As the end of the Spring semester approaches and we prepare for summer intersession and the fall semester, the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Professional Development and the Office of Technology Services are pleased to share with you the following updates on Brightspace and Blackboard:
- 2025 Summer Course Shells: All course shells for Summer 2025 are now available in all accounts of Instructors who will be teaching in those respective semesters. You can begin to build your 2025 summer courses OR rollover (course copy) any previous course sitting in your Brightspace account into the course shell.
- Instructions for copying a course can be found by following these step-by-step instructions or watching this three-minute video online.
- If you need any assistance with Brightspace, please don’t hesitate to contact us at LMSsupport@csi.cuny.edu or call 718.982.4007.
- Updated FAQs on dealing with grades (such as those listed below) can be found using this link about Brightspace.
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- Do grades in Brightspace get automatically transferred to CUNYFirst?
- My students cannot see their grades in Brightspace. What else needs to be done?
- How do I add and integrate an extra credit/bonus column?
- How do I switch the gradebook from letters to percentages?
- Training sessions on Brightspace:
- For Students: Students at CSI have been receiving alerts and announcements via email and printed flyers to attend training sessions on Brightspace. Over the summer, Information Technology will continue to offer virtual training sessions. We urge faculty and staff to encourage students to contact technologytraining@csi.cuny.edu. Also, visit the student training Webpage for further information.
- For Faculty: CUNY and CSI continue to offer a variety of sessions at different times during the day. CUNY live-Webinar sessions include topics such as: Ask Me Anything (drop-in session); Grades, Quizzes; and more.
- You may schedule a 25-minute session with staff at the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Professional Development to discuss a specific topic in Brightspace (e.g., TurnItIn, issues with final exam, revising your gradebook, etc.).
- If you need any assistance with Brightspace, please don’t hesitate to contact us at LMSsupport@csi.cuny.edu or call 718.982.4007.
- For Staff: Additional training sessions on Organizations in Brightspace will be offered in June and August 2025. In the meantime, if you need any assistance with Brightspace, please don’t hesitate to contact us at LMSsupport@csi.cuny.edu or call 718.982.4007.
- Mini-Videos on using Brightspace: Find more than videos (three minutes in length) in the CTLPD YouTube playlist: YouTube.com/@CSICTLPD. Categories include:
- Communicating with Learners in Brightspace (announcements, emails)
- Uploading and Delivering Content in Brightspace (uploading syllabus, etc.)
- Creating Assignments and Discussion Forums
- Assessing Learning – Quizzes, Tests, and more
- Blackboard Course and Organization migrations: All Blackboard Courses and Organizations from the past four years have been migrated to Brightspace. Please check your courses and organizations to confirm that the content is displaying correctly in Brightspace. Please report all Blackboard migration issues to LMSSupport@csi.cuny.edu. Please note that courses in the Blackboard LMS will be inaccessible as of Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, sunset date. If you need courses that were not automatically migrated by CUNY, i.e., (2004 – 2019) courses, this summer might be a good time for you to dive in and migrate the courses you may need. Instructions for migrating content from Blackboard to Brightspace can be found online. Or you may email LMSsupport@csi.cuny.edu or call 718.982.4007 for assistance.
- Blackboard Collaborate videos: CUNY access to the legacy Blackboard system will end in December 2025. Any faculty or staff wishing to keep copies of videos recorded in Blackboard Collaborate must download those videos prior to December 2025.
If you have any questions about Brightspace not listed here, please be sure to email LMSsupport@csi.cuny.edu or call 718.982.4007.
- Our best wishes to you for a smooth and successful end to the spring semester.
By the CSI Brightspace Transition Team and the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Professional Development
