As part of Ohio University's Blackboard Retirement initiative, academic courses taught between Summer 2019 and December 2025 in Blackboard will be retained in a secure third-party archiving platform, K16, until June 2028. This article outlines the purpose of the archive and the process of requesting access to archived course materials.
Description
This article includes:
Note: The archive is designed to support academic activities, like grade disputes and incomplete reviews. The archive is not intended for long-term instructional content storage.
Environment
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Platform: Blackboard
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Archiving Tool: K16 Solutions
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Retention Period: Until June 30, 2028
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Retirement Date for Blackboard: June 30, 2026
Archiving Overview
Blackboard courses that concluded between August 2019 and December 2025 will be archived until June 2028. All archived Blackboard content will be deleted from the archive after June 30, 2028.
Content Eligible for Archiving
- Academic courses created through OHIO’s Student Information System (PeopleSoft) for academic credit in Blackboard that were taught during the retention period.
- Content created in Blackboard with native Blackboard features will be retained, including discussion boards, gradebooks, and records of submissions and missing submissions.
Content Excluded from the Archive
The following materials will not be stored within the archive. Please retain any records from these sources prior to the retirement of Blackboard.
- External tools used within a course will not be saved in the archive. For example, publisher content is separate from Blackboard so student submissions or records generated in the publisher tool will not be retained in this archive. This exclusion applies to any integration or non-native Blackboard feature.
- Blackboard organizations, test courses, continuing education (non-credit), and manually created courses are not included in the archive. Instructors must save this content independently. These materials will be deleted prior to Blackboard’s Retirement.
- Test courses will be deleted starting October 10, 2025, Organizations will be deleted starting November 14, 2025, and all remaining non-academic content will be deleted beginning February 6, 2026.
Purpose of Archiving
The archive is intended to support student record retention related to academic activities such as:
- Review of incomplete grades
- Resolution of grade disputes
Important: The archive is not a backup for instructional content. Faculty should download and save any materials they wish to reuse as soon as possible.
Request Archived Material from Blackboard
If you need access to archived course materials from Blackboard, follow these steps:
1. Fill Out the Request Form
Start by submitting your request through the Blackboard Ticket Form. Be sure to include as much detail as possible—such as the course name, semester, and instructor—to help us locate the materials quickly.
2. We’ll Review Your Request
Once your form is submitted, a Blackboard Administrator will review the information and begin investigating whether the archived content is available.
3. We Might Schedule a Meeting with You
If we need more details to process your request, we may contact you to schedule a brief online meeting with you. This helps ensure we fully understand your needs and can provide the right materials, particularly for complex requests.
Get Help From OIT
Submit a help ticket on this page.
Additional resources