July Communication - Email to Faculty and Staff

From: Paul Barron, CIO
Sent: Friday, July 13, 2007 1:27 PM
Subject: Update on the Upgrading and Enhancement of Blackboard – The myTulane Project

As many of you know, Technology Services has embarked on a project to upgrade and enhance Blackboard.  Beginning in the fall, faculty members will find that Blackboard will be easier to use and will have many new and exciting tools to enhance the educational enterprise.  (To read a summary of these new features please click on
http://ts.tulane.edu/teaching_and_learning/current_projects/myTulane/documentation/myTulane_newfeature_summary.pdf )  Because we believe that this iteration of Blackboard will become ubiquitous, we have given it a new front page and named it “myTulane.”  I am pleased to report that we have made significant progress in the automation process which requires coordinating feeds from the student information system and the HR system.  We expect to have myTulane available for use in the very near future so that faculty can begin to build their courses for the fall semester.

One of the major enhancements that myTulane will offer is a portion of the Blackboard system called the “Community System.”  Students, faculty, and staff who log in to myTulane will see information that has been specifically directed to them.  We have been working with representatives from the schools and colleges, along with some early adopters from administrative departments, to develop information for these tabs. 

Technology Services is pleased that we can provide these enhanced teaching and learning tools to the Tulane community.  You can find detailed information about the myTulane project at:  http://ts.tulane.edu/teaching_and_learning/current_projects/myTulane/

Paul Barron
Vice President for Information Technology & CIO