Set up a Course

Order of operations when a new semester starts.

1. First, leave any old courses in the state they are in -- if they are in Original, they must stay in Original as long as they exist at the University of Alaska. This is to preserve student data.
2. Next, convert all new (empty) courses to Ultra  -- you can do that from the Tools menu at the very bottom >> "x regenerate Ultra course," or you can email a request for an Instructional Designer to do this for you at uas.celt@alaska.edu. NOTE: this deletes any existing content! Be sure before you click the confirmation button.
3. Link any sections you want merged with "books and tools" >> "UAS Course linker." They should both be in Ultra before you link them, otherwise it can cause weird stuff to happen. Find more detailed instructions on course Linking.
4. Go to your (merged) course to create, upload, or copy content. You can copy past courses whether in Ultra or Original. Blackboard will convert Original course content for you. Here are more detailed instructions on copying content. **Note that we recommend copying chunks instead of the whole course at once; this will save you lots of time later with rearranging content. Here are more detailed instructions on creating content.
5. Every course at UAS must have a syllabus, so make sure to upload yours! For help on creating and uploading a syllabus start here.
6. Make sure your content is up-to-date and free of errors, and set up your gradebook. Make sure the grade schema matches the grade layout you have in your syllabus! Here are more details on the gradebook, including how to check that schema.
7. Your enrolled students will automatically be added; you can add people with UA credentials to your course by clicking "view everyone in your course" and selecting the plus sign in the top right and searching by name.