As of 5:35 pm today, the university announced that 48-hour time-limited access would be provided to Quercus in order to enable instructors to submit outstanding grades to ensure eligible students can graduate in June. 

According to an announcement on UofT’s ITS System Status page, “while there is no evidence that accessing Quercus during this period poses a risk to individual computers,” the university does not recommend that instructors use Quercus for purposes other than retrieving the necessary information to finalize and submit student grades.

The university is awaiting “independent” confirmation that using Quercus no longer poses a threat before restoring full access to the platform. Students may still be met with a prompt that states “you are not eligible for the service requested,” when they attempt to access the web page as Quercus remains restricted to the broader community. 

Despite the university announcing time-limited access for instructors, some students have reported being able to access Quercus. One student who spoke to The Varsity reported being able to sign in to Quercus through the website on their mobile device, while another said they are only able to access the platform through its mobile app. 

UofT’s announcement from May 8 reads “some users may still be able to access Quercus. Use of the service is not recommended at this time.”

Quercus has been unavailable to students and instructors as of May 7 following a data breach by the cybercriminal group ShinyHunters. The university announced its suspension of Quercus as a “precautionary measure” on May 8.