Zoom/Canvas FAQ – Fall 2020

Now that fall classes are fully in session, Zoom is the primary way in which the vast majority of Northwestern is holding synchronous meetings. With such high usage, there are a few questions that are frequently raised by students and faculty. Each is addressed below with its accompanying solution.

Instructors: How do I secure my meetings and prevent Zoombombing?

The most secure way to lock down your Zoom session and avoid outside interference is to enable the “Only authenticated users can join” setting for a meeting. This setting ensures that participants will need to log in to Zoom with their NetID and password before joining the meeting. Unless you have a guest speaker, we highly encourage you to use this setting on all your Zoom meetings.

This page provides instructions on securing your Zoom meetings using this setting. It also provides recommended meeting and account settings for scheduling class meetings with non-NU guests; however, we urge instructors to proceed with caution when allowing in outside guests.

Students: When I try to join a meeting, it says “This meeting is for authorized attendees only.” When I click Sign-in and enter my Northwestern email and password, I’m still unable to join the meeting.

Most Zoom meetings will require attendees to be logged in to the Zoom app with their NetID and password. When prompted to sign in:

1. Select “Sign in with SSO”
   
2. Enter “northwestern” into the company domain so that it reads: northwestern.zoom.us and click Continue.
   
3. Log in with your NetID and password.
   
4. Click “Open Zoom Meetings” to join the meeting or open the app.
   

If you have a personal Zoom account, click on your profile box in the upper right-hand corner of the Zoom app, select Switch Account, and follow the same steps to sign in [to your Northwestern Zoom account] with SSO.

Students: Why am I getting an error message that says I don’t have permission to watch the Zoom recordings in my course?

When you attempt to access a recording from a Zoom session in Canvas, the recording will load in a new window. If you are not logged in to your Northwestern Zoom account in your web browser, you will be asked to sign in. Either scroll down and select the “Sign in with SSO” option using the instructions above, or open Northwestern Zoom in a new tab and log in with your NetID and password. Logging in to your Northwestern Zoom account will verify you are an official Northwestern account holder. Once you are logged in to Zoom in your web browser, return to your Canvas tab and click on the link to view the recording.

PLEASE NOTE: Because Zoom recordings play in a web browser, logging in to the Zoom app will not necessarily provide immediate access to the videos.

Instructors: I’ve scheduled my Zoom meetings in Canvas, but when I log in to Northwestern Zoom, I don’t see my meetings –OR– I see my meetings in Canvas but I cannot edit or start them anymore.

If your Zoom meetings are not accessible in both in Canvas and at https://northwestern.zoom.us/, it is most likely due to the preferred email in your Canvas account. For the Zoom integration with Canvas to work correctly, your preferred email in Canvas must match your Zoom email.

To check Zoom, go to https://northwestern.zoom.us/, log in with your NetID and password, then click on the “Profile” tab. The third item on the page is “Sign-in Email.” This is the email associated with your NetID.

In Canvas, click on Account and then Settings.

Is the default email for Canvas the same as the “Sign-in Email” in Zoom? If not, please update your Canvas email to match the Zoom email, and star it one as your preferred email in Canvas. If you have a different email as your preferred email in Canvas (or if you’ve changed your preferred email in Canvas), you may have issues accessing, starting, or editing meetings in either Canvas or on at https://northwestern.zoom.us/.

As noted above, your preferred email in Canvas should match your email associated with your NetID and at https://northwestern.zoom.us/. Once you’ve updated your Canvas email address, contact canvas@northwestern.edu to have your previously scheduled Canvas meetings and recordings moved to your updated Zoom account (please include the previous preferred email that was used in Canvas in your support request).

Have another question about Zoom not addressed here? Check out our Zoom Learning Center for all things Northwestern Zoom.