Common Blackboard Start-of-Semester Tasks

Quick Links

1. Request to Merge Multiple Sections

2. How to Add TAs or Graders (Blackboard Ultra)

3. Copy or Move Documents between Courses (Blackboard Ultra)

4. Using the Batch Edit Tool after Course Copy (Blackboard Ultra)

5. How to Update Major and Minor Groups in Departmental and Program Spaces (Blackboard Ultra)
   

Request to Merge Multiple Sections

Submit a request that multiple course sections be merged into one course space. This is recommended if all of the course material and all of the assignments will be the same for all the sections.  This request should be made before any assignments have been graded.

How to Add TAs or Graders (Blackboard Ultra)

1. In any Ultra course, navigate to the Details and Actions pane on left side panel. Under Roster, click on 'View everyone in your course'.

2. In the roster, click the  icon (top-right corner).

3. Enter the student's first name or user name in the search field.

4. Select the student from the list, choose the appropriate role, and click “Save.”

 

Copy or Move documents between areas or courses (Blackboard Ultra)

1. Open the Ultra course you want to copy content into. (*In Ultra, you start the copy from the destination course, not the source.)

2. Click on ‘More Options’ and select ‘Copy Content’.

3. Select the course you’d like to copy materials from (can be any Original, Ultra, or existing course).

4. Choose to copy the entire course or select specific documents or assignments from each course.

5. You can select materials from multiple courses at the same time to copy into the target course. Finally, click ‘Start Copy’.

Using the 'Batch Edit' Tool after Course Copy (Blackboard Ultra)

After copying course material forward from a previous semester, you can use the 'Batch Edit' feature to adjust visibility and due dates in bulk. You can also use the tool to delete a group of selected course content. This tool is located in the Course Content page, under the three dot menu on the right side above the content list. This tool is a time-saver!

How to Update Major and Minor Groups in Departmental and Program Spaces (Blackboard Ultra)

All faculty are enrolled automatically in the appropriate departmental and program spaces based on their affiliations.  Students are also added automatically to these spaces as they declare their concentrations and minors.  However, the year‑based group lists within each space need to be updated manually. This needs to be done by chairs or others with access to the list of concentrators and minors in Self Service.

1. Open Self Service in one browser and go to the list of majors and minors.
2. In a different browser, open the departmental or program space ('Organizations' tab on Blackboard).
3.  Go to the Groups tab (on the top navigation bar).
4. If a class year group does not exist yet, you can create one by clicking on 'New Group Set'. Enter a name for the group set.

5. Next, add a new group and specify its name.
6. From the student roster displayed above, assign the respective students to the group created.

9. Students may change from major to minor or change class years, and those changes will need to be manually updated as well (moved from one group to another).
    

 More information

For further questions or concerns, please reach out at blackboard@hamilton.edu