Final exams for Friday postponed to Sunday following Canvas hacking

Final exams on Friday, May 8 are to be postponed to Sunday, May 10 following a Thursday hacking of Instructure’s Canvas nationwide, rendering the service unusable at thousands of schools nationwide, including Rutgers.

On Saturday evening, the New Brunswick provost announced that exams scheduled for Friday, May 8 were postponed to Sunday, May 10 at the same exam times, meaning a 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. exam on Friday would take place from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday. The email also announces that the Office of Information Technology (OIT) is planning to restore Canvas access on Saturday, May 9.

“The revised schedule shifts all exams postponed today (Friday) to the same time on Sunday, May 10,” the email said. “Instructors will be notified directly of any updated room assignments, which they will share with their students.” The email also asks students to check online for more details for their exams.

Students can submit an accommodation request for religious reasons, but students with existing disability accommodations do not need to submit a new request. The email also links to a webpage with resources for professors and students to work without Canvas, as well as other resources such as learning centers, the Dean’s office of Advocacy, Outreach and Support, and CAPS.

Before the update on Friday night, a University wide email from Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Keena Arbuthnot stating that campus leadership teams would share “information regarding exams and coursework.”

Following the university wide update from Dr. Arbuthnot, the New Brunswick’s Chancellor Office sent an email entitled “Postponing Final Exams for Friday May 8” to all Rutgers – New Brunswick students.

“All Rutgers University–New Brunswick final exams scheduled for Friday, May 8, 2026, have been postponed,” read the statement from Dr. Jason Geary. “More details, including information about the rescheduling of these exams, will be sent out tomorrow (Friday) in the late morning or early afternoon.”

The email also asks students to “plan for all other exams to occur as scheduled.” The message ends by recognizing the anxieties and uncertainties the hack has caused.

Around the same times of the emails, Canvas mobile access was restored, and the app no longer returns an error when opened. Canvas web access is still down. However, as of Saturday morning, mobile Canvas access no longer works. returning the earlier error.

This story has been updated as of May 8, 6:30 p.m. to include that Friday exams were postponed to Sunday.

This story is an update to an earlier article regarding the nationwide hacking of Instructure’s Canvas. You can read that article here.