Policy: Support in Blackboard Live Courses

Overview

This policy defines the roles and responsibilities of support personnel and instructors in live Blackboard courses to ensure efficient course administration and troubleshooting. Support personnel are responsible for addressing technical and troubleshooting issues, while instructors manage the daily administration and instructional activities of the course.

Roles and Responsibilities

Instructors

Instructors are responsible for the overall administration and management of the Blackboard course. Their responsibilities include:

Course Content & Instruction

• Uploading and organizing additional course materials (lectures, videos, readings, etc.).
• Creating, modifying, and managing assessments (assignments, quizzes, exams, discussions).
• Monitoring and managing student participation and grading.

Course Administration

• Communicating with students regarding course expectations, deadlines, and troubleshooting non-technical issues.
• Creation of course groups.
• Grading assignments or exams.

Collaboration with Support Personnel

• Identifying and reporting technical issues that may require assistance.
• Implementing recommended solutions provided by support personnel for Blackboard functionality.

Support Personnel

Support personnel provide technical assistance and troubleshooting support for Blackboard courses. Their responsibilities include:

Technical Support & Troubleshooting

• Assisting with login/access issues for instructors and students (Help Desk)
• Troubleshooting system errors, broken links, and file upload/download issues.
• Supporting gradebook functionality.
• Investigating and escalating system-wide Blackboard outages or disruptions.

System & Tool Support

• Providing guidance on Blackboard features and tools (e.g., discussion boards, assignment submissions, release condition settings).
• Offering best practices for integrating third-party tools (e.g., Turnitin, publisher content, video conferencing).
• Assisting instructors with restoring lost content or recovering deleted files when possible.

User Access & Permissions

• Assisting with course enrollments: observers, graders, facilitators, lab assistants.

Limitations of Support Personnel

• Support personnel do not modify course content or assessments.
• Support personnel do not communicate grading decisions or make changes to student submissions.
• Support personnel do not make changes or adjustments to gradebooks without the presence or acknowledgement of the instructor.
• Support personnel do not handle academic integrity violations or disputes other then to provide information about an academic integrity event.

Contacting Support

Instructors experiencing technical issues should first refer to available Blackboard support resources (bbhelp.usa.edu). If additional assistance is needed, support personnel can be reached by clicking Submit a Request in the upper right hand corner of this screen.