Course rollover is different this year for 2025-26 courses! Course content is not being automatically copied forward. Instead, a blank course shell is created with the template applied. You can then copy or re-create content as part of the usual set-up tasks to prepare a course. Read more about why this change was made.
Watch a couple of short screencasts to learn about the process: Revised Rollover – what’s different and why (6 mins) and Revised Rollover – How to approach copying & re-creating content (11 mins).
Join a short staff development webinar in September – Essentials: Get your Blackboard Course reading for 2025-26 (30 mins).
- What is Course Rollover?
- When are courses set up?
- What actions do I need to take?
- 1. Prepare & check:
- Can you see your courses for the coming year?
- Staff enrolments.
- Merged or Supplementary Courses.
- 2. Review, re-use and create:
- Copy content from another course.
- Upload, replace & delete content.
- Edit settings, dates & availability.
- Make your content accessible.
- 3. Create the YuJa video channel and publish to it.
- 4. Update the Online Reading List.
- Clear copyrighted digital & scanned texts.
- 5. Make the course available to students
What is Course Rollover?
- Course Rollover is the annual process for scheduling and creating courses for the coming academic year in Blackboard based on the modules in RISIS.
- A new blank course shell is created each year using the institutional template.
- You can select and copy content from a previous course or uploaded materials to create the course following the template.
- Organisations are not part of Rollover. They run continuously.
When are courses set up?
- Course shells are released on Blackboard in mid-May for the coming academic year. (2025-26 courses now released.)
- A course is created in Blackboard if it is scheduled to run in RISIS for the coming academic year.
- Supplementary courses are not automatically set up and need to be requested each year.
What actions do I need to take?
- The Module Convenor or lead teacher should undertake or coordinate the following steps after the release of the course shells.
- Where teaching on a module is shared by colleagues or team taught, agree ahead of time who is undertaking which steps or creating specific content.
- Programme Administrators set up Assessments (Assignments & Online Exams) in courses.
1. Prepare & check
Can you see your courses for the coming year?
- Staff are automatically enrolled if the course ran in the previous academic year with an Instructor or Teaching Assistant role.
- The Module Convenor listed in RISIS is automatically enrolled.
- If you cannot see a course, ask to be enrolled. Contact the Module Convenor or Programme Administrator to enrol you.
Staff enrolments
Merged and Supplementary Courses
- What are Merged and Supplementary Courses and how do they work?
- Merged courses:
- Merged course shells are re-created each year using the same courses.
- Review codes used in existing Merged Courses. (Login: University ID and Password.)
- Request a new Merged Course. (Login: University ID and Password.)
- To edit or remove an existing merge, please contact DTS Self-Service Portal or email DTS.
- Supplementary Courses:
- Supplementary course shells are not re-created each year and need to be requested.
- Request a Supplementary Course.
Important: Wait until a new merge request or edit has been completed before starting to setup your course. Courses are deleted and re-created to make a new merged course.
2. Review, re-use & create
- Use the Course Template to locate information and materials and give students a common digital learning experience in Blackboard.
- Consider what content needs to be updated, re-organised or re-designed to inform your approach.
To create the content in a new course shell you may need to:
Copy content from another course
- You will need to be enrolled in both courses to copy content between them.
- Essential guidance: How and when to copy content into the course template.
- How to use the copy content tool.
- Advice on copying specific types of content.
Upload, replace & delete content
- Add content (including how to add Folders and create Documents)
- How to Upload Files.
- How to replace files that have been copied.
- Click the ‘More options’ button (three dots) to the right of a content item to Edit or Delete.
- Use Batch Edit to delete muliple items in one go.
- Fully delete any unused files after you’ve finished.
Edit setting, dates and availability
- Click the ‘More options’ button (three dots) to the right of a content item to edit it and update any settings.
- Edit release conditions to make content visible to students.
- Use Batch Edit to bulk edit visibility of content to students.
Make your content accessible
- Create accessible content – some simple ways to check the accessibility of your materials and make your content more accessible.
3. Create the YuJa video channel and publish to it
- Click the ‘YuJa (Video channel)’ link in the course template to create and to be able to publish your videos to the course channel.
- This needs to be done for each course to create a corresponding Yuja video channel.
4. Update the Online Reading List
- Check and update the course’s Online Reading List after the annual ‘Library Reading List Rollover‘ takes place at the end of June for the coming academic year. (UK Campus courses only.)
Clear copyrighted digital & scanned texts
- Use the Library’s Scanning Service to digitise any print texts and articles to meet copyright and accessibility legal requirements.
- Contact your Academic Library Liaison for further assistance.
5. Make the course available to students
- When it’s ready, make your course available to students.
- Make courses available before teaching on the module begins.
- Automatic student enrolments from RISIS start from the first week of August. Students enrolled in a module on RISIS will be begin to appear in corresponding Blackboard courses.
Guide last updated on August 7, 2025