In recognition of the Western Carolina University’s 2020 initiative, the Coulter Faculty Commons and the Division of IT have completed a yearlong study and development to find the best way to increase engagement by granting community members access to the Blackboard Leaning Management System (Strategic Plan Goal 3.1).
A Blackboard Community Member is someone who does not currently have a WCU account and has been invited to participate in a Blackboard Course, Organization or Student Center. Instructors and Leaders may invite community members to engage and collaborate with students within the Blackboard environment. This allows for face-to-face and distance programs to interact with the community. A community member must have a WCU faculty or staff member sponsor their access and sign an “External User Agreement” to obtain system access for a 12 month timespan. During the pilot phase of this project, we have successfully granted one-hundred community members access to the Blackboard system to engage with the WCU community.
For more information on how to grant someone community member access to Blackboard, please login to Blackboard and click the “Instructor Resources” tab. Choose “Service Requests” from the left-hand menu and click the “Blackboard Community Members” button. Questions regarding this engagement opportunity may be directed to the Coulter Faculty Commons LMS Team at (828) 227-2930 or LMSSupport@wcu.edu.
