The Division of Information Technology’s AI site will help the UMBC community with information on using artificial intelligence (AI), especially generative AI (GenAI), to support UMBC’s Administrative, Instructional, and Research efforts. This site has been created to help employees advance their use of GenAI.

We recommend that our UMBC community begin by visiting GenAI Tools, a page that highlights free resources and provides guidance on using GenAI while safeguarding UMBC institutional data safely.

For staff seeking support, we encourage people to look at Administrative AI, as a starting point. Our goal is to save folks time, improve the quality of their work, and increase productivity. We showcase tools that DoIT provides to support these objectives.

We have launched myUMBC Answers, an AI-supported search bar. We are seeking partners to expand this tool. The key to leveraging myUMBC Answers is providing validated and accurate content, such as annual FAQs or handbooks.

Faculty, are encouraged to explore Instructional AI and Research AI. The UMBC Center for AI in the College of Engineering is an excellent resource for AI-related research and innovation. Stay informed by following the center’s social media chnnels on LinkedIn, Bluesky, X, and Facebook.

Members of the UMBC community can subscribe to the UMBC AI Group to receive email about AI-related news and events. If you have news to share with the UMBC AI community or suggestions or comments on the site, please send them to umbc-ai@cs.umbc.edu.

AI News

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Anthology announces retirement date for Blackboard Original Courses & Organizations

Original content will become read-only after Dec 31, 2026

Anthology, the parent company of Blackboard, has announced that they will retire Original courses and organizations on December 31, 2026. At this point, all Original content in courses and...

Posted: June 30, 2025, 8:26 AM

A black and white robot dog looks up at text reading Ultra News Update

UMBC reaches 99.6% Ultra adoption for Fall 2024 term

Reminder: DoIT support of Original ends 12/31/24

After five years of a phased migration, more than 99% of all available Blackboard courses for the fall semester are now using Ultra. This marks a significant milestone in our transition from...

Posted: September 26, 2024, 10:58 AM

DoIT Support for Collaborate Will End Next Summer, 2025

Alternate synchronous tools include Google, Microsoft, Webex

After many years of use, UMBC’s license for Class Collaborate (formerly Blackboard Collaborate) will end on July 31, 2025. As one of our longest licensed tools, Collaborate provided synchronous...

Posted: August 15, 2024, 11:32 AM

Fall 24 Blackboard Courses to Use Ultra by Default

However, faculty can still use Original upon request

In consultation with the Deans as well as the Faculty Senate Computer Policy Committee (CPC), DoIT will make Ultra the default version of Blackboard for all Fall 2024 course shells that are...

Posted: May 7, 2024, 10:04 AM

Ultra Adoption by Faculty Eclipses Original for SP2024

Instructional Technology ready for Ultra migration support

In the final nine months of UMBC's Ultra migration, the overall faculty adoption rate continues to grow. For the spring 2024 term, Original course usage decreased by 33% between fall 23 and spring...

Posted: March 12, 2024, 2:43 PM

Division of Information Technology