KCTCS Online
Blackboard Procedures Manual
Effective summer, 2006
Revisions:
Spring, 2008 (3/2008)
Spring, 2009 (3/2009)
Spring, 2009 (4/2009)
Spring, 2010 (1/2010)
Summer 2011 (6/2011)
Fall 2012 (8/2012)
Fall 2012 (11/2012)
Summer 2014 (5/2014)
Summer 2015 (6/2015)
Spring 2016 (2/2016)
Kentucky Community and Technical College System
Street address: 300 North Main Street
Mailing address: Versailles, KY 40383
Telephone number: 859-256-3100
Toll-Free Telephone number (Kentucky only): 877-528-2748
Table of Contents
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................. 4
KCTCS Online ............................................................................................................................................................ 4
Quality Assurance..................................................................................................................................................... 5
Accessibility .............................................................................................................................................................. 5
Blackboard Usage and Support ................................................................................................................................ 6
Blackboard PeopleSoft Instruction Modes and Definitions .................................................................................... 6

Mode of Instruction .................................................................................................................................... 6

Instruction Mode Abbreviations ................................................................................................................. 6
Blackboard Technical Issues ..................................................................................................................................... 7
Blackboard Managed Hosting .................................................................................................................................. 7
Blackboard Access and Course Management .......................................................................................................... 7
User Name Creation ................................................................................................................................................. 7

Students ....................................................................................................................................................... 7

Employee/Student ...................................................................................................................................... 8

Non-Employee/Non-Student ...................................................................................................................... 8

Instructor-Student Accounts ....................................................................................................................... 8
Account Deletions .................................................................................................................................................... 8
Snapshot Tool ........................................................................................................................................................... 8
User Account Management ..................................................................................................................................... 8
Email in Blackboard .................................................................................................................................................. 9
Roster Responsibilities ............................................................................................................................................. 9
Blackboard Course Creation and Management Policy ............................................................................................ 9

Development Shells .................................................................................................................................... 9

Training shells .............................................................................................................................................. 9

eCommunity/Organizations…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..9

Course Shell ............................................................................................................................................... 10
Students Registration ............................................................................................................................................. 10
Merged Courses...................................................................................................................................................... 11
Incompletes ............................................................................................................................................................ 11
Class Availability and Access .................................................................................................................................. 12
Class Archive and Deletion ..................................................................................................................................... 12
Size Quotas ............................................................................................................................................................. 12
Information Security .............................................................................................................................................. 12
Recommended Training for the use of Blackboard ............................................................................................... 13
Intellectual Property – 3.3.5 ................................................................................................................................... 13
Upgrades and Building Blocks ................................................................................................................................ 14
Disaster Recovery ................................................................................................................................................... 14
Blackboard Help ..................................................................................................................................................... 15
Local System Administration Support ................................................................................................................... 15
Introduction
This manual reflects a combination of best practices and procedures as well as current system and
software capabilities. Due to KCTCS colleges’ explosive growth in eLearning and education technology
as a teaching, learning and communication tool, this is a living document and is subject to constant
revision as we improve Blackboard System usability and functionality.
KCTCS Online
(https://elearning.kctcs.edu)
KCTCS supports continuous improvement and participation of all users in the online process. Student,
faculty, and staff input is valuable and is encouraged. KCTCS College faculty and staff may suggest
improvements to Blackboard and to our management systems by sending those to SO_KCTCS eLearning
Support (elearningsupport@kctcs.edu). SO_KCTCS eLearning Support includes members of the System
Distance Learning staff.
KCTCS Training and Learning Center (https://kctcs.sharepoint.com/sites/tlc/Pages/Home.aspx)
The Training and Learning Center (TLC) is a one stop source for all of your technology related training
needs. Here you will find information, resources, guides, and tutorials for the systems you use every day.
Technology Communication Center
(https://employees.kctcs.edu/ts/)
The KCTCS Technology Communication Center is your source for what is new from KCTCS Technology
Solutions. Stay up to date on KCTCS systems and sign up to receive information about new functionality,
training opportunities, outages, and best practices.
Blackboard Technical Support
(https://elearning.kctcs.edu/webapps/portal/execute/tabs/tabAction?tab_tab_group_id=_16_1)
KCTCS Technology Solutions Help Desk
(https://ithelpdesk.kctcs.edu/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=8190)
This site currently services PeopleSoft Campus Solutions, Payroll, Human Resources, Financials and the
Decision Support System. This site is for faculty/staff use to file trouble tickets, ask questions, and
search the knowledge base.
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Quality Assurance
A quality online course contains the following components:
1. Course Design - Course Design addresses elements of instructional design. This includes such
elements as structure of the course, learning competencies and outcomes, organization of content
and instructional strategies.
a. Competencies & Outcomes
b. Technology Used
2. Communication and Interaction - Communication denotes interaction between learners and
instructors and amongst learners when applicable, both synchronously and asynchronously.
Interaction logistics refers specifically to the guidelines explaining required levels of participation.
a. Communication Strategies
b. Interaction Logistics
3. Assessment - Assessment focuses on instructional activities designed to measure progress towards
learning outcomes, provide feedback to students and instructor, and/or enable grade assignment.
This section addresses the quality and type of student assessments within the course.
a) Expectations
b) Assessment
c) Design
d) Self-assessment
4. Learner Support - Learner Support addresses the support resources made available to students
taking the course. Such resources may be accessible within or external to the course environment.
Specifically, learner support resources address a variety of student services including, but not
limited to the following.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
Orientation to Course and CMS
Supportive Software (Plug-ins)
Instructor Role and Information
Course/Institutional Policies and Support
Technical Accessibility Issues
Accommodations for Disabilities
Feedback
Accessibility

Blackboard software is ADA Compliant. You may find information regarding this at
https://www.blackboard.com/company/accessibility.aspx
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
Disability Services: http://kctcs.edu/en/Students/Disability_Services.aspx

Web accessibility initiative: https://www.w3.org/WAI
Blackboard Usage and Support

The Kentucky Community and Technical College System and its colleges are dedicated to fully
supporting instructors to successfully integrate eLearning technologies into classes. KCTCS system
office eLearning staff plan and facilitate training and education programs to support instructors. The
Learning Management System and College Administrators will facilitate course management.
Blackboard Managed Hosting in collaboration with KCTCS will continue to keep the Blackboard
software and hardware upgraded and fully functioning as features are enhanced and/or added over
time.

We strongly encourage all faculty to use Blackboard in all classes. A Blackboard shell will be
created for all courses that have a valid Blackboard instruction mode set in PeopleSoft.
Blackboard PeopleSoft Instruction Modes and Definitions
Mode of Instruction
Description
Blackboard ITV Web Enhanced
ITV Classroom w/Online Content
Blackboard Web Local
Online w/Possible Campus Visit
Blackboard In Person web enhanced
On Campus w/Online Content ITV
Interactive TV Class on Campus Blackboard in person hybrid
Partially Online & In Classroom Blackboard ITV Hybrid
Partially Online & ITV Classroom In person
On
Campus Classroom Blackboard Web world
Online & Open
to All Students Independent Studies
Independent Studies
Live virtual class
Online w/Set Meeting Time
Virtual Learning
Online-Self Select Start Date
Instruction Mode Abbreviations
BW
BL
BP
BI
LC
VL
Hybrid Modes:
HB
HI
Blackboard Web World
Blackboard Web Local
Blackboard in Person Web Enhanced
Blackboard ITV Web Enhanced
Live Virtual Meeting Blackboard/Bb Collaborate
Virtual Learning Initiative (Learn on Demand)
Blackboard in Person Hybrid
Blackboard ITV Hybrid
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PeopleSoft Note Function: Use PS Note Function and create boiler plate wording to describe each
mode. The note is viewable on course schedule and can be printed in schedule of classes.
Blackboard Technical Issues
Please remember the following:

Technical problems include, but are not limited to, server and network downtime and
software “bugs.” The KCTCS Technology Solutions team will endeavor to keep those to a
minimum by applying a process of reliability based server maintenance management to the
Blackboard servers, software, and associated applications and processes.

While servers are backed up on a regular basis, faculty are responsible for keeping local copies of
important files which may include your Grade Center, course archives, exports etc. and any files
you may have uploaded.

Regular scheduled system downtime notices will be posted at https://elearning.kctcs.edu and
https://employees.kctcs.edu/ts/.
Blackboard Managed Hosting
Blackboard Managed Hosting and KCTCS Blackboard Administration is primarily responsible for the
system as a whole, while tasks for individual sites (e.g. developing content, altering optional course
settings, adding unregistered users, etc.) are the responsibility of the respective instructors and the
colleges.
The system is designed for KCTCS students and staff using their KCTCS accounts and e-mail, and KCTCS
eLearning can only provide limited support for external clients and services (e.g. Gmail, web access
behind corporate firewalls, personal computer settings, etc.)
Blackboard Access and Course Management
This section details how accounts are created in Blackboard and the policies, practices, and
procedures for course copy, creation, and deletion.
User Name Creation
PeopleSoft and Blackboard are fully integrated. When a student or employee is added to the PeopleSoft
System associated with Blackboard modes and assigned a KCTCS ID number (emplid), a user name is
assigned to that individual. ID numbers are also referred to as Student ID, EMP ID, EmplID, and ID. New
users are automatically added to Blackboard each night through an automated process. Corrections to
personal information, including username changes, will flow automatically through to the Blackboard
database.

Students To access the learning management system (Blackboard) and other user services, students
will need to create their user profile at the KCTCS User Account Center. After setting up their user
profile, they will be able to view their KCTCS ID, username, and set their password.
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
https://students.kctcs.edu/psc/stdsaprd/EMPLOYEE/HRMS/c/K_IDA.K_IDA_UAC.GBL?Page=K_IDA_UA
CGUEST&Action=U&TargetFrameName
Employee/Student When a person changes status (employee vs. student), their EMP ID does not
change. Their email address will also remain the same unless otherwise requested.

Non-Employee/Non-Student If an account is needed for an individual who is not affiliated with
KCTCS an affiliate account should be created. For assistance creating affiliate accounts please
open a ticket with the KCTCS Technology Solutions Help Desk at
https://ithelpdesk.kctcs.edu/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=8190.

Instructor-Student Test Accounts As an instructor, you want to be confident that your course is well
designed and functions as intended—before your students see it. Use student preview to review the
course content and validate the course behaviors, such as those that control the availability of course
content or require a particular interaction from the student to be triggered. https://enus.help.blackboard.com/Learn/9.1_2014_04/Instructor/130_Student_Performance/Student_Preview
Account Deletions
All accounts that have not had activity (participated in courses, organizations or logged in) in
Blackboard for 1 year will be deleted on June 30th of each year.
Snapshot (Course/Enrollment) Automated Processes
Files are generated from PeopleSoft for Blackboard. Using these files, the snapshot tool allows us to
better manage the users in the learning management system.
KCTCS currently has four (4) snapshots file types: courses, student enrollment, staff enrollment, and
account creations. The automated snapshot job runs once daily at approximately 4 am (Eastern).

Name Changes: students, faculty, or staff desiring to change their name in Blackboard must first
have it changed in PeopleSoft. The learning management system allows us to make changes to the
user account, including the username, without disrupting associations Blackboard has made with
that user, in particular the Grade Center and discussion threads. Name changes in PeopleSoft will
flow through to Blackboard automatically. Students will initiate those name changes with Student
Services. Staff and faculty will initiate this process with Human Resources.

Blackboard receives all user information from PeopleSoft via the Snapshot tool. Because of this, any
changes in the user’s information, such as name changes, need to be initiated through Human
Resources for staff or Student Services for students. The change will then propagate to Blackboard
within 24 hours of the time that the change is made in PeopleSoft.

When students are processed to class sections, the primary key will be their emplid.
User Account Management

Before students may access the LMS Blackboard they must first set the password of their KCTCS
account: http://kctcs.edu/Students/User_Account_Center.aspx
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
How to Login to a Distance Learning Course:
http://kctcs.edu/Students/LearnByTerm/Orientation/How_to_Login_to_an_Online_Course.aspx

Email Notification of Login/Password: Students will be notified of login/password information at
Home College and through automated PeopleSoft KCTCS.edu email account. The automated
PeopleSoft email is generated upon enrollment in a class associated with a Blackboard instruction
mode and again 3-5 days before class start date.

Faculty will be notified of login/password information at the Delivering College and through
automated PeopleSoft KCTCS.edu email account. The automated PeopleSoft email is
generated when instructors are assigned to teach a class associated with a Blackboard
instruction mode.
Email in Blackboard
The email field of PeopleSoft-generated Blackboard user accounts will be populated with the affiliated
KCTCS email address. The KCTCS 24/7 Blackboard Technical Help Desk will not be able to troubleshoot
undelivered or undeliverable email when going outside of the KCTCS email systems to personal email
accounts.
Roster Responsibilities
Blackboard courses will be auto populated through the PeopleSoft Blackboard integrated processes.
Blackboard Course Creation and Management Policy
Development Shells, Training Shells, eCommunity/Organizations, Course Section Shells


Development Shells
o Created to develop a course for a future semester and will be deleted after 1 year of no
activity. Removal will occur on June 30th of each year.
o
Each faculty member can request creation of his/her development course from their Local
Bb Admin.
o
Development shell codes will be similar to the following: ACTC_8888_DEV_ENG_101 where
ACTC is replaced by the appropriate college code and ENG_101 is replaced with the course
prefix and number of the Development shell.
Training shells
o Created for training only and will be deleted after 1 year of no activity. Removal will occur on
June 30th of each year.
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
o
Training shell codes will be similar to ACTC_8888_TRAIN_101_01 where ACTC is replaced by the
appropriate college code.
o
Training Shells can be created by the Local BbAdmin or DL Coordinator.
eCommunity/Organizations
o The term “Blackboard eCommunity” is used to describe an empty Blackboard course that can be
used by KCTCS' colleges, departments, faculty, staff, and/or students for activities that are in
support of the educational, research, or administrative mission of KCTCS.
Like a Blackboard course, an eCommunity allows authorized participants who have KCTCS
Blackboard accounts to access documents and collaborate with other organization participants in
a secure-access environment.
In addition, Blackboard eCommunity leaders are responsible for manually enrolling and removing
participants.
o
o
o
o

Cannot be used for course credit-earning activities.
Can only be requested by full-time faculty and staff.
eCommunity shell codes will be similar to ACTC_8888_COMMUNITY_101_01 where ACTC is
replaced by the appropriate college code.
eCommunities will be deleted after 1 year of no activity.
Course Shell
o Course shells are auto-generated from official PeopleSoft courses with Blackboard
instruction modes (above) and will be deleted one year after the end of the term.
o
The Blackboard Course ID is comprised of campus, term, course prefix and number, PS course
number:
Campus_Term_CoursePrefix_CourseNumber_PS#
Example: HEC_4164_CIS_130_35Z7_49379
o
The Blackboard Course Name is comprised of the PS Course Prefix and Number, Course Title,
term and section number:
CoursePrefix CourseNumber: CourseTitle (Term__Section#)
Example: CIS 130: Microcomputer Applications (4164_35Z7)
o
Faculty are responsible for the backup/archive and export of their
courses, Grade Center and other content added to the system. How
to export and archive courses.
Students Registration
Username/password for Blackboard is same as PeopleSoft and email.

As students register for the classes, rosters will be auto populated through Snapshot tool
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and updated through the PeopleSoft Blackboard integrated processes.

The course sections are created as “unavailable and continuous.” Before students will have access to
the course, the faculty must make course sections “available” by changing “unavailable” to
“available” in the PROPERTIES area of the control panel. How to make your course available to
students.

Student enrollments are made unavailable approx. 30 days after the end of the term. This will
make the course(s) disappear from the students’ course lists.
Merged Courses
Cross listing parent courses for faculty who want courses and rosters linked together.
If the sections are SEPARATE in PeopleSoft and the instructor wants the sections merged as one class in
Blackboard, please do the following:
Solution in PeopleSoft: For sections requested as a Bb merge,
 Use the “combine class section” instructions in PeopleSoft (see combine instructions below) to
“merge” enrollments,
OR
 initially, when class schedule is created in PeopleSoft and instructor has requested Bb merged
class, use one section designated to accommodate same instructor classes (example:
Instructor has three (3) sections and has requested merged class in Blackboard – input only
ONE (1) section in PeopleSoft to equal caps of three (3) sections.
Instructions - PeopleSoft COMBINED Solution:
See complete instructions at: https://elearning.kctcs.edu/bbcswebdav/xid132894628_3
If you are going to use the merged section then once the combined section ID is in production, you
will see a new course shell created in your portal. The combined section ID course shell will have a
code similar to the others and will indicate what classes are merged/combined (code similar to
ACTC_4164_CIS100_MERG_DOE). This new shell will have all students in it, but the content will
not be there.
Merging your courses will create a new course shell. The original shells will become disabled and
you will not have access to them. Before the merge request is made in PeopleSoft you will need to
export and download your course content. You can now import the export into this new shell.
Instructions for exporting can be found here: How to export and archive courses.
Once this is done, you will teach from this merged shell.
Incompletes
After the end of each term, all official student enrollments for that term will be made unavailable. This
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will make the courses disappear from the students’ course list. If there is a student with an incomplete
grade in a class after the end of the term, you will need to make that student’s enrollment available
again to continue to allow the student access to the Blackboard course (Control Panel> Users and
Groups >Users. Click the “Properties” button next to the student who needs access to the course and
set the availability to “Yes”).
Class Availability and Access

All KCTCS classes can be created in Blackboard.

Class start date: instructors must change the course setting from unavailable to available when
ready for students to access the content. How to make your course available to students.
Class Archive and Deletion

One year after the end of each term, all PeopleSoft-generated courses attached to that term will be
archived and removed from Blackboard.

The Blackboard System Administrators will make no additions, deletions or otherwise alter a
course’s content without the prior approval of either the instructor or the System Director of
Distance Learning Technologies.
Size Quotas

Courses are granted 500MB in total size and eCommunities/Organizations are granted 250MB in total
size.

Site sizes will be periodically monitored by the System Administrator (and communication with
an instructor pursued where appropriate) as an extra preventive measure.

If a quota limit is reached, the instructor will be first asked to “clean up” the site’s contents (e.g.
perform image compression, delete unnecessary files, move video to YouTube or Vimeo, etc.) If
this is done and the quota limit is still being reached, the Blackboard System Administrator may
then consider raising the quota limit.

Request for additional quota involves:
o Evaluate if faculty and student need to be advised of more efficient, spacing saving practices.
o Determine if additional storage is justified based on class requirements.

Each user’s individual eContent collection has a quota limit of 100MB. Requests for eContent
quota increases will be considered with the same criteria as course quota increases.
Information Security
Controlling Access to Student Information
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
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), as amended (also sometimes
referred to as the Buckley Amendment), is a federal law designed to protect the confidentiality of
students’ education records.

FERPA governs the release of student education records by the college and access to these records.
o
Institutions may not disclose information from student education records without a
student’s written consent.
o
This act is enforced by the Family Policy Compliance Office, U.S. Department of
Education, and Washington, D.C.
o
Failure to comply with the act could result in the withholding of Federal Funds including
Student Financial Aid.
Recommended Training for the use of Blackboard
a) Getting Started:
http://elearning.kctcs.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/eLearning%20Technology%20Tutorials/Bb%209
%20Tutorials/index.html
b) Rationale for Training
 Help faculty understand the issues and value of using online resources for learning.
 Help faculty envision changes that will occur as they move components of their course to
the online environment.
 Assure effective implementation.
 Facilitate the matching of course goals with appropriate tools.
 Guide faculty regarding online copyright issues.
 Ensure consistent delivery of student instructions and tips across all courses.
 Increase the usability of the course for all participants by ensuring that files and materials
are posted in a “user-friendly” way.


Inform faculty of recent technological innovations and software that may assist them.
Inform faculty of quality assurance standards and best practices.
Intellectual Property – 3.3.5

As a general policy, KCTCS has exclusive ownership of inventions, patents, curricula, instructional
devices, computer software, books, and other materials developed in whole or in part by faculty,
staff, or students in the course of their regular KCTCS employment (including paid sabbatical leaves)
or through the use of KCTCS funds, facilities or equipment. Any member of the faculty, staff, or
student body who produces such intellectual property using KCTCS funds, facilities or other
resources shall assign personal rights to the property to KCTCS, but shall retain an interest in and a
right to share in any financial returns from the commercialization of the property.
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
o
o
It is the specific policy of KCTCS that the traditional products of scholarly activity, such as journal
articles, textbooks, reviews, monographs, works of art, sculpture, music, and course materials (for
example, syllabi, workbooks, and laboratory manuals), shall be the unrestricted property of the
author. KCTCS will exert no ownership claim of such works. A Standing Committee on Intellectual
Property, appointed by the KCTCS President and including KCTCS legal counsel and representation
from KCTCS faculty, staff and students, will administer the policy and oversee implementation of
the procedures.
https://publicsearch.kctcs.edu/policies/admin%20policies/Volume_II.pdf
https://publicsearch.kctcs.edu/policies/Admin%20Policies/3-3-5.pdf
Upgrades and Building Blocks

Upgrades
KCTCS has two (2) sets of Blackboard environments (production and staging). This allows us to
plan, test and implement upgrades in a timely manner with minimal interruption to our
production services.
1. The staging environment: This allows other interested parties to look at developed
Building Blocks and pre-production Blackboard upgrades. It is wise to remember that this
server IS NOT PRODUCTION and SHALL NOT BE USED FOR REAL TIME COURSE WORK. The
staging environment is available at https://kctcs-stage.blackboard.com
2. The Blackboard Production environment is at https://elearning.kctcs.edu. As a full
production system, it is subject to all KCTCS Blackboard and procedures.
The upgrade process is to place new Blackboard upgrades or patches on the staging environment.
Once reviewed, tested, and approved, the upgrade or patches are then applied to the production
system during a schduled maintenance window.

Building Blocks
Blackboard Building Blocks are applications that allow KCTCS to build extensions to the Blackboard
platform and to integrate Blackboard with external applications, content, or services. Building
Blocks can include portal modules, content, specific tools, assessment engines, integration with
library systems, campus bookstores, door access or print management systems just to name a few.
The possibilities are endless.
A Building Block may link Blackboard with external systems, applications, or services, or it can be an
application that runs entirely within the Blackboard environment. The KCTCS Learning Systems
Administrator will facilitate processing of requests to create Building Blocks that expand the
potential of the Blackboard Learning Management System and to meet the specific needs of KCTCS.
Disaster Recovery
It is important in a “mission critical” environment to have a disaster recovery plan. Please see the Blackboard
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Managed Hosting disaster recovery planning document for an outline of their disaster recovery process.
Faculty are responsible for the backup/archive and export of their courses, Grade Center and other
content added to the system. How to export and archive courses.Blackboard Help
When instructors or students need help with an issue that they are having in Blackboard, contact the
24/7 Blackboard help desk. Information for the helpdesk can be found at
http://bbcrm.edusupportcenter.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=8158.
The help desk will create a ticket submission, and if they cannot resolve the issue, it will be
escalated to the next level of support. For the support person to be effective in resolving the issue
there is a minimal amount of information that should be provided to the help desk.
• The PeopleSoft username of the person experiencing the problem as well as the course
prefix/section and instructor name.
 The description of the problem. If applicable, include the date and the time the problem was
encountered and any error messages.
Other information can be helpful if it is applicable to the issue. Below is a list of possible items
to include.
 Filename.
 Area in Blackboard where the problem occurred, such as assessments area, content area,
grade center, and email.
 Browser and version being used (i.e., Internet Explorer, Safari, Chrome, Firefox)
 Connection method, if offsite (i.e., dial up, DSL, wireless)
 Any other information applicable to the user’s issue.
Local System Administration Support
College Blackboard System Administration Support (BbAdminSupport)

A support feature is in place for college Blackboard Administrative support. A Local Blackboard
Administrator will be able to answer questions about PeopleSoft & Blackboard issues including
student (users), faculty, courses, and eCommunity issues.

The Local Blackboard System Admin Manual for Bb user support can be found at:
https://elearning.kctcs.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/Blackboard/BbAdminManual.pdf
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