Course Availability

The Course Availability feature allows you to make your course available to students. An unavailable course is not visible to students but is visible to instructors, teaching assistants, and course builders. The Course Availability feature allows faculty to develop a course or test out a course site without students having access.

From the Control Panel:

1. Click the Settings link in the Course Options section.
2. Click the Course Availability link.
3. In the Set Course Availability section, click the Yes radio button.
4. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the Submit button.

More Information

Q: Do I need to use this feature?
A: Maybe, some courses are created with a default setting of unavailable. When you are ready for students to access the course, you must make it available.

Q: I can see my course, but my students complain that they can’t find my course. Should I call Blackboard Support?
A: No. Make your course available using the procedure detailed above.

Q: My TA can access my unavailable course, but my Grader says they cannot find it.
A: Graders cannot access unavailable courses, but TA’s and Course Builders can.

Q: May I allow Guest access to an unavailable course?
A: No. Until a course is made available, it does not appear in the Blackboard Course Catalog.