Faculty FAQ's
- How do I get my course on Blackboard?
- Students can't see my course. How do I make my course available?
- How can I add another faculty member, TA , or student to my class?
- Why does my Bb roster list more students than my PeopleSoft roster?
- How can I find out about Digital Campus and Blackboard announcements?
- How do I copy my course from last semester to this semester?
- What are the course numbers for this semester?
- When are course shells created?
- When will the courses be populated with students?
- What do footnotes 15 & 17 mean?
- How do footnotes get added to a course?
- How can faculty set up an account on Digital Campus?
- How do I change my email address in Blackboard?
- When do Blackboard course shells get created?
- What if I want a course shell for a course that isn't offered yet?
- How do students get Blackboard access?
- How do students update their email passwords?
- Is there a Blackboard manual for students?
- Can I request a Blackboard orientation for my classroom?
Q. How do I get my course on Blackboard?
A. Courses are created automatically for all courses footnoted with a 15 or 17 in PeopleSoft. To get a course shell on Blackboard, the only thing an instructor has to do is to footnote the course in PeopleSoft. A footnote 15 denotes a Web-Enhanced course. A footnote 17 denotes a Web-Based course. Once a course is footnoted properly in PeopleSoft, the course shell will be created on Blackboard within one business day. Contact your department's Administrative Assistant (DAA) to footnote your course. The Digital Campus cannot footnote courses, nor manually create them upon email request.
Q. Students can't see my course. How do I make my course available?
A. Faculty MUST change the course availability to allow students to access their courses. Digital Campus will not make courses available, but leave it to the instructors to turn on when ready. To do this, go to Control Panel, Settings, Course Availability.
Q. How can I add another faculty member, TA , or student to my class?
A. Go to the Control Panel and click on "Enroll User". Enter the last name of the person you wish to add and click Search. Check the box next to the name you wish to add and click "Submit". At this point, the person added has the role of "student". To change the role to TA or Instructor, click on "Modify User" in the Control Panel, search for the name again, then change role as desired.
Q. Why does my Bb roster list more students than my PeopleSoft roster?
A. From the beginning of the semester to the census date, students are only added to Blackboard rosters - not removed. If students have enrolled and dropped on PeopleSoft, they will still be in Blackboard but not on the current PeopleSoft roster.
The Digital Campus performs a one-time automatic removal of all withdrawn students the week after the census date. Faculty can choose to manually remove students or wait until after the census date to have students automatically removed from a roster.
It is possible to manually remove students to your roster by accessing the "Add User" or "Remove User" options in the Control Panel.
Q. How can I find out about Digital Campus and Blackboard announcements?
A. The Digital Campus has added a few new modules to the "My Blackboard" tab and use them to post important system and support announcements regarding Blackboard. We recommend that you be sure to display the following important modules; Blackboard System Status, Blackboard Maintenance Status, and Digital Campus Faculty Announcements.
To turn modules on, click on the "My Blackboard" tab. Click on the "Content" button in the upper right portion of the screen. Scroll to find the desired modules, check the box to the left of the module names then click Submit.
Q. How do I copy my course from last semester to this semester?
A. The Copy Course option is now located in the Control Panel. To copy a course from a previous semester, go to the "Control Panel" button then click on the "Course Copy" hyperlink located in the Course Options module. Fill out and submit the Course Copy Form. The Digital Campus will copy the course as specified in the form.
Q. What are the course numbers for this semester?
A. Fall 2007 course IDs end in 2077. Summer 2007 course IDs end in 2075, and Spring 2007 course IDs end in 2073.
Q. When are course shells created?
A. Once a course is footnoted properly in PeopleSoft, the course shell will be created on Blackboard within one business day. Contact your department's Administrative Assistant (DAA) to footnote your course. The Digital Campus cannot footnote courses.
Q. When will the courses be populated with students?
A. Rosters are uploaded directly from PeopleSoft several times a day during the first weeks of the semester. If a student has a valid username and password and has added a course in PeopleSoft, the student's name should show up in the Blackboard roster within one business day.
Q. What do footnotes 15 & 17 mean?
A. Footnote 15 denotes a Web-Enhanced course. Footnote 17 denotes a Web-Based course that is fully online.
Q. How do footnotes get added to a course in the course catalog?
A. The Department Administrative Assistants (DAA) are able to footnote courses. The footnote must be added in PeopleSoft.
The Digital Campus oes not have the ability to change or add footnotes. Your DAA has the ability to change the footnotes.
Q. How can faculty set up an account on Digital Campus?
A. If a course is footnoted in PeopleSoft with a 15 or 17, a Blackboard account is automatically created for the instructor of that course. The username and password for that instructor will be the same as their CSUFRESNO email username and password. If the instructor already has an account, the existing account will be used.
Faculty can also request a Blackboard account manually by filling out the Account Request Form
Please allow 2 - 4 business days for your request to be processed.
Q. How do I change my email address in Blackboard?
A. Blackboard uses whatever email address you have selected as your "Preferred Email Address" in PeopleSoft. So to change your email address on Blackboard, you really have to change it in PeopleSoft.
Go to my.csufresno.edu click on Personal Portfolio. Enter whatever email address you want in the "Preferred Email Address" field. The new email address will show up in Blackboard within 24 hours.
Please note: The Digital Campus strongly advises students, faculty and staff to forward their CSUFRESNO email, rather than change their preferred email in PeopleSoft to a non-CSUFRESNO email address.
To set up mail forwarding, login to Web Mail. Click on 'Options', then 'Settings'. Enter an email address in the 'Mail Forwarding' box. Click 'Save Changes'. This will forward email to any desired address.
Q. When do Blackboard course shells get created?
A. Official Blackboard course shells (with official Course IDs) are created six weeks before the beginning of each semester. Course shells will automatically be generated for all courses footnoted with a 15 or 17 within PeopleSoft. Once the semester course shell creation begins, daily uploads are made to collect newly footnoted courses.
Q. What if I want a course shell for a course that isn't offered yet?
A. At any time during the calendar year, you can request a Development Course Shell by completing the Development Course Request form. Please allow 24 to 48 hours for the course shell to be created.
A Development Course Shell will be created with a generic course ID and will not have any students in the roster. It is the instructor's responsibility to copy the development course into an official course shell when the course is ready. Please see instructions on copying courses or contact the Digital Campus Resources Lab for assistance (559.278.7373).
Q. How do students get Blackboard access?
A. Students must have a CSUFRESNO email account to have a Blackboard account. The student's Blackboard username and password are the same as their CSUFRESNO email username and password.
Students can sign up for a CSUFRESNO email account at:
Please note: If students request an email address or change their email password, it will take up to two business days for Blackboard to be updated.
Students should contact the Help Desk at (559) 278-7000 if they need assistance with their email username and password.
Q. How do students reset their passwords?
A. Students can reset their CSUFRESNO email password at:
http://email.csufresno.edu/password.html
Please note: If students request an email address or change their email password, it will take up to two business days for Blackboard to be updated.
Students should contact the Help Desk at (559) 278-7000 if they need assistance with their email username and password.
Q. Is there a Blackboard manual for students?
A. There is a student section on the main Blackboard page (before logging into Blackboard). There is also an organization in Blackboard for students 'Blackboard Student Organization'.
Q. Can I request a Blackboard orientation for my classroom?
A. We no longer do in-person student orientations but the student orientation materials are available online in several places for both faculty and students to access. Faculty can access the student orientation presentation from the Blackboard Faculty Forum on Blackboard. Students can access the orientation from the Blackboard Student Organization or the Student area in blackboard.csufresno.edu.