Blackboard Archival Process

Because Illinois Tech has limited space on Blackboard, it is necessary to archive materials on a regular basis.

Blackboard Course Archives

Courses older than two years will be archived.  This process will occur yearly, and instructors will receive communications regarding dates and instructions.  Instructors are advised to save any material from their course sites that might be needed in the future.  While a restored copy of the course can be provided, it may take up to a week, and courses will only be maintained in the archival storage space for four years.

Collaborate Ultra Recording Archives

Collaborate Ultra recordings are archived separately from the course archives.  Collaborate Ultra recordings older than one semester may be archived to stay within our storage allotment.  Instructors may request a restoration of these materials as well.  

  • Instructors will receive a message that any courses older than two years (ie: in 2020, all courses from 2018 Fall and before) will be removed from Blackboard.  Instructors will be instructed to save any needed information to their own computers.
  • On the date indicated, course material, including Grade Center information, will be moved to an archival area, and no longer available to instructors or students on Blackboard.
  • Every year, courses older than six (6) years will be permanently deleted from the archival servers.
  • Instructors may request a restore of the archived course.  Requests will be processed within one week of the request.

When you receive a message that the archive period is approaching, review your courses and save any needed materials.  If you don't need any of the previous content, do nothing. Your course(s) will be archived.

How to download materials

  1. In the course site, go to the Control Panel
  2. Expand Files and click on the course ID
  3. Select needed files and click "Download Package" to save the files to your computer

Save the GradeCenter

  1. In the course site, go to the Control Panel
  2. Expand "Grade Center" and select "Full Grade Center"
  3. Click "Work Offline" in the upper right, and select "Download"
  4. Select the needed data and download to your computer

To request a restore of an archived Blackboard course site or a Collaborate Ultra recording, email SupportDesk@iit.edu with the following information:

  • Name and number of the course (ie, "Geometry MATH-110, section 1)
  • CRN of the course (ie, "12443")
  • The term of the course (ie. "2016 Spring")

The course will be restored to Blackboard within 5 business days.