Some NU graduates will get a blank diploma due to software outage

University of Nebraska officials have said this weekend’s graduation ceremonies will go on as planned despite a widespread outage of Canvas, the software it and thousands of other universities use to do everything from submit assignments to take tests.

But there will be a twist.

Faculty and students received an email Friday morning saying that graduating students will be able to participate in commencement, but those who have outstanding exams or course materials will receive a diploma cover with a blank page. They will receive an actual diploma later, after all grades have been submitted.

For Skyler Schendt, a broadcast journalism senior at UNL, the news landed hard. She drove more than 10 hours from Indiana to walk across the stage. Schendt said she has already spent over $1,000 on hotels, a cap and gown, and a graduation luncheon.

"My boyfriend drove here with me — he took paid time off from work to be here. I have a friend flying in from Indiana who booked a flight, which is not cheap. I'm spending $1,000 on hotel rooms this weekend," she said. "I guess you still get to have your photo op, but that's all it is... is a photo op at that point."

Schendt, a member of the National Guard, said her path to graduation wasn't easy. She said she was deployed for a year in the middle of her degree and relocated across the country for work, all while taking classes full time.

"I put in a lot of hard work to get to this point," she said. "Even though it took me longer than four years to get my degree, I'm still incredibly proud of myself for doing it."

Canvas went down this week after an apparent hack on its parent company Instructure. The group claiming credit for the attack, ShinyHunters, put a message on Canvas before the site was taken down for maintenance, according to the OU Daily. The message told any schools on the affected list to contact the group to stop the release of any data.

In addition to NU, a number of other universities and colleges across the state, including Creighton University, Nebraska Wesleyan University, Metropolitan Community College and Southeast Community College.

Instructure reported Thursday night that Canvas was operational again for most users, and some schools, such as SCC in Lincoln, were operating normally again Friday morning.

NU restored partial access to Canvas by Friday afternoon, including many of the services used for submitting assignments and taking tests. As of 1 p.m., however, instructors were having to use a workaround to enter grades.