Blackboard Course Generator

Creating a Single Course Using the Generator

1. Select Your Course: Pick the specific course you want to work with from your listing.
2. Choose Single Course Creation: Opt for the option to create a single course.
3. Optional Preview: If you are not creating additional courses, click the "Preview" button.
4. Review Your Options: Take a moment to go through the available course creation options.
5. Customize Your Course:
   • Decide whether you want to make the course immediately available or unavailable.
   • Modify the course title if necessary. 
   • Choose whether to copy content from an existing course or start fresh with a new course.
6. Finalize Your Course: When you are satisfied with your choices, click the "Submit" button to complete the course creation process. Select the course in your listing.  

Creating a Merged Course

By following these steps, you will successfully merge your chosen courses into a single Blackboard course. 

1. Select Courses for Merging: From the course listing, choose the courses you wish to merge into a single Blackboard course. 
2. Choose Group for Merging: Identify the appropriate Group # that corresponds to the courses you want to merge. For instance, in the provided example, selecting Group A will merge the two displayed courses. 
3. Preview (Optional): If you are not combining any more courses, proceed by clicking on the "Preview" button. 
4. Review Creation Options: Take a moment to review the various options available for your merged course creation. 
5. Customize Your Merged Course: 
   • Decide whether to make the course available or unavailable initially. 
   • Modify the course title if necessary. 
   • Choose whether to copy content from an existing course or start fresh with a new course. 

6. Handling Merging Notices: If you encounter a notice about merging courses, ensure you follow the required steps. This might involve requesting approval for merging, particularly if dealing with non-cross listed courses. Refer to the University Registrar's approval process at https://www.wm.edu/offices/registrar/facstaff/ferpaandbanner/ferpamergedbb/index.php for guidance. 

7. Submit Your Merged Course: Once you are ready, click the "Submit" button to finalize the merging process. 

Linking a Course

1. Select Course to Link: Choose the course you want to link to another course. 
2. Choose "Link to Existing" from the drop down menu. 
3. Review and Confirm: Take a moment to read and understand the pop-up statement, then click "Ok" to confirm. 
4. Pick Linked Course: Select the course you wish to link to. You can expand the list of already created courses to make your selection. 
5. Optional Preview: If you have finished linking courses, click "Preview." 
6. Non-Cross Listed Courses: If you are linking courses that are not cross-listed, please refer to the University Registrar’s approval process at https://www.wm.edu/offices/registrar/facstaff/ferpaandbanner/ferpamergedbb/index.php for guidance. 
7. Submit Linked Course: Once you are ready, click "Submit" to finalize the creation of the linked course. 

Deleting Merged and Linked Courses

1. Locate Merged Courses: Find the merged courses at the bottom of your course listing. 
2. Expand and Choose Action: Expand the details of the merged courses. You will have the option to: 
   1. Delete all merged coursed and start over. 
   2. Unlink a specific section from the merged course. 

3. Preview and Submit: 

• Preview the changes you have made to ensure they are as desired. 
• Once satisfied, click “Submit” to confirm the changes.  

Please Note: 

• Caution with Grades: Ensure you do not unlink or delete if students have grades in the grade center. Doing so will remove their grade history. 

Add User / Elevate Roles in Academic Courses 

While adding users and elevating roles in your Academic Course, it is important to adhere to the University's FERPA policy guidelines. As a step in this procedure, instructors can initiate role changes for users within a course, elevating their roles to Instructor, Teaching Assistant, Grader, or Course Builder. 

Once the instructor submits the role change request, an email will be sent to the respective users account. This email will seek the users approval in accordance with FERPA guidelines. Upon the users endorsement through the enclosed link, the role adjustment will be updated within the Blackboard course and an email sent to the instructor. 

Creating Non – W&M users 

After the successful creation of a Non-W&M user, an email notification will be sent to the individual. The email will contain instructions on how to login to Blackboard, utilizing their assigned username and password.   

Upon account creation, the individual will automatically be enrolled as a student in the requested course. To log in, Non-W&M users can navigate to https://blackboard.wm.edu and select the Non-W&M login option. In the event of password issues, users have the option to initiate a password reset by clicking on “Forgot Password.”  

For additional assistance, users can always reach out to the Technology Support Center via support@wm.edu.