For step-by-step instructions and answers to many Blackboard questions, consult one of these information guides:

• Blackboard FAQs for Faculty (PDF)
• Blackboard FAQs for Students (PDF)

Students can obtain their BC email ID and password from the BC WebCentral Portal.  After logging in, students can click the My Info tab to find their BC email ID.

The CUNY Portal authenticates users against a large directory called LDAP. The LDAP is updated in turn from various legacy information databases. Student information comes from CUNY's Student Information System (SIMS). Faculty and staff information comes from CUNYfirst. Throughout the year, both SIMS and CUNYfirst are being updated with new and updated information resulting from student registrations, faculty appointments, and course workload assignments.

The propagation of information into the LDAP takes up to 2 days. Therefore, changes made in SIMS and CUNYfirst may not appear in the CUNY Portal for 1 or 2 days.

BC creates a BC email ID for every student the first term they enroll at the college. Because the process of creating large numbers of IDs is complex, the IDs are created in two batches: the first is typically ready for the first day of classes, and the second is created after the last day to add or drop a course. Student email IDs are uploaded into SIMS nightly and from copied from SIMS into the CUNY Portal the following night.

If a student has not yet received their BC email ID, they can easily register a private email ID on the BC WebCentral Portal.

The SIMS/Portal LDAP update procedure will always load a private email into SIMS instead of any college provided email ID. Thus if the student has not yet received their college email ID, the student can register their private email ID and within 2 days it should become the email ID of record in the CUNY Portal. If the student has a college email ID, and registers their private email ID as well, the private email ID will become the CUNY Portal email ID of record.

If a student is not sure what their current CUNY Portal email ID of record is, they can contact the ITS Network Support Group at 718-677-6180. ITS staff can view LDAP information and can inform a user of the current settings. Unfortunately although ITS staff cannot change the email ID of record, they can request that CUNY staff do so.

Make sure that you are the INSTRUCTOR OF RECORD IN SIMS. This is not the same thing as having your course and name listed in the Schedule of Classes. The Portal system is fed by several legacy systems including CUNYfirst and CSS (Course Scheduling System). Therefore it is very important that your information be correct on the legacy system. ONLY THE INSTRUCTOR OF RECORD WILL BE ALLOWED INTO THE COURSE. If you are not listed as the instructor of record, you will be denied access. You will not be given any enrollment options. First, contact your department chair to make sure that your name has been given to the Registrar as being associated with this course. If yes, then send an email to the Registrar with the four-digit course number and your SSN.

Make Your Course Site Available. The default setting is "unavailable." To make your course available to students, go to the Control Panel > Customization > Properties > Set Availability. Select "yes" and then click Submit.

Similarly, only students duly enrolled in the course will have access to the course. We are licensed for only users found on our legacy systems. Departments hiring new adjuncts are encouraged to make certain that these instructors are listed as instructors of record as soon as possible.

Make sure that the students understand that they MUST initially create a new CUNY Portal ID and they must remember the ID and password for future use. If a student is having difficulty creating a CUNY Portal ID or forgot their Portal ID or password, they should contact the ITS Network Support Group at 718-677-6180. ITS staff can assist them with logging into the CUNY Portal and can inform them of their current portal ID and email address settings.

The CUNY Portal uses a stored email ID of record to communicate Portal ID password changes and to confirm the creation of new Portal login IDs. For faculty/staff, the email ID is extracted nightly from the CUNYfirst. Student email IDs are extracted from SIMS. If a user forgets their CUNY Portal password, they can reset it by entering their confidential information in the validation screen.  Go to www.cuny.edu > Portal Log-in > Account and Password Reset and follow the instructions.