ODL LMS Support Start of the Semester Reminders for Faculty - Fall 2026

The Office of Digital Learning – Learning Management System Support team would like to offer our start of the semester reminders and announcements for Fall 2026.  

Reminder: Fall 2026 courses

All Fall 2026 courses have been created in Brightspace.  If you are missing a course when logging into Brightspace, please log into CUNYfirst and verify that the course has been assigned to you.  If the course has not been assigned to you, your department must reach out to the Registrar to have the official course record updated.  Enrollment updates are processed from CUNYfirst into Brightspace multiple times a day. 

Reminder: Cross listed courses and manual course merge requests

Course merges within Brightspace for cross-listed Fall 2026 courses have been completed.  Instructors wishing to merge multiple sections of the same course (such as LIT 327 section 03 and LIT 327 section 04) must submit requests to ODL LMS Support.  Please note, verification of enrollment and final semester grades must be reported separately in CUNYfirst for their corresponding courses.

Reminder: Course Active Status

Students are unable to access courses on Brightspace nor receive course announcements until instructors update their course status to Active for students.  This setting must be manually changed when you are ready for students to access the course. 

Make your course Active (Available) for students in Brightspace:

  1. In your Course, select Course Admin on the top blue Course Navbar.
  2. Select Course Offering Information.
  3. Select Course is active box.
  4. Select Save to retain changes.

The steps above may be repeated to set courses to Inactive at the end of the semester.

Reminder: ODL LMS website

The ODL LMS Support team has curated Brightspace information and resources for the John Jay community on the ODL LMS website.  We regularly add new content in response to how our community uses Brightspace.  Visit us online.

Reminder: Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

The ODL LMS team encourages faculty to consider digital accessibility best practices when building their courses.  Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires all digital assets offered by public institutions comply with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1, Level AA (or “WCAG 2.1 Level AA”) by April 24, 2027.  This includes instructional content posted in courses hosted within Brightspace.  Please note that New York State deadline for accessibility compliance for public-facing materials (those outside the LMS) is January 1, 2027, and must meet WCAG 2.2, Level AA. 

For more information on Title II of the ADA, accessibility in Brightspace, and tutorials on creating accessible content in many common computer applications, visit the User Guides and Tutorials section of the ODL LMS website, and click on the Accessibility subsections. 

Announcement: Designing for All: Digital Accessibility in Practice

We invite all faculty to participate in the new Designing for All: Digital Accessibility in Practice online workshop within Brightspace.  To enroll, visit: Designing for All: Digital Accessibility in Practice in Brightspace and if prompted, log in with your CUNY Login account.  Alternatively, all CUNY employees can request access to this free professional development opportunity from ODL LMS Support.  Email requests to ODL LMS support, including your CUNY EMPL ID number.

Announcement: Upcoming Brightspace Training Opportunities with ODL LMS Support

Zoom Webinars

  • Tuesday, 8/25/2026, ODL LMS How to Webinar: Brightspace Open Q&A, 2 -3 pm - TOMORROW
  • Wednesday, 8/26/2026, ODL LMS How to Webinar: Brightspace Semester Quick Start, 2-3 pm
  • Friday, 8/28/2026, ODL LMS How to Webinar: Brightspace Open Q&A - First Day of Classes Special, 11 AM - 12 noon

Drop-in Lab Sessions

  • Thursday, 8/27/2026, ODL LMS Brightspace Drop-in Lab, L2.72.03 NB

Announcement: Brightspace Attendance Tool

Effective Monday, August 5, 2026, the Brightspace Attendance Tool was enabled for all CUNY courses in Brightspace.  More information on using the Brightspace Attendance tool is available on the ODL LMS website. 

The Brightspace Attendance Tool allows instructors to record class attendance for their own use.  Students cannot see the Attendance Tool unless visibility is specifically enabled by the instructor at the course level.

Please note that attendance taking and use of the tool is at the discretion of the instructor.  CUNY remains a non-attendance taking institution for federal purposes.  To that end, the tool displays the following disclaimer on the Attendance Register page:

“CUNY meets the federal definition of an institution that is not required to take attendance under Title IV regulation 34 CFR 668.22 (b)(3)(i). As a non-attendance-taking institution, the College Registrars do not collect daily attendance records. CUNY does not require professors to take attendance, and any attendance records are taken for the professors' own purposes.”

 

For information and assistance with Brightspace, please email ODL Learning Management System Support at LMS.faculty@jjay.cuny.edu (faculty) or LMS.student@jjay.cuny.edu (students).