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

Showing items tagged blackboard. Show All

RESOLVED - Blackboard Offline on Oct 7

UMBC is monitoring the issue & working with Bb support

At approximately 5:30pm, DoIT staff became aware of a potential outage with our instance Blackboard Learn. System admins immediately investigated the reports and opened a ticket with Blackboard...

Posted: October 7, 2019, 6:09 PM

Reminder: Bb Courses Scheduled for Retirement from Server

AY14-15 & AY15-16 courses to be removed in late January 2020

As previously announced, Blackboard courses from AY14-15 and AY15-16 will be retired from our active production site by the end of January 2020. The Blackboard system’s overall performance and...

Posted: October 4, 2019, 9:36 AM

Partial points coming to test questions to Ultra in October

Bulk download of student submissions also available

Calculating the grade on an Ultra tests becomes more flexible in the October update when the partial points feature is introduced. When creating a question in an assessment, instructors can enter...

Posted: October 2, 2019, 2:43 PM

Combining Machine and Human Intelligences for Interventions

Bb Predict and FYIs Inform Behavioral Nudges

Over the past three full semester terms, UMBC has implemented a predictive analytics pilot “nudge” campaign using Blackboard (Bb) Predict. Beginning in the Spring 2018 term, we selected high...

Posted: September 25, 2019, 3:11 PM

Self-Enrolled Groups Introduced to Ultra in September

Needs grading filter also available to Ultra gradebook

Group management is an invaluable resource in a Blackboard course, especially one with large enrollments. UMBC is closely monitoring the evolution of this important tool in Ultra as we continue...

Posted: September 4, 2019, 2:10 PM

Division of Information Technology