The feed from ISIS to Blackboard

January 2018 - The University’s rules for feeding ISIS data into Blackboard have been revised. The most noticable changes are:

There is no longer a separate course for the resit - the first run Blackboard course will be used.
Students will retain access to completed module run courses until they have finished their programme of study.

Blackboard Courses

A course in Blackboard can be one of 4 things in ISIS terms:

Module run - this applies to the actual run of the module and may be referred to as the first run.
A module run will be included in the feed from ISIS if:
- it is confirmed in ISIS;
  and
- the module run start date is within 365 days from today; i.e. the module run starts no more than a year in the future
  and
- the ‘Resit Run’ flag is not ticked
After the resit run field board date (or where there is no confirmed resit, the first run field board date), a module run will continue to feed if:
- There is at least one student attached to the module run with a valid user id;
  and
- it is less than 6 years from the course start date.
Student groups of the type BLACKBOARD COURSE and NON CREDIT-BEARING COURSE will be included in the feed from ISIS to a Blackboard course if:
- it exists in ISIS;
- has a group type of BLACKBOARD COURSE or of type NON CREDIT-BEARING COURSE;
- has been approved by Academic Services*;
- has a start date within 365 days from today;
  or
- an end date within the last 180 days.
* Blackboard Course type groups require formal approval by Academic Services. Approval for Non Credit- Bearing courses is granted solely upon the submission (and confirmation by Finance) of an appropriate cost code
Programme - either the Primary Award or the Primary Target(s), but not both. A Programme will be included in Blackboard if:
- selected for inclusion by ISIS administrators;
- has at least one member of staff attached with a current staff link attachment period ie the staff link start date is prior to today and the staff link end date is after today.

For further information please see our guidance on Blackboard Policies and Processes and Non Credit-Bearing Courses.

Field-based Content Collection folders

A Field will be included in Blackboard as a Content Collection folder (not as a course) if it has at least one current module associated with it in ISIS and at least one member of staff is attached to one of those associated modules.

Staff

Important note about changes to staff attachment types

A member of staff is carried in the feed from ISIS and will have access to Blackboard if they have:

a current employment contract*;
a User ID.

They will have access to Blackboard courses as an Instructor if they are:

attached to a module run, with an attachment type of Leader, Tutor or Admin/Technical and/or;
attached to a student group which satisfies the criteria for the feed from ISIS, with an attachment type of Leader, Tutor or Admin/Technical and/or;
attached to a Programme (either Primary Award or Primary Target) with an attachment type of Leader, Tutor or Admin/Technical, and a current staff link attachment period.

Staff will have access to Blackboard courses with Student status if they are:

attached to a module run, with an attachment type of Associate or PAL;
attached to a student group which satisfies the criteria for the feed from ISIS, in the role of Associate or PAL;
attached to a Programme (Primary Award or Primary Target) with an attachment type of Associate, and a current staff link attachment period.

Staff will have access to Blackboard module-run based courses with External Examiner status if they are:

attached to a module run, with an attachment type of External Examiner.

Staff have access to a Field-based Content Collection folder if:

they are attached to a current module that is associated with the Field, with an attachment type of Leader, Tutor or Admin/Technical.

* The employment contract held by a member of staff at the time an attachment to a programme or module is made remains in place and is not automatically updated when a member of staff subsequently changes their employment contract. The result of a member of staff changing employment contract is that the original attachment becomes ineffective and the member of staff will lose access to the programme(s) and/or module run(s)-based courses in Blackboard, including any resit runs and feedback courses. If the member of staff in question still requires access to the same programme(s) and/or module run-based courses the ISIS record must be updated by removing the member of staff from the programme(s) and/or module(s) and the module run(s) and attaching them again - effectively removing the old employment contract and adding the new.

As soon as a member of staff has access to Blackboard as an Instructor they will be able to post material on the pages for the module run/programme/student group to which they are attached. Staff attached as an External Examiner will have External Examiner status in the module run to which they are attached, so will have read-only access to materials. Staff attached as an Associate will have student status in the module run/programme/student group to which they are attached, so will have read-only access to materials.

Note about Peer-Assisted Learners (PALs)

The PAL attachment type is for use only where a student is also a member of staff, employed as a PAL. They have both a student record and a staff record in ISIS set up for this purpose.

In the feed from ISIS to Blackboard, staff attached to a module run with the attachment type of PAL will have their ISIS student record attached to the Blackboard course (with student status) and will, therefore, need to login using their student user ID.

Where staff require access to Blackboard courses with the role of student, the attachment type of Associate must be used.

Students

This describes the inclusion of a student in the feed from ISIS. But for a student to have access to Blackboard the criteria for a module run enrolment also have to be satisfied.

Note: All students with a fee income status of FF are not included in the feed from ISIS. These students are not included in our HESA returns and therefore we do not receive funding for them. The income status of FF is an administrative device - the students are not UWE students.

Note regarding timeouts: The start and end dates of a timeout are not referenced in the feed to Blackboard. Students with a timeout on their Primary Award registration are subject to the rules below, so at the end of their timeout when an EE RASP is created, they should be included in the feed. Due to the automated processes that need to take place, access will be granted within 48 hours of the timeout end date being entered.

A student is included in the feed from ISIS if he or she has:

a fee income status other than FF, and:
- a Primary Award registration status of REG
  and
- a RASP enrolment status of EN or ON
or
- a Primary Award registration status of REG
  and
- a RASP enrolment status of COMP (where the RASP end date is within the last 120 days)
or
- a Primary Award registration status of A or WD (where the PA registration end date is within the last 60 days)
  and
- a RASP enrolment status of COMP
or
- a Primary Award registration status of REG or ER
  and
- a RASP enrolment status of EE (for 21 days after the RASP start date).

A student will have access to Module run Blackboard courses:

if the course is “available” in Blackboard;

and

the student is enrolled on a module run with a module run enrolment (MRE) status of EE (for 35 days after their RASP start date) or ON.

During the Resit Period

The resit period is the period between the first run field board date and the resit run field board date. During this period:

Students who have been referred will retain full access to the module first run Blackboard course. During this period, referred students are identified by having a Module Registration status of REG and an MRE status of COMP on the first run.
Students who have passed will have only guest access to the module first run Blackboard course. Full access will be reinstated after the resit run field board date.

This restriction of access only applies where there is a Confirmed resit run in ISIS.

After the resit run field board date

Completed students will retain access to the course whilst they still have a valid user id, upto a maximum of six years after the course start date.

A student will have access to student group Blackboard course:

if the group has been been approved by Academic Services and entered into ISIS

and

if the data entered matches exactly the data that was approved e.g. course name; course id, start and end dates; group type etc.

and

if the course is “available” in Blackboard;

and

if start date of the student group has passed;

and

if end date of the student group has not passed.

A student will have access to Programme Blackboard course:

if the student is registered on a Primary Award or Primary Target that has been included in Blackboard;

and

There is at least one member of staff with a valid attachment to the Primary Award or Primary Target;

and

if the course is “available” in Blackboard;

and

the student has a PA registration status of REG

and/or

the student has a PA registration status of A and the PA Registration End Date is in the last 42 days.

Note: Students do not have access to Field-based Content Collection folders.