SU2017 Courses Restored to Main Blackboard Site Final step in cloud transition

All SU2017 courses, which operated in a separate environment during the full Blackboard transition to the cloud, were successfully restored to the UMBC's main Blackboard site in mid-FA2017, per the cloud migration plan.

SU2017 courses were restored to the UMBC’s main Blackboard site in their original state from the summer site: that is, if they were unavailable at the time of archive, they were restored in an unavailable state. Please review this FAQ on course availability. If there are any technical issues with the SU2017 courses, please open an RT ticket and include screen captures or error messages, if possible.

As always, if you have any questions, please consider the following options:

 ]]> All SU2017 courses, which operated in a separate environment during the full Blackboard transition to the cloud, were successfully restored to the UMBC's main Blackboard site in mid-FA2017, per... https://my.umbc.edu/groups/bbannouncements/posts/72229 https://beta.my.umbc.edu/api/v0/pixel/news/72229/guest@my.umbc.edu/025a52e7c05fba6ca71965d1e22f634e/api/pixel blackboard migration saas su2017 Blackboard Announcements https://beta.my.umbc.edu/groups/bbannouncements https://assets1-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/319/f6b35e5217428f5021e113525a55e6f4/xsmall.png?1437137819 https://assets1-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/319/f6b35e5217428f5021e113525a55e6f4/original.png?1437137819 https://assets4-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/319/f6b35e5217428f5021e113525a55e6f4/xxlarge.png?1437137819 https://assets4-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/319/f6b35e5217428f5021e113525a55e6f4/xlarge.png?1437137819 https://assets1-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/319/f6b35e5217428f5021e113525a55e6f4/large.png?1437137819 https://assets4-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/319/f6b35e5217428f5021e113525a55e6f4/medium.png?1437137819 https://assets1-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/319/f6b35e5217428f5021e113525a55e6f4/small.png?1437137819 https://assets1-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/319/f6b35e5217428f5021e113525a55e6f4/xsmall.png?1437137819 https://assets4-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/319/f6b35e5217428f5021e113525a55e6f4/xxsmall.png?1437137819 Blackboard Announcements https://assets4-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/072/229/7bfca2b13a228102a0a8909b6ea2aae7/xxlarge.jpg?1511273667 https://assets2-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/072/229/7bfca2b13a228102a0a8909b6ea2aae7/xlarge.jpg?1511273667 https://assets2-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/072/229/7bfca2b13a228102a0a8909b6ea2aae7/large.jpg?1511273667 https://assets4-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/072/229/7bfca2b13a228102a0a8909b6ea2aae7/medium.jpg?1511273667 https://assets1-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/072/229/7bfca2b13a228102a0a8909b6ea2aae7/small.jpg?1511273667 https://assets4-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/072/229/7bfca2b13a228102a0a8909b6ea2aae7/xsmall.jpg?1511273667 https://assets1-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/072/229/7bfca2b13a228102a0a8909b6ea2aae7/xxsmall.jpg?1511273667 3 0 true Tue, 21 Nov 2017 13:26:29 -0500 Blackboard Cloud Migration Completed on July 7 System restored to full service

DoIT is pleased to announce the completion of the Blackboard cloud migration.

During the downtime window, Blackboard engineers and DoIt staff migrated nearly 21,000 courses and more than 800 communities to the new cloud infrastructure. Summer courses continue to operate in a separate environment and will be migrated later during the FA2017 semester.

Before logging into the new cloud environment, please consider the following:

Please note: FA2017 courses will be created during the week of July 17th. If you do not see your course or need to request a new course shell in Blackboard, please review this FAQ. To ensure your split or merge request is processed before the first day of class, please submit your RT request at least one week before the semester starts.

As always, if you have any questions, please consider the following options:

Thank you for your patience while we bring you a better Blackboard experience.

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click here to access summer courses
access summer courses

Per DoIT’s March 8 and April 28 announcements, Blackboard engineers will migrate the primary UMBC Blackboard site (blackboard.umbc.edu) beginning at 12:01 AM on Friday, June 30, 2017, and lasting up to 7 days. Summer 2017 courses are hosted in a separate environment and no disruption is expected.

FYI: Please note that DoIT's Technology Support Center (TSC) will be closed July 1 and reopen on July 5.

The downtime window will allow Blackboard and UMBC to migrate all existing content, files, and database from the current hosting facilities to the new cloud infrastructure. Time is also allocated for DoIT staff to verify third-party integrations and to perform quality assurance testing.

In preparation for this downtime, faculty, staff, and students should review these resources:

After Blackboard is back online:

The UMBC Blackboard team identified a time period that should have a reduced impact on our users. If our Blackboard site is down longer than expected due to unforeseen circumstances, updates will be posted to this news article.

For more information about the cloud migration, please review DoIT’s Bb migration FAQ for complete details about:

As always, if you have any questions, please consider the following options:

Thank you for your patience while we bring you a better Blackboard experience!

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Blackboard course shells for SU2017 were created on April 18, 2017, on a separate Bb server.

Why? In preparation for UMBC’s migration to Blackboard’s new cloud infrastructure, summer courses will be hosted on a separate server during the transition, similar to UMBC’s previous delivery model for hosting winter courses during system upgrade periods.

Why Are We Hosting Summer Separately?

Since DoIT and Blackboard must migrate UMBC’s current Blackboard site to the cloud over a seven-day downtime (June 30 - July 8, 2017), we are hosting summer courses in a separate cloud environment to ensure continuity of services for faculty and students. However, only SU2017 courses will be available on the summer server; all other courses prior to and after SU2017 will remain on our current site and only faculty who are teaching and students who are enrolled in summer Blackboard classes will see courses on the SU2017 server.

Since summer courses are on a separate site, faculty will need to export content from our main Blackboard site and import to summer course shells in the cloud. 

Look for the summer banner on the MyBb dashboard to access your summer courses
Look for the summer banner on the MyBb tab in Blackboard to access your summer courses

Please review DoIT’s Bb migration FAQ for complete details about:

About Course Creation

Bb shells for SU2017are available for all courses (designated as lecture, lab, field or discussion) listed in the UMBC Schedule of Classes (SOC), provided that there is an instructor of record listed. As new course sections and/or instructors are added to the SOC, corresponding Bb shells are automatically generated overnight. If you need a shell for a research or independent study course, please submit a new course request.

Instructors who teach multiple sections of the same course will find those enrollments merged into one Bb course shell. These sections may be split upon request by an RT ticket, which we recommend submitting at least one week before the semester starts, if not as soon as courses are created in Blackboard.

Student enrollment in Bb mirrors the official registration in SA and updates hourly. However, courses are not accessible to students by default until the instructor of record makes them available.

If you are an instructor, and your name is not associated with the course you are teaching in the SOC, please see your departmental scheduling coordinator to resolve the issue. Once you are listed in the SOC, your Bb course shell will be created automatically. If not, please submit a support request by an RT ticket.

As always, if you have any questions, please consider the following options:

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During the Summer 2017 term, UMBC will migrate its learning management system currently hosted by Blackboard to Blackboard’s new cloud infrastructure known as Software as a Service (SaaS).

DoIT expects increased quality of service with this transition to the cloud. Our current delivery model through managed hosting ensures 99.9% uptime, but we still had to schedule Blackboard downtime for upgrades and essential fixes. With the new SaaS model, Blackboard can update our system with little to no downtime. Further, the new platform allows UMBC and Blackboard to scale the system in response to load, increasing services when demand is high.

The migration also prepares UMBC’s Blackboard infrastructure for the new Ultra Experience (UX), a completely redesigned Bb Learn system. Optimized for desktop and mobile devices, the Ultra Experience features a personalized activity feed and streamlined workflows to reduce clicks and increase efficiency. 

Bb Learn Ultra Experience

All UMBC users can get a visual feel for the Ultra Experience whenever they access the new browser-based version of Bb Collaborate through their courses and students can experience the Ultra aesthetic now by using the Bb Student mobile app. Although the Ultra Experience is available as soon as we migrate to the SaaS infrastructure, UMBC will continue to evaluate the new Learn as more tools and features are released.

In preparation for this transition, the UMBC campus community should be aware of two key factors:
  • Summer courses will be hosted on a separate server during the transition, similar to UMBC’s previous delivery model for hosting winter courses during system upgrade periods. 
  • The main Blackboard site will be offline for up to 7 days during the summer transition, which will allow DoIT and Blackboard to migrate the entire system to the new infrastructure. 
Key dates and other frequently asked questions will be posted to our SaaS migration FAQ in early April.

As always, if you have any questions, please consider the following options:
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