Collab (UVACollab)

UVACollab Retirement Project

The Sakai platform (which UVACollab is based upon) has a dwindling user base, with less than 1% market share in higher education, translating to fewer developers and third-party tool vendors contributing to platform enhancements and improvements. Most of our peers have transitioned to new, easy-to-use platforms with powerful features that are continually enhanced through ongoing vendor support and development. Among our research university peers, only one other institution continues to use the Sakai platform with no active LMS transition plan.

Because of its flexibility, the UVACollab LMS has been used for purposes beyond teaching and learning to include support for collaboration, including file sharing and team communication. Today, more modern systems are available to support these purposes and offer expanded features and functionality that support modern collaboration needs such as mobile apps, cloud storage for file sharing, and even more real-time communication through integrated chat.

UVACollab will remain available until December 31, 2025. Until that time, you will retain access to your sites and associated content as you do today. Since UVACollab will not receive new data from SIS, it will not be able to import course rosters or export course grades for new courses.

Beginning in January 2025, it will no longer be possible to create new sites in UVACollab. 

If you would like to begin transitioning your existing sites (opens new window) to other platforms now, support is available:

• Access self-guided documentation anytime - UVACollab Transition Checklist
• Schedule a consultation - collab-retirement@virginia.edu

Is your UVACollab site for teaching and learning or collaboration and administration? How you use your site determines which system is best for you. The graphics below will help you identify which system to use.

 

The UVACollab Transition Checklist will walk you through the steps of moving to a new platform. 

If you’d like to schedule a virtual consult to discuss your sites and recommendations for transition, please email collab-retirement@virginia.edu.

To make a copy of your content, please refer to the Instructions for downloading your content from UVACollab. 

We are working to build additional support for downloading your UVACollab site content, especially for content within LTI tools. 

UVACollab will be available at least through December 31, 2025.

For additional information, email the project team at collab-retirement@virginia.edu.

We are not planning to automatically migrate content from collaboration sites to other tools because:

 

• Most collaboration sites no longer contain any active faculty, staff, or students, and so the associated data is no longer serving any readily identifiable purpose.  
• The majority of collaboration sites contain content that can be easily exported for reuse by site owners or administrators using the steps outlined in the UVACollab help portal (opens new window)
• The University’s digital toolkit includes a diverse array of powerful tools. By personally reviewing their sites and exporting any needed content, each site owner or administrator will be able to select the tool that best meets their needs.
• There are several destination options available, from UVA Box to OneDrive to Smartsheet to Teams. Please review guidance available on your options in the Transition Checklist (opens new window). Feel free to reach out to the UVACollab retirement team at
  collab-retirement@virginia.edu to ensure you find a solution that best meets your needs.
 

Once UVACollab is retired on December 31, 2025, your site will no longer be accessible. We recommend reviewing your sites as soon as possible to identify any content you want or need to retain. The UVACollab Transition Checklist UVACollab Transition Checklist (opens new window) includes guldelines and resources to support you during the review process.

Soft deletion means the site is no longer included in your list of active sites, but can be restored (opens new window) if necessary. All remaining active sites will be deleted when UVACollab is retired on December 31, 2025.

• As outlined in its policies and rules (opens new window), UVACollab is an appropriate repository for information classified as Sensitive Data under the University’s Data Protection Standards (opens new window). If your sites include Sensitive Data that needs to be retained, please contact the Records and Information Management team (records@virginia.edu) for assistance.
• UVACollab is not an appropriate repository for information classified as Highly Sensitive Data under the University’s Data Protection Standards, such as social security numbers, medical information, or financial information. If your sites include Highly Sensitive Data, you should remove it immediately. Please contact the Records and Information Management team (records@virginia.edu) for assistance.