Case Study: Hampden‑Sydney College achieves faster innovation and expanded online programs with Canvas LMS

Elite Small College Finds Support and Chance to Innovate With Canvas

Hampden‑Sydney College, a small, historic liberal‑arts college in Virginia with about 1,100 users, had relied on a self‑hosted Blackboard LMS for over 15 years but needed a more intuitive, agile system and stronger vendor support to extend learning beyond the classroom. With limited IT staff and most faculty using the old LMS only for syllabi, the college sought a platform that offered better functionality, ease of use, and reliable customer service.

After convening an LMS task force, testing Canvas sandboxes, and hosting vendor workshops, Hampden‑Sydney switched to Canvas in summer 2016. Canvas handled migration and SIS integration, provided rapid support, and delivered cloud hosting that reduced local maintenance; as a result, faculty—after minimal training—began using richer pedagogical tools (Gradebook, SpeedGrader, drag‑and‑drop), summer online offerings expanded, and adoption and satisfaction have been nearly unanimous.

Hampden-Sydney College

Paige Flanagan

Academic Technology Librarian