As we near the end of the semester, here's a checklist of tasks instructors may want to keep in mind (help sheets are available on the Blackboard Help tab):
Make your course unavailable to students
Create a backup copy of your course (and gradebook)
Send UMBC Blackboard course deletion requests
While past courses are available online in Blackboard, OIT recommends creating a backup copy, too. It's also smart to make your course unavailable to students after the semester ends, so it doesn't show up in their list of courses in future semesters--a big complaint of students. Exceptions might include keeping the course open to process incompletes, or as a courtesy to students who request to have ongoing access.
If you have created a backup copy of your course (online or on your own computer) consider having all older versions of the course deleted. You can then create your future course from your backup or the most recent version online. This way, you always "copy forward" the most recent version, and can get rid of past versions that are just taking up space--and probably still appear in past students' course lists. To permanently remove the course from your list, use the online form on the Blackboard Help tab. When the request has been received, we will send you an email to confirm your request.
For more information or help, send email to blackboard@umbc.edu.