Here are this month's new and improved features in Blackboard Ultra. For more details, please follow the links below:

Set exemptions for anonymous grading

To improve the ability to manage student exemptions, instructors are now able to set exemptions for anonymously graded assessments from the Student Overview page by clicking on ‘add or edit exemptions’ found in the overflow menu (‘…’).

Note: Instructors can now enable anonymous grading on tests by going into the test settings and checking the Anonymous marking box.

Add exceptions from Gradebook grid view and Student Overview page

The exceptions workflow can now be accessed from the Gradebook grid view (click on the corresponding grid block) and Student Overview page (‘...” menu). Instructors may need to grant a student exception for these reasons:

• Provide additional attempts
• Reschedule due dates
• Grant extensions

‘Base calculation on points earned out of total graded points’ support for Custom Calculations

For greater flexibility, instructors can now use the ‘Base calculation on points earned out of total graded points’ option* for any gradebook calculation regardless of whether it contains operators with functions and variables.

*Enabling this setting ensures that students see their actual grade earned-to-date out of all the assessments you have graded so far.

Upload questions from a file to tests and assignments

Up until now, instructors could only create new questions in tests, assignments, or question banks. Now, instructors can create questions offline in a text file (tab-delimited TXT file) and upload them into a test. Review the related Ultra Help page for details on formatting requirements.

Journals Grades & Participation list filters

To help manage journal entries, new Student and Grading Status filters have been added to the Grades & Participation view in Journals to provide instructors the option to view students based on grading status.

The full list of June updates including Course Link improvements are available on the Blackboard Help Center website.

Need additional support? The IL Support Centre is here to help!

Dear Humber community, 

I am writing to inform you about a delay in processing accommodation letters for our learners with disabilities. Unfortunately, this delay was a result of an unexpected issue with the server hosting our data management system, Clockworks, since May 26. Service has been temporarily unavailable for staff, learners and faculty. As a result, we were unable to access the necessary information required to process our accommodation letters, and coordinating other support services in a timely manner.

We understand the importance of providing equitable access and support to our learners in the implementation of their academic accommodations. Our team has worked diligently to resolve the issue, and operations have been restored. 

To mitigate the impact of this delay, we will continue to support our learners with the following interim measures:

• We will utilize previous accommodations letters developed from the prior semester, if one exists, for reference. 
• We will prioritize accommodation requests based on urgency, and the specific needs of the learner(s). Our goal is to address critical matters as quickly as possible while working through the backlog of pending requests, which is expected to be complete by June 5; and 
• We will keep impacted learners informed of the status of their accommodation letters with support from the Accessible Learning team. 

We recognize that the delay may raise concerns or questions, however, do not hesitate to reach out to us at accessible-learning@humber.ca. 

Thank you for your understanding and patience. 

Desta McCalla
Associate Director, Accessible Learning Services

A hold and secure was initiated at Humber College's Lakeshore campus on Tuesday, May 30 at 11:47 a.m., followed by a lockdown of the Welcome Centre at 12:36 p.m. Police conducted an on-site investigation of campus buildings. Police determined there was no risk to public safety and the hold and secure of campus and lockdown of the Welcome Centre were lifted at 12:45 p.m.  

The safety and security of the Humber community is always of the utmost importance. We thank staff, students and visitors for the cooperation and thank Toronto Police Services for the quick resolution.

Background

Humber is committed to continuous quality improvement and engaging students in this process. Beginning June 12, the college will administer the online ‘Ontario Colleges Student Experience Survey’ (OCSES) that has replaced the previous ministry KPI Student Satisfaction survey. This survey will measure student experiences related to teaching and learning quality, program related knowledge and skills, work-integrated learning (if applicable), and student services and resources. The results of the survey will allow the college to identify strengths and areas of improvement.

Administration

All students in full-time, funded programming who began their studies in Winter 2023 and are currently enrolled in their second semester will receive a personal survey link on Monday, June 12. The survey will remain open until Friday, June 23 at midnight. Key messaging will be communicated to students by Humber to promote the survey and encourage completion. In order to achieve an optimal response to this survey, facilitators/instructors will be present in classes selected by the Faculties to explain the purpose of the survey to students, provide direction for survey completion and allot class time to complete the survey (approximately 10-15 minutes).

For questions about the survey, please contact Jean O’Donnell at jean.o’donnell@humber.ca.