In addition to the automatic creation of a shell for every course offered at CMU, other shells can be manually created for various special- and non-course-related purposes, by request only. Similar accommodations can also be made using SharePoint. Please consider both options to determine which solution is most appropriate for your group’s needs.
NOTE: The Course ID of a Special Purpose Shell must end with a special suffix. ex -SP26 This means the shell will expire in five years. For example, if the creation year is 2021. the expiration suffix will be 26. The SP stands for special Purpose. This code is important for the purge.
What is a Special Purpose Shell?
A special purpose shell is any shell not automatically created and therefore not associated with a specific section or sections of a course offered at Central Michigan University. Special purpose shells are commonly used for various purposes including online course/workshop development, intra-program communications, group coordination and collaborative research.
Who can be issued a Special Purpose Shell?
Special Purpose Blackboard shells may be issued to Registered Student Organizations, Residence Life units, research groups, faculty/staff committees, academic or business departments, Global Campus programs and other groups on a case by case basis. Use of these shells will be limited to the tools and capabilities available within Blackboard during the period of use. Inclusion of ancillary tools which may result in the University’s incurrence of additional cost(s) or the use of resources reserved for course-specific purposes may be denied. It is assumed that any special purpose shell will be used in a manner consistent with all existing University policies.
How does one request a Special Purpose Shell?
All shell requests should be directed to the OIT Help Desk via email to helpdesk@cmich.edu or telephone at 989-774-3662. Requests must originate from the faculty or staff representative empowered to act on behalf of the requesting organization or group. A request originating from any other party may be denied or delayed until which time verification of faculty/staff support is provided.
Requests must include the name/purpose of the requesting organization, a desired ‘title’ for the special purpose shell, the global ID of the person to be established with ‘instructor-level access to the new shell and a time when the shell may be considered for removal.
NOTE: No special-purpose shell will be allowed to remain in place for more than five (5) calendar years without being removed and/or re-created.
Removal of Special Purpose Shells
Shells associated with University course offerings are purged from Blackboard based on an approved schedule. During each of the scheduled purge operations a list of Special Purpose Shells will also be identified for removal. Shells will be identified based on age (older than five years), requested date of removal (established at the time of shell creation) or a determination of abandonment (i.e. a shell which is no longer being used). In all cases, the owner(s) of record will be contacted prior to deletion of the shell to be notified of intent to remove the shell(s), presented with options to preserve content and/or have the shell re-created.