Students FAQ 

If you are a CUNY student, faculty or staff member, a Blackboard account has been reserved for you. Before using it, you must first set the account up, specifying your account preferences. Blackboard is accessed through your CUNY Portal account.
To set up or verify your CUNY Portal account
a) In your web browser, navigate to www.cuny.edu
b) Click the "LOGIN" link (Located in the top right hand side of the page)
c) Select the link "CUNY PORTAL" from the menu.
d) For your one-time account set up, click on "Register for a New Account" >> link
f) You will be given several options. If you are a Student, click on Student.
g) On the user validation screen, enter your last name (case not important), your 9-digit Faculty ID number [Social Security number] and your birth date. Click the Next button.
h) On the following screen confirm that the information you have entered is correct. Click Confirm if correct data is entered.

 

Blackboard is a CUNY-wide system, which is accessible using your CUNY Portal username and password. These credentials may be different from your campuses’ username and password.
There are different ways you can use to access Blackboard.

First method is to log in through the CUNY Portal. To log in to CUNY Portal follow the steps below:

a) In your web browser, navigate to www.cuny.edu
b) Click the "LOGIN" link (Located in the top right hand side of the page)
c) Select the link "CUNY PORTAL" from the menu.
d) Enter your CUNY Portal username and password and click the "Log-In" button
e) Click on the Blackboard link on the left of the page.
f) Blackboard page will open with the Home tab active. Courses you are teaching are displayed in the My Courses module, on the right side of the screen.

The second way is to directly log in to Blackboard:
a) In your web browser, navigate to www.cuny.edu
b) Click the "LOGIN" link (Located in the top right hand side of the page)
c) Select the link "BLACKBOARD" and enter your credentials in the small window that appears and click the "Log In" button.
d) Blackboard page will open with the Home tab active. Courses you are teaching are displayed in the My Courses module, on the right side of the screen.

Only one email address can come into Blackboard. Therefore, the email address that is active in the CUNY portal is brought into the Blackboard system. If this address is not the one you use, you can now change it ONLY to a CUNY RELATED EMAIL ADDRESS in Blackboard.
 

a. In the Home tab, find and click on the Update Email link in the Tools module.
b. Enter the new Email twice
c. Click the Submit button

 

To change your e-mail address in the CUNY Portal, go to: https://cunyportal.cuny.edu 

• Click the link "My Profile" (Located in the top right hand side of the page)
• Click "Modify" to make changes
• Select "Email" (Enter an e-mail address)
• Click on "Save"

To make LaGuardia your primary school in your CUNY Portal profile.
• Type in the following URL: https://cunyportal.cuny.edu
• Enter your User Name and Password and click "Login"
• Click the link "My Profile" (Located in the top right hand side of the page)
• Click "Modify" to make changes
• Change the "Primary College" pull-down menu so that it is set to "Fiorello H. LaGuardia Community College."
• Click the "Save" button when finished.

All users information is uploaded into the Blackboard system with info provided by SIMS, this means, users information cannot be manually modified.

In order to permanently change your name in Blackboard, pass by the Registrar's office: C107 to update your student records.

There are few reasons why your courses are not listed in your account.

- Be aware that not all instructors use Blackboard as part as their class. Find out whether or not your instructor is planning on using Blackboard during the semester.

- Fix your course module to find your courses: When logging on to Blackboard, from the home page,
- Click on the pencil icon in the top right hand side of the module,
- Select the course (name or ID) to be displayed in the home page of your Blackboard account, then click submit.
-You have been dropped from the course, go to C107 Registar to clear your stop immediately. (Once your stop is cleared in Registrar, allow 24 to 48 hours to be re-enrolled in your Blackboard courses.)

- You can also check for hold messages posted in your CUNYfirst account.

- If you are still unable to see your courses, please stop by our office B-127 or email us at Blackboard Support

 

Blackboard works best in the latest version of Mozilla Firefox. Blackboard will work in other browsers, but a few features may not function properly. Please make sure your machine has all the necessary software installed and your browser is updated with the newest version.

Please check the items listed in page "Recommended downloads for the use of Blackboard" to find out whether or not your machine is missing (a must download) tools or software for the proper function of Blackboard.

 
This problem is a common issue when using Internet Explorer versions 8 and 9 to access Blackboard.
 

If students are taking a test using Internet Explorer they may not be able to save answers or receive an error message upon submission. To avoid these issues it is suggested to use Mozilla Firefox 

 

 
In many cases, the java session has been terminated due to inactivity so the submission is unsuccessful.

There are few things you can do to combat this issue:

- Give the assessment one question at a time. This ensures that the user's java session is continuously updated and the likelihood of the user getting kicked out is reduced.

- Do not select the "force complete" option. Without this option selected, users are able to re-enter the exam from the last point that they saved an answer if they should get kicked out.

 

This issue only occurs in forums that are graded.

Clicking the "Save Draft" button in a Discussion Board thread will result in an error.

Since it may not always be clear which forums are graded, it is best to avoid clicking the "Save Draft" button.

It is a good idea to compose the thread in a text editor outside of Blackboard, where it can be modified and saved. When done composing the thread, paste the text into the thread’s message box and then click the "Submit" button.