Default Columns

1. Last Name and First Name: Shaded in gray and anchored to the left side of the spreadsheet.
2. Username: NetID.
3. Student ID: Stony Brook ID number.
4. Last Access: Most recent date student entered your Blackboard course.
5. Availability: Whether students can access your course (not related to whether your course is visible to students).
6. Weighted Total: If columns are weighted (see Weigh grades later in this document), this column takes those weights into account when calculating.  Calculates as a running weighted total by default, only including columns with grades.
7. Total: Accrues all earned points.

Creating New Columns

1. Select the Create Column button in the Action Bar.

2. Type in the Column Information.

• Column Name (required): Title of column.  Keep it short, and avoid using special characters (#, @, $,).
• Grade Center Display Name: To display something other than the Column in the Grade Center.
• Description: Optional column summary.  Visible to instructors and students.
• Primary Display: How the grade will be displayed in the Grade Center:
  • Score (default): Numeric value
  • Text: Instructors may type any symbol, letter or number as a grade.
  • NOTE: If a number is not used, the grade will not be calculated in the overall Total.
    • Percentage: Displays percentage instead of numeric value. Example: 90 out of 100 displays as 90%.
    • Letter: Displays letter equivalent of numeric grade (see Grading Schemas later in this document for more information).  Example: 95 displays as A.
    • Complete/Incomplete: Displays checkmark indicating completion.
• Secondary Display: Shown next to Primary Display in parentheses in Grade Center.  Only visible to instructors.
  • Example: A grade with a primary display of Percentage and a secondary display of Letter would look like this in the Grade Center: 89% (B+).  Students only see the primary display when they check their grades.
• Category: Classify the column to make it easier to sort/filter data and weigh grades.  See Create and apply categories later in this document for more information.
• Date Created: Today’s date.
• Due Date: Select None or enter a date.  If a date is selected, students may check My Grades, the To Do module on the course Home Page, or Notifications Dashboard to see when it’s due.
  • You may specify a due date while creating a SafeAssignment, which will automatically apply to its Grade Center column.  For all other columns, you must manually apply a Due Date.
• Include this Column in Grade Center calculations:
  • Yes: Grades in this column will calculate into the Total and Weighted Total columns.
• Show this Column to Students:
  • Yes: Students can see this column’s grades when they check their grades.
• Show Statistics (average and median) for this column to Students in My Grades:
• Yes: Students may compare their grade with the average and median for the class.

3. Click Submit at the bottom of the page.

Editing Columns

Click the down-pointing arrow button to the right of the column title, then select Edit Column
Information.

Deleting Columns

Columns should only be deleted if absolutely necessary.  Deleting a column also deletes all student grades in that column.  Once a column has been deleted, it cannot be restored.

1. Click the down-pointing arrow button to the right of the column title, then select Delete Column.

2. Blackboard will prompt the instructor to confirm removal. Click OK.