START OF SEMESTER PROCEDURES FOR INSTRUCTORS

REQUEST A COURSE

1. Click on the Course Request Form located in the Faculty section of this Website.
2. Fill out the form.
3. Please allow two business days for your course to be created.
4. Please make certain that your email address and course sections are correct.
Please note: Failure to provide accurate information will delay your course creation.

Please Note:

• Blackboard courses are not automatically created for every course listed in the Registrar's catalog. It is your responsibility to request a course site.
• All courses are initially created in an “unavailable” state. The term “unavailable” means that you can view the course and your students cannot. The unavailable state allows you to test and develop your course without disclosing incorrect or unwanted course content to your students. After you have fully tested them, you must make your courses available to the students. If you experiencing problems, please launch an online ticket or email !Blackboard@sacredheart.edu immediately.

BLACKBOARD COURSE CREATION PROCESS

1. Course request(s) are received.
2. Course files are obtained from the Registrar's Department. (Course Name, Course Section, Students Enrolled and Instructor Information)
3. Course(s) are created in the Blackboard System by the Blackboard Administrator with the information obtained from the Registrar's Department)
4. Once the course(s) are created, you will receive a confirmation email. Initially, only students enrolled in the course at the time of the course site creation will be listed.

COURSE ENROLLMENTS

Enrollments are updated every 24 hours via automated procedures. Students will have access to your Blackboard course approximately 24 hours after they have registered.

MAKE YOUR COURSE AVAILABLE

1. Log into your course.
2. Go to the Control Panel.
3. Under Course Options, click on Settings, then click Course Availability.
4. Select Yes and click on the Submit button.
5. All of your students will now have access to your course.

END OF SEMESTER PROCEDURES FOR INSTRUCTORS

MAKE YOUR COURSE UNAVAILABLE

1. Log into your course.
2. Go to the Control Panel.
3. Under Course Options, click on Settings, then click Course Availability.
4. Select No and click on the Submit button.
5. Your students will no longer have access to your course or its contents.

ARCHIVE YOUR COURSE

Archiving your course site creates a permanent record of your course including all of the content and user interaction. You should always archive or back up your Blackboard course. Archived courses will be saved as .zip files. Archiving a course does not remove it from the Blackboard system. You should archive your course at the end of every semester.

1. Log into your course.
2. Go to the Control Panel.
3. Under Course Options, click on Archive Course.
4. Click Archive from the Action Bar of the Export/Archive Manager page.
5. Select the Submit button.
6. You will be re-directed to a page that will read “This action has been successfully queued. An email will be sent when the process is complete”. Click the OK button.

The system creates the course package. When the package is complete, the Instructor who initiated the operation receives an email. After the email is recieved:

7. Repeat steps 1 though 3
8. An archive file will be listed on the Export/Archive Manager page
9. Click on that link and you will be prompted to save or open the file
10. Click on the Save button and choose a location on your computer to save the archived course
**The archive file is a zip file and can only be used in the Blackboard environment**


PRESERVE YOUR GRADEBOOK

If you use the Gradebook feature of Blackboard, be sure to export the gradebook contents as a spreadsheet file.

1. Log into your course.
2. Go to the Control Panel.
3. Under Assessment, click on Gradebook.
4. Using the Gradebook toolbar, click on the Download Grades option
5. You will be re-directed to a page that will prompt you to choose a delimiter type. Select the “Comma” option and click the Submit button.
6. The next page will allow you to download the gradebook, click on the Download button and you will be prompted to save or open the file
7. Click on the Save button and choose a location on your computer to save the gradebook file .
**Recommendation: Rename the gradebook file so it associates with a specific course for future reference.**

Please note: Portions of your course may be required at a later date for student record keeping.  All instructors are responsible for saving their courses for proper management of student records.

ALWAYS MAKE MULTIPLE COPIES (digital files and hard copies) OF THESE IMPORTANT FILES.