Trunk migration services are no longer available
Materials that were hosted on the Trunk Learning Management System are no longer available, and we no longer offer Trunk migration services. Trunk was available for student and instructor access for three years after the move to Canvas and taken offline on June 30, 2021. The information below is preserved for archival purposes.
Migrating a course involves transferring files and course items from Trunk into Canvas and rebuilding or reorganizing your course material in your new Canvas course site.
- Migration Options Guide (PDF)
- How to migrate a Trunk course site
- How to migrate a Trunk project site
On Demand Training: Migrating content from Trunk to Canvas
Migration Options: Overview
Migration has three stages: collecting Trunk course material, importing that course material into your Canvas course site, and reviewing and organizing your Canvas course site. You can accomplish this in one of three ways: Build your Canvas site from scratch, export your material from Trunk and import to Canvas, or request content migration from ETS.
Build from Scratch
Export Content from Trunk
Request Content Migration
Migration Options: Which one should I choose?
Build from scratch is the recommended option as it allows you to make full use of Canvas’ functions and capabilities. However, if you have a large amount of material in Resources, exporting material from Trunk or requesting content migration may be faster and easier than re-uploading individual files. Regardless of the method you choose, plan to spend some time reviewing your material and organizing your new Canvas course site.
| Build from Scratch (Recommended) | Export from Trunk | Request Content Migration | |
| Advantages | Instructors have complete control over what to migrate into their new Canvas course site and how material is organized. Prompts instructors to make full use of Canvas' functions and capabilities. Suitable for those who are interested in updating, rebuilding, or redesigning their courses. | Instructors can select specific content areas (e.g. Resources, Tests & Quizzes) to migrate. Straightforward way to move a large number of downloadable files, a long list of Assignments, or many Tests and Quizzes. Allows instructors to migrate material on their own schedule and work on their course at their own pace. | Saves instructors the work of downloading and uploading course content between two platforms. |
| Drawbacks | Could be time consuming. | Reorganizing and updating migrated material in Canvas can be more time-consuming than building from scratch, depending on your Trunk course content and organization. | Migration requests take several business days to complete. (See the Content Migration Request form for current expected turnaround time.) Reorganizing and updating migrated material in Canvas can be more time consuming than building from scratch, depending on your Trunk course content and organization. |
Migration Options: How to get started
Build from scratch: Canvas course sites for Summer 18 courses are currently available; course sites for Fall 18 courses will be available in mid-March. To begin building your course sites, log in at canvas.tufts.edu. Your available courses will appear on the Canvas Dashboard.
Export material from Trunk: See step-by-step instructions for exporting your material from Trunk and importing it to Canvas. Instructions for migrating project sites to alternative tools are also available.
Request content migration: Fill out the Content Migration Request form. Please fill out the form for each course you would like migrated. You will be notified when your material has been moved to Canvas and is ready for your review.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can’t I just get an exact copy of my Trunk site on Canvas?
Trunk and Canvas are different platforms. Although they perform the same basic functions, they each have their own way of doing things, and this makes migration more complicated than simply copying a Trunk site into Canvas. For example, while Trunk relies on folders in Resources to deliver content to students, Canvas works best when content is organized into Modules or Pages. Most of this reorganization is left up to instructors so you can use Canvas in the way that makes the most sense for your course.
Do I have to migrate all of my Trunk courses now, or can I wait to migrate a course until next semester or next year?
Instructors will retain access to Trunk throughout the Canvas transition. However, we recommend that you migrate content for Summer 18 and Fall 18 courses as soon as possible, even if you plan to review and organize the material later. You can migrate content for Spring 19 courses when spring course sites are created on Canvas later this year.
This content is adapted from documentation written by University of Chicago Academic Technology Solutions.