Topic Overview

This document describes the service that Information Technology Services (ITS) provides to Blackboard users of organizations at Syracuse University.

Organizations

A Blackboard organization will be created only after ITS receives a request from a Syracuse University faculty or staff member acting as the group sponsor. The group sponsor will be required to provide all necessary information via an online form and to ensure compliance with this service description.
Blackboard Organizations are limited to groups that support the educational, research, or administrative mission of the University.
Student group eligibility is determined by the Office of Student Affairs and/or an administrative officer of the sponsoring college or department. All student groups must have a faculty or staff sponsor to use a Blackboard organization.
Blackboard organization participants that need access to the control panel must be granted access by Blackboard administrators following a request by the organization leader or group sponsor and completion of the required overview by the leader.
Transfers or additions of organization leaders must be made by the existing organization leader and/or the group sponsor after new organization leaders have completed the overview.
Each Blackboard organization is allocated up to 1000 MB of storage space on the Blackboard server.
All participants in Blackboard organizations are asked to comply with Copyright Law concerning materials placed on the web. In particular, please read the section on Digital Rights Management and Fair Use.
All organizations created in Blackboard default to being unavailable to participants. While the organization leader will have access to the course, organization participants will not be able to see the site. This ensures organization participants do not see content until the organization leader is ready for them to see it and explicitly makes it available to them.
Organizations can be disabled or removed from the Blackboard server only by request by the organization leader and/or the group sponsor, unless Syracuse University's Information Technology Resources Acceptable Use Policy has been violated.
Failure to comply with the provisions of this service description may result in corrective action, including the possible removal of the organization from the Blackboard server.

Roles and User Accounts

Roles

The organization sponsor is the faculty or staff member that has oversight responsibilities for groups using a Blackboard organization. The group sponsor is responsible for monitoring and maintaining appropriate behaviors in the Blackboard organization. The group sponsor may also act as a organization leader.
An organization leader is a user who has permission to access the control panel of a Blackboard organization. The organization leader can add content and change the site settings and appearance. An organization leader can be a student, staff member, or a faculty member. There may be more than one organization leader per organization in Blackboard.
An organization participant is a person who participates in a Blackboard organization. Organization participants can access materials in a site and utilize the available tools, but they can not access the control panel to add content or change the site settings.

Faculty, Staff, and Student Accounts

All Syracuse University faculty, staff, and students automatically have an account generated in the Blackboard system. These accounts use the University's NetID and NetID password.
Any qualified and approved user (faculty member, staff member, or student) can be a leader of a Blackboard organization. Organization leaders must be approved by the organization sponsor.
Leaders from the School of Information Studies must consult with their support staff regarding non-class organizations.

Special (Guest) Accounts

ITS will consider adding special (guest) accounts manually to Blackboard for approved organizations that are able to provide required data and user support. Anyone who has a need for a special account should email help@syr.edu, call 315-443-2677, or stop into the ITS Service Center located at 1-227 CST during business hours.

Passwords

Users who have forgotten their Blackboard password can click on the "Forgot Your Password" link located on the main Blackboard login page. This will bring you to an ITS web page with instructions for changing the password. Users can also email help@syr.edu, call 315-443-2677, or stop into the ITS Service Center located at 1-227 CST during business hours.

Support

ITS supports Blackboard software and troubleshoots any problems.
ITS supports organization leaders in using the Blackboard system. We only support Blackboard related issues (e.g., features in Blackboard, user accounts, etc.). All other issues (e.g., individual computer configuration, desktop problems, etc.) should be reported to the department's Distributed Staff Program (DSP) personnel.
ITS supports student use of Blackboard. Organization student participants should seek assistance by first checking with their organization leader or sponsor, then emailing help@syr.edu, calling 315-443-2677, or by stopping into the ITS Service Center located at 1-227 CST during business hours.

Recommended Technology

We recommend using a supported browser and operating system. Note that alternative browser may result in display or functionality related issues.

Archiving Organizations

Upon request of the organization leader and/or group sponsor, ITS will archive an organization site. To request archiving of a course, email help@syr.edu, call 315-443-2677, or stop into the ITS Service Center located at 1-227 CST during business hours.

Responsibilities

Organization leaders are responsible for:

following Syracuse University's Information Technology Resources Acceptable Use Policy
making their sites available to participants
complying with copyright law, including having approved release forms from participants, guests, etc., who participated in a organization site you might wish to archive
renewing an organization site and updating participant information on a yearly basis

The organization sponsors are responsible for:

providing special (guest) account data and user support
overall organization site use, including compliance with the Organization service description
following the SU Computing and Electronic Communication policy

ITS is responsible for:

maintaining system availability of Blackboard and resolving Blackboard software issues
creating eligible organization sites in Blackboard
maintaining site and file transfer size allocations
creating user accounts through PeopleSoft
supporting organization leaders with the Blackboard application
supporting organization student participant Blackboard needs and issues
creating special (guest) accounts with departmental support

Sources and Relevant Links

ITS Service Center
NetID Services
Copyright Law
SU's Information Technology Resource Acceptable Use Policy