Blackboard is Fairfield University's Learning Management System (LMS). In 2018, Fairfield University transitioned to Ultra Base navigation, providing our faculty, staff, and students with an accessible, modern interface to navigate their courses and and organizations. Today were in the process of transitioning to Ultra Course View to bring that same modern, responsive design to courses and organizations.
Timeline for Transitioning to Ultra Course View (UCV)
The following schedule is based on our transition goals and is subject to change based on user feedback. Please check back here for the most up-to-date timeline and email academiccomputing@fairfield.edu with any questions or concerns.
| Semester | Which Courses will be Impacted? |
|---|---|
| Fall and Spring 2023 | Select graduate and undergraduate courses participate in the UCV pilot |
| Summer 2023 | Online graduate courses and select courses participating in the UCV pilot |
| Fall 2023 | All graduate courses, Bellarmine College, and select undergraduate courses participating in the UCV pilot |
Spring 2024 | All graduate courses, Bellarmine College, and select undergraduate courses participating in the UCV pilot |
| Summer and Fall 2024 | All courses will be populated with UCV |
Frequently Asked Questions
If I teach undergrad and grad in the Fall, can I use Ultra for both?
Yes! Just email academiccomputing@fairfield.edu and we can convert your undergrad courses for you. Please be aware that your students will likely be taking other courses on Original Course View. While feedback from students has been that Ultra is intuitive, there may still be a learning curve for your students to go between both views.
What type of content won't copy over from an Original course to Ultra?
While Ultra is constantly improving, we've found the most common failures during a course copy are with Kaltura and YouTube videos and some content settings. Tables, images, and files all display differently in Ultra courses as well. Therefore, we recommend reviewing your courses thoroughly if you choose to copy over an Original course. Please note that all of these features are supported in Ultra Course View but you may need to follow steps to re-embed content or adjust your formatting.
If I need to access a course I haven't taught in a few years, how can I do that?
You can email academiccomputing@fairfield.edu and request your course be restored.
How will students find out about this change?
All students will be sent a message via life@fairfield and the following set of instructional videos have been posted to the Blackboard for Students wiki page as well as the Blackboard Institution Page. Navigating Blackboard Ultra Course View for Students (YouTube Playlist)
Where do I go to find more information?
academiccomputing.fairfield.edu