USC UPSTATE

Blackboard Instructions

Check out the online Blackboard (BB) tutorial for students! 

To use Blackboard you must obtain your USC system network username and set your password. This is different from your USC Upstate username. You do this using the university’s VIP site.

1. Login to VIP or click the VIP link on the USC Upstate Current Students Web site.
2. Don’t know or forgot your PIN? You may follow the instructions for resetting your pin online here: RESET YOUR PIN. You can also request a PIN reset in the Records Office with a valid picture ID. Your provisional PIN will be forwarded to the e-mail address you provide on the request form.
3. Click on the TECHNOLOGY link on the left side of the window.
4. Click on SHOW ME NETWORK USERNAME.
5. Your username will be displayed and below that you can set your password. Password requirements: Must be at least eight characters, cannot contain your user id, and must meet at least three of the following four criteria:
   • One or more lowercase alphabetic characters (a-z)
   • One or more uppercase alphabetic characters (A-Z)
   • One or more numeric characters (0-9)
   • One or more of these special characters:  ! @ # $ % ^ & * - + =
     Examples: aB123cdE or Ab@123xyZ or 1234$abc
6. If you forget your username or password or have trouble with Blackboard login, you can go to VIP and reset it. Passwords expire every six months and have to be reset.

Logging into Blackboard:

1. Go to http://blackboard.sc.edu or click the BB link on the USC Upstate Current Students page.
2. Click the Login button on the left side of the screen.
3. On the next screen enter Blackboard your username and password and click Login.
   The next page you see will be your “My USC” screen with “Welcome <your name>” at the top.  You will see a list of all of your courses on the right side of the “My USC” page. To get a more descriptive list of your courses, click the black Courses tab at the top of the screen.

Update your Blackboard E-mail address:
All students, faculty, and staff have an email account for the USC system in addition to their USC Upstate email account.  This USC system email address is initially entered into Blackboard, but after you begin classes at USC Upstate it will be changed to your USC Upstate email address. You can verify your email address by logging into Blackboard and clicking the “Personal Information” link in the upper left corner of the first “My USC” screen.  Then click “Edit Personal Information.”  Make sure your preferred email address is listed making any changes if necessary and then scroll down and click the Submit button.

Professors and students can send each other email from within Blackboard, but Blackboard does not keep copies of email messages that are sent. When you send an email message using Blackboard, a copy of that message always goes to you, as well as to the person you send it to. It is a good idea to save these messages when you receive them so you will have a record of them.

There are free viewers for Microsoft Word and PowerPoint that let people who do not have these program on their computers view these files. Links to the download sites for these and other popular free programs can be found on the USC Upstate Distance Education Web site.

Additional technology assistance is available on the Information Technology and Services Student Information Web site.