As the semester is coming to an end, it is important to turn in all assignments in one last attempt to save your grade. But what happens when there is a problem with Blackboard or another course software? Rather than panicking and accepting a failing grade, take care of it right away. But the question remains, how do we know where to get help?

The Service and Support Desk and Instructional Software may be able to help. Both teams are located on Signal Peak Campus but regularly travel to the other campuses to provide support. The best number to reach both these teams is (520) 494-5678.

Located in the O building, the Service and Support Desk handles jobs such as installing and configuring software, providing support for all help tickets, and helping students access CAC resources such as Wi-Fi. Darryl McDaniel, IT Manager for Support Services says, “The IT department is focused on helping students and is proactive with their needs.”

For problems directly related to software used for instruction, students should visit Instructional Software, found in the L building. This team works with software such as Blackboard and Office 365 that includes Teams and Outlook.

Currently, there are three members on this team. Deanna Broking has worked for CAC for 27 years, 15 with Instructional Software. She is the IT Manager for Instructional Software and handles any software used by professors at CAC. Her office is L203.

Charlie Rosenbam has worked for CAC for 7 years and is the Learning Management System (LMS) Analyst and main Blackboard Administrator. He mostly works with instructors and their software, especially Blackboard. His office is in L204.

Josue Robledo is the newest member of the team; he started this October. He is the LMS Specialist and works on the student training software. He is also the backup Blackboard administrator. His office is in L204 as well.

The most common issues students have are not knowing how to submit assignments, changing their name on Blackboard, or using the wrong browser for Blackboard, especially if working on a Mac. Most of these problems are usually solved with online training.

All CAC students have access to SCHOOL. Student-Centered Hands-On Orientation Learning teaches the basics of Blackboard software. Students can go through the modules and learn how to submit assignments or download files. To access this, you must log into Blackboard and click on the SCHOOL tab.

The Instructional Software team has a few words of advice as we go into finals.

• Get help right away. It’s important to get the problems fixed as soon as possible.
• Do not just rely on a tablet or cell phone; get a reliable laptop as some courses use software that tablets cannot handle.
• Take care of your laptop. Do not download risky files and always keep your computer up to date with any system updates.
• Sign up for Password Self-Service. If you need to reset your password, this allows you to do it yourself right away. Instructional Software says that this needs to be done before your password expires. Password Self-Service can be found on the CAC website, under Information Technology.