Welcome to the Future of Learning at Villanova!
Next-Gen LMS Overview
Next-Gen LMS Summary
Villanova's next-generation Learning Management System (LMS), Brightspace, a mobile-friendly LMS that supports modern pedagogical practices and teaching innovation. The campus community will officially switch to Brightspace for the summer semester of 2026.
Next-Gen LMS Opportunities
We have identified the following opportunities for a modernized LMS solution to enhance and support Villanova community:
- Redesign of how online materials presented to students to promote learning
- Roll-out of updated training for faculty on best practice use of the LMS
- Access to modern analytical tools and data in LMS on student engagement
Project Timeline
Start Date:
Spring 2023
End Date:
Fall 2023
Goals:
- The goal of Phase 1 is to gather feedback, evaluate vendors, and make a recommendation for the new LMS.
Description:
- Spring 2023
- Gather feedback from Villanova campus community.
- Invite vendors to campus for product demos and questions.
- Launch RFP (Request for Proposal) process to gather more robust information about the three vendors.
- Gather feedback from Villanova campus community.
- Summer 2023
- Perform faculty pilot program to evaluate top three learning management systems.
- Schedule meetings with the vendors to follow-up on questions surfaced in RFP.
- Meet with other institutions about their switch to D2L Brightspace, gathering information on their experiences and processes.
- Perform faculty pilot program to evaluate top three learning management systems.
- Fall 2023
- Update Provost, Council of Deans, and Academic Policy Committee.
- Gather additional input from students.
- Make recommendation to campus leadership and Board of Trustees for the learning management system (LMS) that best meets Villanova’s future needs.
- Pursue multi-year contract with the approved vendor.
- Kick-off discovery and design phases in partnership with selected vendor (D2L Brightspace).
- Update Provost, Council of Deans, and Academic Policy Committee.
Start Date:
Spring 2024
End Date:
Spring 2026
Goals:
- This phase consists of building and integrating Brightspace with university systems, migrating content, and developing and testing a comprehensive training plan. This phase started in the spring of 2024 and will continue through the spring of 2026.
Description:
- Spring 2024
Brightspace Demonstrations
Starting in Spring 2024, the Office of the Provost will host a series of workshops for Villanova academic departments and with department chairs. These sessions will include discussions on:
- Importance of re-designing courses in D2L Brightspace
- Employing pedagogical best practices in re-designing courses in D2L Brightspace; previewing model courses and some of the innovative features
- Explanation of how course content from Blackboard will be made available in D2L Brightspace.
- Importance of re-designing courses in D2L Brightspace
- Spring 2025
- Migrate content from Blackboard Learn to D2L Brightspace. Migrate older material by request
- Make migrated content available to faculty for course rebuild during Summer 2025.
- Launch campus communication campaign to provide transparency and updates on project progress.
- Comprehensive training and support program launches to prepare the campus community to use the new learning management system. Visit the Training and Support page for more information.
- The Office of Online Programs, Office of the Provost, and the Deans may also identify courses that have already been highly designed in Blackboard and/or courses of significant importance to receive additional support during the transition.
- Migrate content from Blackboard Learn to D2L Brightspace. Migrate older material by request
- Summer 2025
Initial Course Materials Transfer
In Summer 2025, instructors will receive access to the live D2L Brightspace environment and may begin to reimagine and build courses so that they take full advantage of the more modern tools and features offered by D2L Brightspace. By June 1, 2025, courses from Summer 2024, Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 will be placed in placeholder courses for each faculty member. Note: instructors may also make special requests for older courses to be transferred.
- Fall 2025 - Spring 2026
- Second Wave of Course Migrations
- By September 1, 2025, Summer 2025 courses will be available.
- By February 1, 2026, Fall 2025 courses will be placed in a sandbox.
- By September 1, 2025, Summer 2025 courses will be available.
- Brightspace Workshops & Training Materials
Starting Fall 2025, we will host a series of recurring workshops, each of which will be recorded and posted to the website with instructional content featured in both written and video formats. Workshop topics include:
- The Basics – syllabus, gradebook, posting materials, assigning due dates to items, communications, grading and feedback
- Employing Pedagogical Best Practices in Re-Designing your Courses (with Help on Locating your Migrated Course Content)
- Using Discussion Boards
- Developing and Administering Quizzes and Exams
- Building Interactive Modules and an Exploration of the Available Tools
- Using Timed Release/Criteria Release for Various LMS Activities
- Using D2L Brightspace Analytics and Reporting to Monitor Student Activity
- The Basics – syllabus, gradebook, posting materials, assigning due dates to items, communications, grading and feedback
- Brightspace Support Site
Workshops will be complemented by a support website featuring numerous videos/resources. This will also provide detailed guidance on how to troubleshoot items that may not transfer well from Blackboard. Additionally, the support site will provide text and video training for your use of third-party applications in Brightspace, including:- Ally and other accessibility tools
- Turniitin
- Poll Everywhere
- Perusall
- Respondus and Lockdown Browser
- Yellowdig
- Mediasite
- Ally and other accessibility tools
Start Date:
Summer 2026
Goals:
- This phase represents the official launch of Brightspace in the summer of 2026 and the full implementation of the training and support plan.
Description:
- Summer 2026 - Launch!
- Final Wave of Course Content Transitions
- By May 1, 2026, Spring 2026 courses will be placed in placeholder courses.
- By May 1, 2026, Spring 2026 courses will be placed in placeholder courses.
- Brightspace Workshops
- Up until (and following) the start of the Fall 2026 term, D2L Brightspace workshops will continue to ensure that instructors have every opportunity to familiarize themselves with the new LMS. We will remain responsive to training needs as they arise during the initial term of use.
- Up until (and following) the start of the Fall 2026 term, D2L Brightspace workshops will continue to ensure that instructors have every opportunity to familiarize themselves with the new LMS. We will remain responsive to training needs as they arise during the initial term of use.
- UNIT Walk-in Support Service
- To ensure that personalized support is available where needed, drop-in hours will be made available with an Instructional Designer who can help guide, inform and educate on the use of D2L Brightspace.
Project Team
- Randy D. Weinstein
Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning and
Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering
- Kristy Irwin
Associate Vice Provost, Online Programs
- Bridget Wadzuk Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Chair of Academic Policy Committee
- Gabriele Bauer
Director of VITAL
- Alice Dailey
Professor of English
Director of Faculty Affairs
- Pete Watkins
Director of Teaching and Learning,
College of Professional Studies
- Ankit Desai
Director of Learning Technologies
Executive Sponsor(s)
- Craig Wheeland
Senior Vice Provost for Academics
- Jonathan B. Hardy
Deputy Chief Information Officer
Project Manager(s)
- P.J. Moriarty
Enterprise Project Manager Analyst
Project Steering Committee Member(s)
- Randy D. Weinstein
Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning and
Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering
- Kristy Irwin
Associate Vice Provost, Online Programs
- Kevin Donahue
Associate Vice President, Instructional Technologies
- Ankit Desai
Director of Learning Technologies
Project Implemetation Team Member(s)
- Pamela Braxton
Registrar
- Cathy Connor
Vice Dean Enrollment Managemnt
- Daniel DeVos
Senior Programmer Analyst
- Kevin Dietzler
Manager, Application Development & Identity Management
- Kimberly Downey
Director, Course Development and Operations
- Chuck Hoffman
Bursar
- Susan Leighton
Assistant Dean, Academic Programs
- Antony Lower
Director, University Information Systems
- Leonard Nelson
Chief Information Security Officer
- Robert Mott
Manager, Financial Information Systems
- Caroline Pearsall
Recruitment Systems Analyst
- Meghan Petsko
Deputy Director of Records & Registration
- Jennifer Pohlhaus
Senior Instructional Technologies Consultant
- William Pohlhaus
Lead Applications Programmer
- Christine Palus
Dean, College of Professional Studies
- Marie Gargan
Senior Programmer Analyst
- Tara Gallo
Director, College Operations
- Kelly Grentz
Senior Director, Adult Recruitment Marketing
- Martin Fox
Senior Business Systems Analyst
- Timothy Toth
Manager, Document Imaging & Management
- Julia Turnbull
Assistant Director, Enterprise Applications
- Leslie Sharp
Manager, Enterprise Web Application Development
- Sharon Roth-DeFulvio
Assistant Director, College Data & Technology
- Mujtaba Talebi
Assistant Director, Web Services and Technologies
- Nathan Weyl
Senior Learning Management System Administrator
Brightspace Faculty Early Adopter Advisory Group - Summer 2024
- Christopher Brown
Assistant Teaching Professor, Physics
- Javier Cabezas Zapata
Assistant Teaching Professor, Spanish - Steve Chanenson
Professor of Law, Law School - Alexis Coulter
Assistant Professor of the Practice, Dean-Professional Studies - Madeline DeWoody
Assistant Professor of the Practice, Finance - Jason Grant
Assistant Professor, Computing Sciences - Angela Hanson
Assistant Teaching Professor, Mathematics and Statistics - Luis Diego Granera
Assistant Teaching Professor, Economics - Jim Mendez
Clinical Associate Professor, Nursing - Brian Satterfield
Teaching Professor, Augustine and Culture Seminar Prog - Kevin Waters
Associate Teaching Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering - Randy Weinstein
Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning
Brightspace Faculty Early Adopters - Fall 2024
- Mark Anderson
Professor of Continuing Ed, Computing Sciences
- Suraj Chaudhary
Assistant Teaching Professor, Augustine and Culture Seminar Prog
- Allison Covey
Assistant Teaching Professor, Ethics (CLAS)
- Anuja Gupta
Associate Professor - NT, Management
- Frank Hampton
Teaching Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Michelle Lockett
Clinical Assistant Professor, Nursing
- Francois Massonnat
Associate Instructor, French and Francophone Studies
- Lauren Nonnemaker
Continuing Education Professor - Paralegal, Dean-Professional Studies
- Tracy Oliver
Associate Professor, Nursing
- Elizabeth Petit de Mange
Clinical Assistant Professor, Nursing
- Rebecca Rivard
Assistant Teaching Professor, Biology
- David Shaffer
Associate Professor, Finance
- Diego Fernandez-Duque
Associate Professor, Psychological & Brain Sciences
- Raisa Velthuis
Assistant Professor, Finance (VSB)
- Kevin Waters
Associate Teaching Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Christina Winterton
Assistant Teaching Professor and Faculty Advisor, OUS, Dean-Arts and Sciences
Brightspace Faculty Early Adopters - Spring 2025
- Samer Abboud
Associate Professor, Global Interdisciplinary Studies
- Matt Carluzzo
Assistant Dean Stdnt/Acdmc Success
- Q. Chung
Professor
- Noël Dolan
Teaching Professor;
Director, Academic Learning Communities;
Assistant Director, ACSP
- Jacob Elmer
Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering
- Holly Ferraro
Associate Professor, Management
- Seth Fishman
Assistant Dean of Curriculum and Assessment
- Sunny Gaye Hallowell
Associate Professor, Nursing
- Stacey Havlik
Associate Professor, Education and Counseling
- Margaret Hobson-Baker
Assistant Teaching Professor
- Jaisy Joseph
Assistant Professor, Theology/Religious Studies
- Stephanie Katz Linkmeyer
Associate Teaching Professor, Chemistry
- Thomas Ksiazek
Professor, Communication
- Calvin Li
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
- John Lydon
Associate Director, Center for Faith & Learning, Office for Mission & Ministry
- Carlene McLaughlin
Clinical Associate Professor, NA Program, DNP Nurse Anesthesia Program
- Amy Kratchman
Professor of the Practice, Finance
- Elena Kazakova
Assistant Teaching Professor, French and Francophone Studies
- Kristin Obermyer
Associate Instructor
- Jaclyn Parkinson
Clinical Assistant Instructor, Nursing
- Gregory Safko
Part-time Faculty - Computer Science, Computing Sciences
- Qi Schlupp
Professor, Communication
- Kristen Simmons
Clinical Associate Professor, NA Program, Nursing
- Monika Sywak
Associate Professor of Practice
- Shawn Gross
Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Michael Risch
Professor of Law
- Gwendolyn Morris
Clinical Assistant Instructor, Nursing
- Christina Whitehouse
Associate Professor
LMS Selection - Faculty Pilot Participants
- Rishtee Batra
Assistant Teaching Professor, Marketing (VSB)
- Leslie Book
Professor, Law (CWSL)
- Heather Bar-Or
Assistant Teaching Professor, Psychological & Brain Sciences (CLAS)
- Allison Covey
Assistant Teaching Professor, Ethics (CLAS)
- David Cregan, OSA
Associate Professor, Theatre (CLAS)
- Valentina DeNardis
Teaching Professor, Classical Studies (CLAS)
- Michael Heinrich
Associate Teaching Professor, Chemistry (CLAS)
- Liesl Klein
Assistant Teaching Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering (COE)
- John Komlos
Teaching Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering (COE)
- Michelle Lockett
Clinical Assistant Professor, Nursing (FCN)
- Andrew Lund
Professor, Law (CWSL)
- Steve Mahar
Professor, Management (VSB)
- Dron Mandhana
Assistant Professor, Communication (CLAS)
- Marvin Meissner
Professor of Practice, Professional Studies (CPS)
- Jim Mendez
Clinical Associate Professor, Nursing (FCN)
- James O'Brien
Teaching Professor, Mechanical Engineering (COE)
- Lisa Rodrigues
Associate Professor, Geography & the Environment (CLAS)
- Veronika Ryjik
Professor, Spanish (CLAS)
- Raisa Velthuis
Assistant Professor, Finance (VSB)
- Matt Youngman
Associate Professor, Biology (CLAS)
Project Support
LMS Evaluation Information
Guided by our strategic plan, Rooted. Restless., Villanova sought an LMS that would advance innovative teaching and learning, expand our capabilities in the graduate space and wisely steward financial resources to fund other important initiatives.
About the Comprehensive Review Process
An LMS Steering Committee—composed of members of the faculty, the offices of the Provost and Online Programs, UNIT and other administrators—was formed to spearhead this initiative. Three LMS finalists were selected—Anthology Ultra, D2L Brightspace and Instructure Canvas—and a formal request for proposal (RFP) process followed.
Since then, we have held a faculty pilot program and student focus groups; engaged in in-depth conversations with each vendor company and other institutions who use each LMS; collected survey responses; spoken to external consultants and reviewed market data. In total, over 1,000 pages of supporting documentation was generated, a summary of which was presented to the provost.
The team distilled this information into six key categories for consideration:
Ease of User Experience for Faculty and Students
Degree of Innovation Now / Potential for the Future
Commitment of Company to Partnership / Future Collaboration
Upfront One-Time Cost / Expense over Life of Contract
IT/Administrative Need to Implement and Maintain the System
Capability to Support Fully Online Degree and Non-Credit Professional Education Courses
Community/Stakeholder Feedback
Input from almost every category eliminated Anthology Ultra as a viable solution. The majority of the 20 faculty who participated in the pilot over the summer preferred Instructure Canvas over D2L Brightspace —although many noted that both Canvas and Brightspace would be a suitable choice. In support of Canvas, they noted its ease of use, with several pointing to their prior experience using the system. The faculty further provided excellent insight into how we want to “transform” rather than “transition” our current Blackboard courses to achieve their learning objectives and the faculty support that will be needed to do so.
Considering other factors, Brightspace was deemed to have the most innovative and robust features in course development while offering comparable basic features to Canvas. D2L also spent time on site with the team to prototype what some unique features may look like in our environment, further solidifying their commitment to the University. In addition to a clear advantage on customer support, they had a slight advantage in terms of IT integration and offered a very competitive price. D2L also had the superior storefront for our students taking noncredit courses.
LMS Selection
Taking all the above into consideration, D2L Brightspace was selected by Provost Maggitti. D2L Brightspace will best situate the various constituents at Villanova for success in the coming decade, enabling the University to meet its strategic goals while continuing to provide an excellent educational experience to our traditional undergraduate students. Brightspace will provide innovative and excellent tools to promote student learning and will distinguish and support the pedagogy of our faculty.
The campus community will officially switch to D2L Brightspace for the summer semester 2026. Prior to this official move, courses will be available in the new system to provide time for design and development. A preliminary timeline is provided below; additional updates and details will be available in the coming months.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Why do we need a new learning management system?
Villanova currently uses Blackboard Learn which is an older version of the vendor’s current Learning Management System (LMS). Blackboard Learn does not employ the latest technological features and is not mobile-friendly. Villanova is transitioning to D2L Brightspace, a robust, feature-rich, and easy-to-use intuitive interface with the latest innovative technology which offers the best possible experience for Villanova faculty and students. D2L Brightspace will support modern pedagogy and best practices for all types of students and course offerings.
- When will we have to switch to the new learning management system?
All courses will be offered in the new learning management system beginning with the Summer 2026 term. Key milestones prior to this launch include:- Summer 2025: Instructors will get access to D2L Brightspace. At this time, instructors may start building their courses in D2L using migrated course content from their old courses in Blackboard.
- Summer 2026: Villanova will officially transition to D2L Brightspace.
- What support will faculty be provided in the transition to D2L Brightspace?
Training sessions on D2L Brightspace will be available to faculty. VITAL will also be assisting individuals and departments/programs on how to use D2L Brightspace to achieve their course learning objectives. In addition, job-aids, knowledgebase articles, guidelines, and best practices will be available on the project website. Individual one-to-one support—with either members of Instructional Technologies team and/or our vendor implementation partners—will also be provided to support instructors as they rebuild their courses in D2L Brightspace.
- What is the advantage of re-envisioning the migrated contents of my course, rather than trying to replicate what it looked like in Blackboard?
The goal of this project is to empower and optimize learning experiences for the Villanova community. The steering committee as well as the faculty pilot group concluded that it is extremely beneficial to think about using D2L Brightspace differently to structure, deliver and engage students with your online course materials rather than just making the course in D2L Brightspace work exactly like it does in Blackboard. D2L Brightspace will provide more innovative features and robust tools in support of that aim. The Office of Online Programs will work directly with its partner programs to also ensure the above is done as it transitions the courses it supports. UNIT and VITAL will work with others to provide support on best practices and be available to answer questions as needed. Live and asynchronous training and materials will be available by spring 2025.
- What will happen to the course content that is in Blackboard Learn currently?
When faculty are granted access in Summer 2025, you will find the previous two years of Blackboard content available in D2L Brightspace to aid course building. At the conclusion of each subsequent term (Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026) course content for each term will be made available in D2L Brightspace, leading up to the launch in Summer 2026.
- What will I need to do after my course content is migrated to D2L Brightspace?
Course content from Blackboard will be directly migrated into the new system and will require faculty to build parts of their course. (i.e. files/folders might need to be re-organized in your course, assignments/assignment settings might need to be edited/re-created, and the gradebook, exam questions, exam settings might need to be edited/re-created). It is likely that links to third party content through LTIs (such as MediaSite, YouTube, etc.) will be broken and will have to be relinked.
- How can I get access to course content from a term prior to Summer 2023?
If you need access to course content from a term prior to Summer 2023, you will be able to request their transfer as well as long as they are not duplicates of more current courses.
- When will my Blackboard content disappear?
After the summer of 2026 all content on Blackboard will no longer be accessible nor retrievable without the assistance of UNIT. In May 2027, all Blackboard content will no longer be accessible to anyone and all materials there will be deleted.
- What support will students be provided for the transition to a new learning management system?
Students will have access to a comprehensive set of support guides explaining the essential functionality of D2L Brightspace (e.g., finding courses, submitting assignments, taking exams, checking grades, etc...). UNIT anticipates there could be greater demand for support during the LMS transition period. As such, it plans to bolster its standard offerings (more staff, expanded support hours) to ensure a successful LMS launch.
- What new/replacement tools will be implemented with D2L Brightspace?
- TurnItIn will be our new plagiarism detection tool. 500,000 previously submitted papers to SafeAssign will be transferred into the Villanova TurnItIn database. We do not anticipate having an AI detection tool but are constantly monitoring the market for a suitable product.
- Ally will be available to check all the material you upload and generate for accessibility, and it will provide suggestions for fixing any materials that do not meet its standards. In addition, Brightspace has its own built-in accessibly tool to make sure all content created by its platform is accessible.
- What are all the third-party tools that will be available in D2L Brightspace?
Many third-party tools will be available in D2L Brightspace including: Zoom, Respondus, Mediasite, Yellowdig, VoiceThread, Publisher Content (Cengage, McGraw-Hill, Pearson, Redshelf, Wiley, WW Norton,) Poll Everywhere, Examsoft, Explorance, Follett Discover, Ally, LinkedIn Learning, Piazza.
- Is the University offering any courses in Brightspace prior to the Summer of 2026?
Select undergraduate and graduate courses may be offered as pilots starting in the Spring 2025 semester. In addition, select professional education courses will begin to be offered in D2L Brightspace starting in February 2025.