Working Together: The Blackboard Academic Suite at

CSU Eastbay

OrHow we learned to stop worrying and love the

omb

During this session we will:

• describe our installation of BB.• describe how we work together to

resolve, support and improve our BB installation

• describe each individual’s specific responsibilities

• showcase a successful and integrated campus wide BB installation

CSUEB’s LMS History• Support from beginning by Administration

– Deans– Provost– President

• 1990’s– Web Course in a Box– Added eCollege – 1998– Moved to BB at the time of Web Course in a Box

purchase.

• 2000 BB Implemented– Winter 2000: BB Level II with Portal – September 2000: Level III including automatic generation

of courses and users. Integrated with SIS.

CSUEB’s approach to BB

• Support from the upper management• BB is viewed as a communication tool

for the students first and a LMS second• Success is dependent on cooperation

and support from all departments on campus

• All aspects of campus life can benefit from the tools available through BB.

CSUEB’s Hardware Environment• Running on Sun Solaris 9• Separate Application and Database

Servers• Most data storage on SAN• Nightly backups to tape• Test environment is clone of

production

BB Site Information

• Academic Suite Enterprise – Version 6.3.1.505

• Content System– Version 2.3.1.417

Administrative Policies• Updates always performed on test platform

first• All major changes take place during

quarter breaks• Monitoring and notification system for

service outages• Nightly downtime for point in time backups • Work closely with Network Operation

Center (NOC) on any network issues

Database Support• Upgrade DB to newer version (currently 9.2.0.6)• Apply Oracle Critical Patch Updates• Work closely with support group and perform

DB record update if needed– Enable/disable courses or enrollments– Update courses/enrollments Data Source Key– Update user information when manual account

consolidation is needed

• Work closely with TSM on database related issues:– DB tuning based on guideline from TSM– DB insert/update/delete actions when needed

Other Duties/Admin Tasks• Work with Enrollment Services to troubleshoot

student information on BB side Troubleshoot course/assignment/enrollment snapshot.

• Work with Identity Management Group to troubleshoot student information on BB side Troubleshoot User snapshot.

• Quarterly admin tasks:– Running batch course archiving script quarterly.– Running course deletion for courses which are older

than 8 quarter. – Maintain only last 6 months of data in Activity

Accumulator table.

Building Blocks at CSUEB• Home grown building blocks

– E-Grades: Faculty can submit official grades online.

– Early Alert: Faculty can submit progress report online and send email to inform students of their progress in class early in the term.

• 3rd party building blocks– Turnitin 2.0.3: Plagiarism prevention – Gartner Business and IT Research – Seneca Webmail– MERLOT RSS

Enrollment Services

• Technical Staff – 2 programmers• Admissions• Records• Financial Aid

Enrollment Services – Student Information System (SIS)

• IBM Mainframe• DB2 backend database• FOCUS reporting software• Automated FTP process• Student Population

– 12 – 14K bodies

Enrollment Services

• Student Information System (SIS)– Snapshot generation

• Courses (2,500)– Fall 2006 – 2500 course sections

• Enrollments of 42-45K• Faculty Assignments (2,500)• Organizations (47K)

Enrollment Services – Snapshot Development Challenges

• Defining Course eligibility• Defining student eligibility• Defining student organization groups• Coordination between Identity Management

System (IMS) and SIS• Open University/Continuing Education• Snapshot key creation process• Frequency of updates• Ongoing Problem resolution

– Daily validation reports– Incorrect student records

Office of Faculty Development• Brings faculty concerns to the decision

making process• Communicates to Faculty• Provides Training/Workshops• User Support/Troubleshooting• Collaboration w/Media/Technology

Services, Instructional Computing Services– User Support– Functionality

User Support/Training

• Helpdesk– Virtual – Referral Only

• Faculty– In conjunction with Faculty Development

& Online Programs– Workshops, One-on-One, Boot Camp

• Students– No direct training – presentations on

request

Problem Resolution– Connectivity– Identity - Login– Course Availability– Course Tool Availability– Test Reset– Data Transfer

•Course assignment to instructor•Course enrollment for students

Hopefully we have demonstrated• the importance of communication

between the different groups• the importance of working across group

boundaries to support the application• the need for awareness beyond

individual support responsibilities • the variety of skills needed to

successfully support the application

Thank You!David Garcia Analyst/Programmer david.garcia@csueastbay.edu

Anne Judd Instructional Designer anne.judd@csueastbay.edu

Bernie Salvador

Instructional Technology Consultant

bernie.salvador@csueastbay.edu

Tracy Tan Web, Java and Reporting Programmer

tracy.tan@csueastbay.edu

Jeff Wisman Operating Systems Analyst

jeff.wisman@csueastbay.edu

Terry Smith Coordinator, Instructional Technology Service Ctr

terry.smith@csueastbay.edu

Questions…making the pieces fit.