Blackboard For Students

Blackboard Help

Some frequently asked questions have been addressed below. For more information, please refer to the Blackboard's Quick Start Tutorials. You can also email helpdesk@vassar.edu for help.

Accessing Your Course

Students access all Blackboard courses by going to http://blackboard.vassar.edu. Their user id is the same as their Vassar email user id and their initial password is their student ID number. If you don't know your Vassar email, contact the helpdesk at x7224.

If you have just enrolled in course and don't yet have access to the course's blackboard site,your professor can add you to the course student roster, or have your professor contact blackboard@vassar.edu with your full name, course ID and title.

If you drop a course and are still receiving emails, contact your professor, and have them remove you from the class roster.

Tips and Tricks

  • If the word documents in the course are opening in the browser window and you'd prefer to open them in word, follow these steps:
  • PC Users: Right click on the link. Choose "Save Target As". Give the file a name and save it on the desktop. Then go to the desktop of you computer and double-click on the file to open it in Word.
  • Mac Users: Hold down the Control key and click on the link. Choose "Download Link to Disk". Give the file a name and save it on the desktop. Then go to the desktop of your computer and double click on the file to open it in Word.
  • Some students attempting to access e-reserves via blackboard may be prompted for a password.This is generally caused by a personal firewall installed on the student computer blocking referrer information.  You must create a rule to allow it.
    • Open Norton Internet Security or Norton Personal Firewall.
    • Do one of the following:
      • In Norton Internet Security or Norton Personal Firewall 2003: Click Options > Internet Security, and then click the Web Content tab. 
      • In Norton Internet Security or Norton Personal Firewall 2004 or newer: Double-click Privacy Control, and then click Advanced.
    • In the bottom of the Advanced window, click Add Site.
    • The site name appears in the left frame of the Options window.
    • Click the name of the new site.
    • On the Global Settings tab, under the Information about visited sites section, uncheck Use default settings.
    • Click Permit.
    • Click OK to close the Options window.