Exporting Materials From the Assurance System

HLC is working to streamline the technology that supports comprehensive evaluations and Assurance Reviews. Beginning with reviews that occur on or after September 1, 2025, institutions and peer reviewers will conduct their work for these reviews in Canopy. The current stand-alone Assurance System will be sunset after reviews conducted during the 2024–25 academic year are complete.

Information about the move to Canopy is available in the Revised Criteria for Accreditation and Assumed Practices: Overview and Timeline. We will provide additional information to institutions as details become available.

In preparation for this change, we encourage institutions that will not undergo a review in the Assurance System before September 1, 2025, to export their materials from the system. 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 its 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.”