Assurance Filings Moving to Canopy

With the transition to HLC’s revised Criteria for Accreditation in September 2025, HLC will also streamline the technology that supports comprehensive evaluations and Assurance Reviews. The current stand-alone Assurance System will be sunset during fall 2025, and institutions and peer reviewers will conduct their work for these reviews in Canopy.

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Timeline What to Expect in Canopy Resources Assurance System Exports

Timeline for Access to Canopy

For Institutions

Institutions will be given access to their Assurance Filing in Canopy when the date of their next comprehensive evaluation, Assurance Review or evaluation related to seeking accreditation is scheduled.

This change means that institutions on the Standard and Open Pathways will receive access to the Assurance Filings for their Year 4 and Year 10 evaluations in Year 2 and Year 8 of their accreditation cycle, respectively. We will no longer make the institution’s next Assurance Filing available immediately after its last Assurance Review or comprehensive evaluation is complete.

We are making this change because most institutions do not start working on their next Assurance Filing until 1–2 years before the evaluation date. In the past, giving early access to the filing has led to complications if there is turnover at an institution or changes to HLC’s Criteria in the years between an institution’s evaluations.

Please note: HLC is not migrating Assurance Arguments and Evidence Files from the Assurance System to Canopy. Institutions will be responsible for building their Assurance Filing when they are given access to the new filing in Canopy.

Institutions with evaluations in academic years 2025–26 and 2026–27

HLC will give institutions with reviews in AY2025–26 and AY2026–27 access to their Assurance Filing during the week of March 17.

We will notify the institution’s Primary Filing Coordinator, Accreditation Liaison Officer and Chief Executive Officer the day before the Assurance Filing is activated in the system.

Primary Filing Coordinators

In preparation for the launch of Assurance Filings in Canopy, HLC created a new institutional contact role: Primary Filing Coordinator. This individual will be responsible for the development and submission of Assurance Filings in Canopy. HLC automatically assigned this new role to each institution’s current Primary Assurance System Coordinator. Institutions may change that assignment in the Contact Update Survey in Canopy.

Note: The Primary Assurance System Coordinator role will remain active until the Assurance System is sunset during fall 2025.

Canopy Accounts for Primary Filing Coordinators

Primary Filing Coordinators at institutions that don’t have an Assurance Filing due during AY2025–26 or AY2026–27 will be given access to Canopy during summer 2025. They will be able to view general institutional information and will have full access to their institution’s Assurance Filing when it is activated in the system.

For Peer Reviewers

Peer reviewer access to Assurance Reviews in Canopy will function similarly to the current Assurance System. When they are assigned to an evaluation that involves an Assurance Review, peer reviewers will be able to access the institution’s materials and the Assurance Review dashboard shortly after the institution’s lock date. They will lose access to an Assurance Review after the final team report is submitted.

What to Expect in Canopy

Similar Structure, Improved Design and Functionality

While HLC has made enhancements to Assurance Filings in Canopy, much of the functionality will be familiar to current Assurance System and Canopy users. The basic structure remains the same, with an introduction, narrative sections for each Criterion and Core Component, and an Evidence File of PDF documents and limited URL sources. Institutions will still be able to add a team of contributors for their Assurance Argument, with roles and access levels similar to what is available in the current system.

What’s New

Streamlined Assurance Argument Navigation

Users can view and edit the full Assurance Argument on one page, instead of having to navigate to separate pages for each Core Component section. Any required forms — now referred to as additional review components — are also included on the Assurance Argument page for easy access.

Scratch Pads for Collaboration

In each section of the Assurance Argument, users will be able to share notes with each other through a new scratch pad tool. All contributors can view and add to scratch pads. Users can leave feedback, ask questions or jot down reminders separate from the Assurance Argument narrative. These are temporary spaces for collaboration, and all scratch pad notes will be deleted when the Assurance Filing is locked.

Access for Accreditation Liaison Officers and Chief Executive Officers

The institution’s ALO and CEO will automatically be given read-only access to the Assurance Filing, meaning they will no longer need to be added to the institution’s writing team in order to see the filing. (The primary or assistant coordinator for the filing can add the ALO or CEO as contributors in order to give them editing access.)

Welcome Message for Peer Review Team

The former Introduction section of the Assurance Filing is now called the Welcome Message for Peer Review Team. The name change clarifies the purpose of this section, which is to briefly introduce the institution to the team conducting the evaluation.

This section has also been relocated in the Assurance Filing. It is now at the top of the Assurance Argument, instead of in a separate section of the filing.

Functional Improvements
  • In the Evidence File, users can now drag and drop PDF files between folders.
  • In the Assurance Argument, new text styling tools allow users to add titles and subtitles to sections of the narrative, which can improve organization and readability.
  • If a user tries to close an Assurance Argument section after making unsaved changes, they will be alerted and prompted to save their work.
  • Links to Evidence File sources are maintained in archived and exported versions of Assurance Argument sections. Contributors will be able to access evidence sources from Word or PDF exports when they’re logged into Canopy, and they no longer need to recreate links if they copy and paste text from archived versions into the current narrative.

Training Resources

For Institutions

Using Canopy

Refer to the Canopy User Guide for instructions on creating an Assurance Filing. If you have any questions, please submit a help request. HLC staff will respond as quickly as possible to assist you.

Writing to the Revised Criteria

The Assurance Argument in Canopy will be organized by the revised Criteria for the Accreditation, which go into effect September 1, 2025. HLC has provided multiple resources to assist institutions in writing to the revised Criteria for Accreditation:

For Peer Reviewers

HLC will provide training and instructions on conducting Assurance Reviews in Canopy during summer 2025.

Exporting Assurance System Materials

The current stand-alone Assurance System will be sunset after reviews conducted during academic year 2024–25 are complete. If an institution wishes to save its Assurance Argument or Evidence File in the system, we encourage institutions to export their materials by September 1, 2025. See below for instructions.

Assurance Arguments and Evidence Files will not be automatically migrated into Canopy from the Assurance System, so institutions are responsible for exporting any materials they wish to save.

Export the Assurance Argument

  1. Users may either export the entire Assurance Argument or export individual sections of the Argument.
    1. To print a copy of the entire Assurance Argument, go to the Dashboard page.
    2. To print a copy of a single section, click on the title of the specific section in the Dashboard.
  2. Click “Export/Print” located at the top right of the page.
  3. Select either “Export to PDF” or “Export to Word” (this may take a moment to complete).
  4. The narrative will open as either a PDF or Word document that can be printed or saved as needed. (This file will not include any Evidence File documents linked in the Argument.)
  5. Close the Generate Printable File window by clicking the X in the top right corner of the box or by clicking the Close button.

Export PDF Documents in the Evidence File

  1. In the Evidence File tab, click the Actions button above the file manager.
  2. Select “Generate Zip File,” and then click “OK” in the dialog box that appears.
  3. The user who requested the zip file will receive an email from the Assurance System when the file is ready to download. There are two ways to access the zip file:
    1. Click the link in the email message to download the zip file, which will include all the PDF documents in the institution’s Evidence File.
    2. The zip file can also be downloaded from the Evidence File tab. Click the Actions button, and then select “Download Zip File.”

Important: If any user makes changes to the Evidence File documents, the zip file will need to be regenerated in order for those changes to be reflected in the zip file contents. To do so, click the Actions button and select “Regenerate Zip File.”