Thank You and an Update: Restoring our Canvas Environment
Dear Gavilan Community,
I want to start by sharing my sincere thanks for the patience and flexibility you’ve shown over the last few days. I know that security incidents like these can feel unsettling, especially when you are focused on your coursework and teaching. I truly appreciate the grace you’ve extended to our staff as we worked to bring everything back online safely.
I’d like to share a bit more about what happened and the thoughtful steps we took to protect our Gavilan family. First and most importantly, none of our internal Gavilan College systems were compromised. This issue was limited to Canvas and affected institutions worldwide.
Because our California Community College system moved to Canvas as a collective years ago, we weren't navigating this alone. We worked closely with the State Chancellor’s Office, following their expert guidance and ensuring Canvas held the highest level of accountability for the resolution.
Our team’s priority was to be thorough rather than fast. We carefully vetted updates from both Canvas and our Chancellor’s Office, as well as technical requirements recommended by the Chancellor’s Office Cyber Security team, to ensure our environment was safe to restore access. Throughout this process, both employees and students were kept informed as soon as we had accurate information to share. I also stayed in contact with our Academic Senate and GCFA presidents to ensure they knew of the deliberate approach we were taking to protect our community.
I am especially grateful for the expertise of Sabrina Lawrence and Peter Howell from our Distance Education team, who were on the front lines answering faculty and student questions. Also, Kyle Billups and our IT team. Both teams helped us refine our communication and ensure we met the technical recommendations from our Chancellor’s Office to safely restore access to Canvas.
Our focus is always on your safety and ensuring that the vital work of learning continues without further worry. We will continue monitoring and evaluating our systems to ensure our community remains protected.
Thank you for your dedication to our students. Let’s focus on finishing this semester with care and confidence.
In Service,
Dr. Pedro Avila
Superintendent/President
5055 Santa Teresa Boulevard | Gilroy, CA 95020
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