Notice: Blackboard access will be discontinued August 20
Please be advised that access to Blackboard will be discontinued effective August 20, 2025. GRCC employees and students will no longer have access to Blackboard starting on this date.
GRCC is excited to introduce Canvas, our new Learning Management System, replacing Blackboard beginning at the start of the Fall 2025 semester. The Canvas Transition Hub is your one-stop resource for all things Canvas. From exploring new features to accessing comprehensive support and training. Our goal is to ensure that faculty, staff, and students have the assistance they need during this transition.
Get Help with Canvas
Canvas Peer Support Faculty Liaisons and TLDE staff will provide scheduled drop-in support hours and training sessions, both virtual and in-person, to assist with the transition.
- View the Canvas Support Calendar or Add to your GRCC Calendar.
- Faculty Liaison Rachel Morairty is available by appointment between 8 a.m .and 7 p.m. on select days throughout the semester. Visit her Calendly link to schedule an individual meeting or group consultation or email rachelmorairty@grcc.edu to schedule an in-person meeting.
- Email TLDE@grcc.edu or call (616) 234-2198 to meet with a TLDE staff member.
Canvas Training Courses
Canvas Migration Schedule
Canvas Migration Schedule
Courses are being migrated from Blackboard on a rolling basis to allow faculty and staff time to prepare. Teaching in Canvas will begin at the start of the Fall 2025 semester.
Completed Migrations
- Summer 2024 credit courses – Migrated on October 30th, 2024
- Workforce and Job Training 2023/2024 courses – Migrated on October 30th, 2024
- Non-semester course templates, portfolios, & organizations – Migrated on November 27th, 2024
- Fall 2024 credit courses – Migrated on January 7th, 2025
- Workforce and Job Training 2024/2025 courses – Migrated at the end of April 2025
- Winter 2025 credit courses – Migrated on May 29th, 2025
Upcoming Migrations
- Summer 2025 credit courses – Migrate by end of August 2025
Full Transition to Canvas
- August 19, 2025 will be the last day to access Blackboard. As of August 20, 2025 all courses will be hosted by Canvas.
Preparing Courses for Fall Semester
TLDE has prepared the GRCC Generic Template to support faculty building and preparing courses for teaching in Canvas in Fall 2025. The template offers a pre-built branded course homepage and course orientation module as well as an example module layout. To get started using the template, consider building in a USERNAME.TEMPLATE course or importing to an existing semester course in Canvas.
Build in a Template Course
The template is already applied to your USERNAME.TEMPLATE course. Use this structure to organize your existing content and add new materials using the example pages and module structure.
To request additional templates for more courses, email TLDE@grcc.edu. Additional templates will follow the same naming convention (USERNAME.TEMPLATE2, USERNAME.TEMPLATE3, etc.). We recommend changing the course “nickname” to distinguish your different courses.
This template companion guide provides a checklist for developing course content in Canvas. Make a copy using this link and follow along to build your Fall 2025 courses.
Build in an Existing Semester Course
Summer 24, Fall 24, and Winter 25 courses are available in Canvas. Import the branded template resources from Canvas Commons.
- Access Canvas Commons through the link on your Canvas Global Navigation menu.
- Click on GRCC Generic Template in the list of resources.
- Click "Import/Download" and use the checkboxes to select the courses to which you’d like to apply the template.
Additional Information
- Course materials from Blackboard are available in courses marked “BBM” (Blackboard Migration). Consider these BBM courses as archives of content from Blackboard. Copy these migrated materials to your template to reorganize, edit, and supplement as you build in Canvas.
- As you build, it’s not necessary to copy entire courses! We recommend selecting specific content to import to your template; you may also copy selected modules or content from a BBM or another course to work with in your template.
Wrapping up in Blackboard
Answer any Final Questions
Address any issues in the course before students lose access.
Finalize Grades in Blackboard
Students will be able to access your course until August 20 when access is discontinued for all faculty, staff and students.
Submit Finalized Grades to Student Records
Instructors cannot submit grades directly from Blackboard to the Student Records office. Final grades must be entered through the Faculty Center in the Online Center.
Download the Blackboard Gradebook
As we make the transition from Blackboard to Canvas, TLDE recommends downloading your Blackboard course gradebooks for archival and records-keeping purposes.
To download the gradebook from a Blackboard course:
- Open the course in Blackboard
- Click Grade Center > Full Grade Center
- Find the Work Offline dropdown and select "Download"
At the "Download Grades" screen:
- Make sure the "Full Grade Center" button is selected.
- Select "My Computer" for Download Location.
- Click Submit to proceed to the Download screen.
- Click the Download button to download a spreadsheet of your course gradebook.
View a video of this process here.
Review Your Canvas Dashboard
Blackboard courses have been migrated to Canvas starting with the Summer 2024 semester. Please review your Canvas courses to ensure everything you need has transferred. Migrated courses from Blackboard are labeled with “BBM” at the beginning of the course name. If you notice any courses missing or need access to courses prior to Summer 2024, we recommend exporting the course from Blackboard and requesting a course template in Canvas to import the content.
Identify Course Improvements
Take time to reflect, make a plan for improving the quality of your course. Where did students struggle the most, how can you modify, expand or include new learning activities to improve student motivation and success.