Blackboard Account & Access Policies

Last updated: September 22, 2006

All policies concerning use of Blackboard derive from University wide policies governing information security, privacy, network and acceptable use of computing resources. All usage of Blackoard is expected to comply with those policies, as well as those defined in this document. Penn’s Computing Policies and Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.upenn.edu/computing/policy/ Penn’s Policy on Unauthorized Copying of Copyrighted Media may be viewed at http://www.upenn.edu/computing/policy/copyright.html

User Accounts and Access to Blackboard Learning System

Summary

The sections below detail policies related to issue, use and maintenance of Blackboard user accounts and access privileges to the Blackboard system.

Provision and Maintenance of Blackboard User Accounts

Introduction

The Blackboard application entails a login step for even the most trivial level of access, and therefore a user account on the Blackboard system is a prerequisite to successful login to Blackboard. At present, user accounts take one of two basic forms: PennKey based accounts and temporary (also referred to as “bb”, “guest” or “local”) accounts.

Active students, faculty and staff may have a user account on the Blackboard system. (Please note, however, that a user account does not imply access to Blackboard course sites.)

Policies concerning all Blackboard accounts

1. With the exception of cases approved by system administrators, individuals will be limited to one Blackboard account.
2. Accounts must, at minimum, consist of the following information:
   1. first and last name,
   2. unique login identifier (“User ID”),
   3. password adhering to University sanctioned guidelines for secure password selection,
   4. valid e-mail address.
3. PennKey credentials and e-mail address originating from the Penn Directory will be preferred as the User ID and e-mail address used in Blackboard accounts.,
4. Accounts will automatically be generated for University of Pennsylvania students who
• possess a valid PennKey,
• an e-mail address on record in the Penn Directory, and;
• are currently active according to Penn Community’s authorization scheme.
5. Accounts will not be issued unless a valid e-mail address can be matched with the individual for whom the account is to be created. Although individuals are not required to use a Penn issued e-mail address with their Blackboard accounts, Blackboard will defer to e-mail records provided through the University’s directory services. Therefore modifications to e-mail addresses records in Blackboard should be made through the Directory’s online interface, accessible from the Penn Directories page: http://www.upenn.edu/directories/.
6. In certain cases, individuals may be issued a temporary account, the use of which is restricted to the Blackboard system and is not a valid credential in any other context. See “Temporary Blackboard Accounts” below for additional information.
7. PennKey-based Blackboard accounts will remain usable as long as individual is:
   • enrolled in courses at the University,
   • teaching or providing academic/administrative support for courses using Blackboard.

Policies concerning temporary Blackboard accounts

Overview of temporary accounts

The preferred credential for Blackboard User ID’s is PennKey. Occasions arise, however, when a temporary Blackboard account is an appropriate stopgap or workaround measure. In general, the following situations would be acceptable reasons for an individual to request a temporary account:

• an individual requires access to Blackboard in order to complete a time-sensitive task prior to having obtained her/his PennKey credentials,
• faculty or instructional support staff identify use of a temporary account as the most practical means to accomplish a task.

In addition to university wide privacy and acceptable use policies, temporary Blackboard accounts are subject to the following additional guidelines and restrictions:

1. Individuals are required to submit a request for a temporary account.
2. In addition to required pieces of information outlined above (see item 2 under “Policies concerning all Blackboard accounts”), requestors must also provide information concerning the intended use of the temporary account.
3. Approval of request is subject to verification of requestor’s identity;
4. Upon approval of a request for a temporary account, a system administrator will furnish the requestor with a User ID and password via e-mail. (Note: account holders are recommended to change passwords after initial login.)

Duration of temporary Blackboard accounts

Temporary accounts remain valid for 30 days, after which time the account holder will receive, via e-mail, an account expiration notice. Account holders may, by replying to this notification, request an additional 15 days use of the account. If, within three days of delivery of the notification message the account holder has taken no action to extend use period of the account, the account will be disabled and removed from the Blackboard system. Note that after a temporary account has been removed from the system, any data associated with the account is irretrievable.

Generation of temporary accounts

In addition to the policies discussed above in “Generation and Maintenance of Blackboard User Accounts,” the following modification will be observed when assigning a User ID: “bb-” (two consecutive lower-case b’s followed by a single hyphen) will be prepended to the User ID for the purpose of identifying it as a “local” account.