Instructor Resources

• Is Blackboard available to use for my department?
• Who do I contact for support or training?
• How do I request a course or an Ultra sandbox?
• How are students and other users added to my course?
• How is my course made available to students?
• Are there backups/archives of my course?
• Are there any course size limits or file types to be aware of?
• Are there other Blackboard resources and training available?

Blackboard Help

Blackboard is available across campus for both Mystar/Official and non-Mystar/ad-hoc courses. Courses are managed by each school, department, or instructor.

The Blackboard system administration is managed by the Academic Computing team. We are available for consults, support to get your started.

Visit our Blackboard Resources web page for training options and resources for Ultra Base Navigation, Ultra and Original Courses.

Course Requests

MyStar/Official courses
SHP, GSBS, and SPPH - Contact Academic Computing at edtech@utmb.edu.

Non-MyStar/ad-hoc courses
Contact Academic Computing to inquire whether Blackboard fits the learning need for your training.

Ultra Sandboxes
Contact Academic Computing to discuss individual and/or group Ultra Sandboxes for your area.

Enrollments

For MyStar/Official courses - Students are automatically enrolled through a process which runs daily around 4:00 am. Once students complete their requirements and are officially enrolled with Enrollment Services, they will be added to their corresponding Blackboard course(s) the next day.

For all other course enrollments (Instructor, TA, Grader, etc.) - It is at the discretion of each course/program/school to manage, delegate access and  choose what role to assign for each user.

• How to Enroll Users (video)
• Course Roles (video)
• Course Roles (.docx)
• Batch Enroll Users (.docx - applies only to Original courses)

Course Availability

Courses are set to private/unavailable by default. It is at the discretion of each course/program/school when to open/make a course available to students/participants.

There are two ways to open courses with Ultra Base Navigation.

1. From the course listing page (outside of your course)
   • Select the 3 dots located on far right of course name.
   • Select open to make course available
   • Select Private to make unavailable.
   Caution! Hiding a course hides it from yourself only. It does not make it unavailable to students.
   
2. Directly from the top right area of a course's landing page
   • Select the Lock icon to make a course available/unavailable.
     

Blackboard Archives

Blackboard automatically generates daily archives between 2:00 – 5:00 am for active courses. Each archive is retained in the system for 30 days and then gets automatically removed. Automated archives are to be considered short-term. You have the option to create manual archives.

Read More: Understanding Archives and Recommendations (pdf)

Course Size Limits

Blackboard does not have unlimited space. Instructors should be mindful if there is duplicated content that came from a copied course. One way to help us reduce a course's size is by removing files prior to a course's "go-live" day. Contact Academic Computing for best practices or a consult to get on track.

Technically, almost any type of file can be uploaded to Blackboard. However, please do not upload audio and video files directly. Panopto should be used, instead.

Use the Panopto Video link on your course menu located on the left-hand course menu and select: Panopto Video > Create > Upload. Contact Academic Computing if you have any questions.

Blackboard Resources

Visit our Blackboard Resources web page for training options and resources for Ultra Base Navigation, Ultra and Original Courses.

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