Canvas allows you to create and/or embed a video that already exists on an external data source. It is recommended that students upload files to YouTube or Vimeo and send them as links.