As part of an effort to improve service on Blackboard, the Division of Information Technology (DoIT) is changing how the Blackboard system operates at UMBC. Starting in Winter 2015, UMBC will move from running Blackboard on campus to using Blackboard’s own cloud-based instance, often referred to as hosted system, for course delivery. This is being done as part of a new agreement with a consortium of other research universities known as NET+ that is associated with Internet2. A benefit of this new approach is that Blackboard will handle software upgrades directly, which will minimize the impact to students and faculty. 

Currently, about 65 percent of all Bb clients are hosted by Blackboard. In Maryland, this includes Towson University, Morgan State University, Montgomery College, Bowie State University, the Community College of Baltimore County, and the Maryland State Department of Education.

“We’ve considered managed hosting before, but the innovation, commitment to standards and value of this agreement are very compelling,” says Jack Suess, Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer. “Ultimately, I believe it will help us advance UMBC’s focus on student success and better use technology to support pedagogical innovation by connecting UMBC to a wider community of research universities innovating with the same tools.”

In addition to managed hosting, the new agreement -- also announced today by Blackboard -- provides 24/7 end-user support, content storage, mobile and collaborative solutions, analytics and other resources. Once migrated, Blackboard will still be available in myUMBC, as well as the blackboard.umbc.edu and www.umbc.edu/blackboard web addresses. However, for Winter 2015 and Spring 2015, new course shells will be created on our hosted Bb server managed by Blackboard.

Starting in Summer 2015, the configuration and setup of courses will change. Specifically, all courses will have a permanent “master shell” for managing content that faculty will link to semester shells automatically populated with officially enrolled students. As a result, there will be no need for faculty to export old courses into new course shells, thus duplicating our overall file storage every semester, as is the case now.

Further details and plans will be announced on the DoIT News site throughout this academic year. In the meantime, DoIT’s instructional technology staff have created a focused set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the Bb migration to managed hosting. For more information or help about Bb at UMBC generally, click the Help tab inside Bb or visit www.umbc.edu/blackboard/help.

Blackboard (Bb) Collaborate is a web conferencing tool that is accessible in all UMBC Bb courses under the tools menu.Bb Collaborate  allows instructors and students to meet virtually, anytime and anywhere. Instructors can supplement in-class dialogue by offering virtual office hours or review sessions to answer questions students have regarding course content.  Bb Collaborate  has many interactive features, including chat, video conferencing, whiteboard, and screen sharing. Students can access a collaborate session from their computers or mobile devices.

To learn more about Bb Collaborate:

• visit our Bb Collaborate FAQ page

• open an RT ticket  for any technical issues

• view the schedule of training workshops on the DoIT group page

• contact  the Instructional Technology Team with any questions or concerns

PROMISE@UMB presents a workshop on coping with stress on Wednesday, October 1, 2014, at 10 AM.

Location: SMC Campus Center, Room 311: http://www.umaryland.edu/smccampuscenter/, Directions: http://www.umaryland.edu/smccampuscenter/building/index.html

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/coping-with-stress-at-the-graduate-level-tickets-13285644721

PROMISE@UMB presents a workshop on coping with stress on Wednesday, October 1, 2014, at 10 AM.

Location: SMC Campus Center, Room 311: http://www.umaryland.edu/smccampuscenter/, Directions: http://www.umaryland.edu/smccampuscenter/building/index.html

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/coping-with-stress-at-the-graduate-level-tickets-13285644721

2014-2015 Career-Life-Balance Graduate Assistantship

Graduate Student Development Unit, The Graduate School at UMBC

Project: UMBC seeks to “celebrate” career-life integration through awareness raising education and training.

Awareness Campaign: UMBC will launch a campaign that will bring into focus the CLB policies on campus.

Seminars and Workshops: We will implement a series of campus–wide educational awareness programs that will focus on CLB policies.

Evaluation & Assessment: We will evaluate and assess the activities for the project.

Requirements include experience with: Logistics/coordination, marketing, basic website maintenance, evaluation and assessment, quantitative and qualitative methods. Knowledge of career-life-balance literature and research is a plus. We are particularly interested in qualitative coding, familiarity with narratives, and other evaluation and assessment methodologies. 

The candidate can be either a full-time master's or doctoral student. This is a 20-hour assistantship. The assistantship includes a stipend, tuition, and health insurance. Students who are interested in part-time, 10 hour positions will be considered. This position does not have any restrictions with regard to citizenship. Students from all academic disciplines are welcome to apply.

For immediate consideration, send a CV, a writing sample, and example of work that showcases skills with evaluation and assessment methods to promisestaff@gmail.com, with the subject: CLB GA Position. 

The first book sale of the semester will be on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 16th and 17th, 9am to 4pm both days.

Library book sales are located in the back of the Reference room. For more information contact Lidia or Kathy at 410 455-2341 or illcm@umbc.edu