On Monday, August 10, GVSU’s Blackboard system’s login screen will be updated as part of a transition to single sign on.
Blackboard SSO Background
Blackboard will be added to GVSU’s single sign on (SSO) experience, and join a variety of software applications currently using single sign on at Grand Valley such as: GVSU Google (Gmail), myBanner, myGV mobile, Ultratime, GVSUAlert (Rave Emergency Notifications), Qualtrics, library systems, Zoom, etc.
Blackboard SSO Purpose
The advantage of adding Blackboard into GVSU’s single sign on system is in providing a seamless experience across the enterprise applications currently in place at the university.
Because the student, faculty, or staff will only need to authenticate once, a user can seamlessly move from one system to another as needed without the extra step of logging in again to the other system. Further, there are some other security related advantages as well.
An example use case would be a student can login to Blackboard, click the GVSU Gmail tab to access their email, or access myBanner without the need to login again.
To best meet the needs of students, faculty, and staff, especially during remote teaching and into the upcoming Fall semester, adding Blackboard into the single sign on environment will help to remove obstacles and increase ease of access to the technologies supporting the teaching and learning environment at GVSU.
Blackboard SSO Login Screen
Instead of being presented with a login prompt, users will be presented with this screen [see screen shot to the left] upon accessing Blackboard.
If the user is already authenticated and logged into another GVSU SSO application, there will be no need to enter credentials.
The language used on this login page is consistent with other SSO systems in place at GVSU. Because some users that connect to Blackboard do not have a GVSU network ID, the “Non-GVSU Network Account Login” link can be used to authenticate within Blackboard natively.
eLearning Technologies @GVSU 