UVA Collab: Complete Guide to University of Virginia LMS

UVA Collab is the University of Virginia’s centrally supported online collaboration and learning environment (CLE). Students and faculty at the University of Virginia are permitted to create and utilize collaboration sites and/or course sites to facilitate the work of class members, project teams, and research groups.

The University of Virginia (UVA) employs UVA Collab, an online collaborative learning system. It provides faculty, students, and staff with a platform for communication, resource sharing, and course management. The system is essentially a customized variation of the open-source learning management system Sakai, tailored to meet UVA’s requirements.

Here is a comprehensive overview:

UVA Collab is the learning management system of the University of Virginia, facilitating online collaboration among faculty, students, and personnel. Users can access a variety of tools within Collab, including course sites, project sites, discussion forums, document sharing, assignment submission, and grading tools, among others. It is a central center for academic activities at UVA, facilitating instructors’ and students’ communication and resource management.

You should refer directly to the University of Virginia’s official resources and IT services for the most up-to-date information and specifics about UVA Collab.

UVA Collab Summary

UVACollab will be discontinued in December 2025. UVA is transitioning from UVACollab to platforms that provide access to the latest innovations in pedagogical and collaborative technologies and offer features such as central calendars, mobile apps, cloud file storage, and integrated messaging after more than 16 years of use.

This initiative will facilitate the transition of the numerous UVACollab sites currently dedicated to collaboration and administration to more modern, shared platforms by providing extensive recommendations and support.

Please visit canvas.virginia.edu to learn more about the transition of official academic course sites to UVACanvas. Currently, project teams are evaluating solutions to support teaching and learning activities related to non-degree courses and programs (not listed in SIS).

UVACollab will remain accessible until at least the end of 2025. You may continue to use your current UVACollab sites, but we encourage you to evaluate alternative collaboration tools. New sites for collaboration or non-degree courses or programs may be created; however, only UVACanvas will support new official academic courses.

Project Leadership

The graphic below depicts the overall UVACollab Non-Course Site Transition Project governance and management structure.

FAQs UVACollab

Why is UVACollab retiring?

The Sakai platform (upon which UVACollab is based) has a diminishing user base, with a market share of less than 1% in higher education, which translates to fewer developers and third-party tool vendors contributing to platform enhancements and improvements. The majority of our competitors have migrated to new, user-friendly platforms with robust features that are continuously enhanced through vendor support and development. Only one other institution among our research university counterparts continues to use the Sakai platform without an active LMS transition plan.

Due to its adaptability, the UVACollab LMS has been employed for purposes other than teaching and learning, such as file sharing and team communication. Today, more advanced systems are available to serve these functions and provide expanded features and functionality to meet the requirements of modern collaboration, such as mobile applications, cloud storage for file sharing, and even more real-time communication through chat integration.

Can I still use UVACollab?

UVACollab will be accessible through December 2025. Until then, you will continue to have access to your websites and any associated content. In addition, new sites may be created for purposes other than official course use. Since UVACollab will not receive updated information from SIS, it will be unable to import course rosters or export course evaluations for new courses.