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Blackboard Courses Scheduled for Retirement from Server

AY12-13 & AY13-14 Courses to be Retired

During the summer of 2016, Blackboard archived our complete site, which saved individually backed-up copies of every course and organization through SP2016. As previously announced, courses from AY12-13 and AY13-14 will be retired by the end of SU2017. This includes the following terms:

  • Any courses older than five years

  • Fall 2012

  • Winter 2013

  • Spring 2013

  • Summer 2013

  • Fall 2013

  • Winter 2014

  • Spring 2014

  • Summer 2014

Additionally, any organization 2.5 GB in size or larger will also be retired. Community leaders with large archives will be contacted for migrating content to UMBC Box. If those organizations need to continue with a Blackboard presence, they will be recreated with a fresh shell upon request.

The Blackboard system’s overall performance and efficiency will improve by removing files and database transactions from the content server and database. AY14-15 and AY15-16 will remain on the server. Finally, as of FA2016, we now begin a new academic year of data retention (AY16-17).

Is my content gone forever?

No, Blackboard archived courses captured all course data, files, student submissions, discussions, grades, etc. through SP2016. These archives will reside on a secure drive with the Division of Information Technology.

Can I save a copy of my own courses?

Yes -- and we certainly encourage it. Instructors canexport (course content) and/or archive (course content & student data) their courses. You should alsodownload a copy of your grade book. We recommend saving these files to your UMBC Box account to ensure long-term access in the event you change computer systems.

How long will you keep the retired courses?

We will keep the retired courses for 2 years after Blackboard archives the courses. Faculty who may need content beyond 2 years should plan to save copies of their exported courses to UMBC Box.

As always, if you have any questions, please consider the following options:
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Posted: October 7, 2016, 12:23 PM

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