Canvas – Course Access Guide for UWM School of Continuing Education

This article provides instructions for participants in the UWM School of Continuing Education on how to access Canvas and return to their Canvas course. If you have an active ePantherID (@uwm.edu email address), refer to the KB article: “Canvas – How do I register for and access my Continuing Education course? (for UWM/UW System staff and students)”

How to Get Started

For courses in the UWM School of Continuing Education that use Canvas, participants join via an email invitation. Invitations may be sent up to 24 hours before the course begins. 

Accepting Your Canvas Course Invitation Email

  1. You will receive your Canvas invitation email up to 24 hours before the start of your course with the following details:

    • From: Universities of Wisconsin Canvas <notifications@instructure.com>

    • Subject: Course Invitation 

  2. If you are unable to find the invite, check your junk/spam folder. 

  3. Important You cannot access your course in Canvas until you receive the invitation email. DO NOT attempt to create a Canvas account beforehand.

  4. If you have not received your email and your course starts in less than 24 hours, please reach out to sceinfo@uwm.edu.

  5. Open the email and click “Get Started”.

    Screenshot of a Canvas course email invitation, with Course Role: Student. Lists Name, Email, Username. "Get Started" button is in blue,

Accept the Invitation and Get Started

Choose the option that matches the email address that received your Canvas invitation.

I do not have a Canvas account for the email that received the invitation

  1. Click the "Create My Account" button.
    Screenshot of a Canvas platform invitation page welcoming a user to join a course. Aarrow pointing to the second button:s Create my Account.

  2. The next prompt will ask you to finalize your account details.

  3. Enter your desired password

  4. Select your time zone.

  5. Click the Register button.

  6. Sample view:
    Screenshot of a Canvas registration form and includes fields for login email, password, and time zone selection with a yellow Register button

I already have a Canvas account for the email that received the invitation

  1. Click "I have a Canvas Account".
    Screenshot of Canvas platform invitation page welcoming a user to join a course. A blue arrow points to the first button, I have a Canvas Account.

  2. Select UW Continuing Education Student as shown in the below screenshot. 
    Note: Anyone using an email address not associated with a UW email must select this option. 
    Login screen for University of Wisconsin System. Prompt to select login type. A blue arrow points to the first arrow: UW Continuing Education Student.

  3. Enter your existing login and password.

  4. Click Log In.
    screenshot of University of Wisconsin Canvas Login and Password login page

If needed, to reset your password: 

  1. Select "Forgot Password?" 

  2. In the Login field type your email.

  3. An email will be sent that allows you to reset your password

My invitation was sent to a UW System email address

This option applies only if your invitation was sent to a UW System email address (for example, @uwm.edu, @wisc.edu, etc...).

  1. Click "I have a Canvas Account".
    Screenshot of Canvas platform invitation page welcoming a user to join a course. A blue arrow points to the first button, I have a Canvas Account.

  2. Select UW Employee / Faculty / Student as shown in the below screenshot. 

    Login screen for University of Wisconsin System Canvas. Choose login type. A blue arrow points to button "UW Employee / Faculty / Student."

  3. From the drop down, select the campus that issued your UW email address. 

  4. Proceed to sign into your UW Account and multi-factor authentication

    Please note: some or all of these steps may be automatically bypassed by the system if you are already logged into your university email.


If needed, to reset your password: 

  • For UW-Milwaukee ePanther IDs, Information to reset or obtain a new password is available on the UWM IT Digital Identity page.

  • For other Universities of Wisconsin campuses, you must work with the issuing campus to reset your password.

  • If your UW account is no longer active, please contact us at sceinfo@uwm.edu and provide us with an updated email. 


Logging in to your UWM Continuing Education course after setup

Once you have accepted your course invitation and completed your account setup, you can log in to Canvas to access your course.

UWM School of Continuing Education students (non-UW emails)

Log in using Canvas for Other Users tab using the email address and password you used when you first accessed your course.

Log in to Canvas for Other Users    

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (@UWM) ePanther ID users

Log in through the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Canvas login page using your ePanther ID and password. 

Log in to Canvas for UWM

Other Universities of Wisconsin System ID users

See Also

Log in through the Other Universities of Wisconsin tab using your UW System username and password. 

Log in to Canvas for all Other UW  


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Keywords:
Canvas, Canvas login, Canvas log in, Canvas access, Canvas invitation, Canvas course, Continuing Education, School of Continuing Education, SCE, noncredit, non-credit, ePantherID, UW System, guest, student, account creation, password reset, Instructure 
Doc ID:
159939
Owned by:
Samantha M. in Advancing Learning
Created:
2026-03-16
Updated:
2026-06-22
Sites:
UW-Milwaukee Center for Advancing Student Learning, UW-Milwaukee Help Desk