Q. I forgot my portal username and password. What should I do?
A. When you are at the CUNY portal page (http://www.cuny.edu), click on the gray web support link at the lower right of the page then the  link. Fill out the online form and click . Include your full name, Date of Birth, and a contact phone number. For portal help, contact (718)254-8565.

Q. Can I get directly to the Blackboard Log in page?
A. https://blackboard-doorway.cuny.edu

Q. My Portal ID account is not registering. What do I do?
A. If you are unable to register, please contact Personnel, HB1135. Verify the official spelling of your name, birthday, and social security number with them.

Q. What are the system requirements for Blackboard 6?
System requirements for Blackboard 6:
Platform: Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT, ME, or XP; MacOS X
Hardware: 64 MB of RAM, 1 G of free disk space
Software: Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat Reader
Browser: Windows - Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher, Netscape - 7.0 or higher
Windows users also need the latest Java Plug-in http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/download.html
MacOS X - Internet Explorer 5.1 or higher, Netscape 7.0 or higher

Q. I'm using AOL and it is not working. What can I do?
A. You should use Netscape version 7 or Internet Explorer version 6 or higher. Minimize AOL and maximize Internet Explorer or Netscape.  Test the version of the browser you are using by clicking the "TEST BROWSER" button below.

Q. How do I copy from my Word document into Blackboard?
A. Highlight the text in MS Word, go to Edit, select copy.

Now go to Blackboard and click the paste icon.

Q. My students cannot access the course, but they are enrolled in the course. What should I do?
A. By default the coures are unavailable to students. Go to Control Panel => Settings => Course Availability and choose Yes.

Q. Which e-mail addresses are my students using for Blackboard?
A. All registered students are automatically assigned a CityTech email account. Students can obtain an official City Tech e-mail account, go to Student Computing Services in N124, call the Student Helpdesk at (718)260-4900, or send an e-mail to Helpdesk@campus.citytech.cuny.edu.

Q. Why is the CUNY Portal page not opening for me?
A. If the CUNY Web site is not loading or not opening properly, you will need to clear the cache and cookies.
To learn how to clear the cache and cookies for Windows click here.
To learn how to clear the cache and cookies for MacOS X click here,

Q. Do I need to enable Java on the browser?
A. Yes, the MathEQ Editor and Virtual Chat use Java applets.
To learn how to enable Java click here.

Q: I have been having difficulty posting replies to my students' postings on the Discussion Board. I can respond to one posting, but the reply does not post when I try to respond to a different student. I am using the Netscape browser. What should I do?
A: Netscape does not automatically set the cache (Internet Explorer does). To clear your cache in Netscape and reset it, do the following: In Netscape select Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Cache -> Set both the disk & memory cache settings to 0. If this solves the problem, you can reset these fields back to their original settings. If resetting these fields to their original setting causes the problem to reoccur, follow the steps above and set the disk & memory cache settings to half of their original value.

Q: I am having trouble using the Chat feature in Internet Explorer. A pop-up window indicates that I need to download something. Can you help?
A: Go to the Tools menu on Internet Explorer. Pull down the menu to select Windows Update. You will be taken to the Windows Update page on the Web. Select Microsoft Virtual Machine from the list of items to install. Click the Download button and the software will be automatically downloaded and installed for you in the appropriate directory.

Q: Most of my assessments are in the form of essays. Are there any tools that can help me?
A.Efax (http://efax.com) is a tool that can help you receive faxes via E-mail. Then you can mark them up with comments and return them. There is a free version and an advanced version.

Q. I work with students with disabilities. Where can I get more information on technology and disabilities?
A. Go to the Information Technology and Disabilities (http://www.rit.edu/~easi/) site for newsletters, workshops, and other information.

Q: Can I post materials online? What copyright laws apply?
A. First of all, you must protect uploaded materials from reproduction on the Web. You must also determine how often you will use the material, how much of the original material you will use, and several other legal issues. If you go to CETUS Fair Use of Copyrighted Works, you can find copyright material provided by CETUS (Consortium for Educational Technology in University Systems), which includes CUNY. You may also consult the following PDF file provided by the Library of Congress. You will note that it is important that posting material should not in any way compete with the sale of the original text by the publisher. For example, you cannot post chapters of a book online so that students no longer have to buy the original book. You cannot use the material for more than one semester without obtaining permission. You cannot allow more than one copy per student, so you have to be confident that only your class is using the material.You cannot use the material for commercial purposes. There are also laws on brevity, such as a maximum of 10% of the original material. A useful list of how to determine if your posting may be suitable can be found at Cyberspace Law for non lawyers. When in doubt about distribution or online postings, professors may wish to write to the Copyright Clearance Center and make it known that the work is to be posted online in a password-protected environment, solely for educational purposes. For additional information, see the CUNY list of URLs that is listed below.

URLs on COPYRIGHT Prepared for the CUNY Council of Presidents

CETUS/CUNY Document: Consortium for Educational Technology in University Systems.

Fair Use of Copyrighted Works: A Crucial Element in Educating America. Provides an overview of the principle of fair use of copyrighted works for educators and the four factors that define fair use. Actual cases and illustrative scenarios are provided, as well as information about how to obtain permission to use copyrighted works in the classroom. http://www.cetus.org/fairindex.html.

Association of Research Libraries. Copyright and Intellectual Property. Excellent compendium of essential information and developments with comments and analyses. http://arl.cni.org/info/frn/copy/copytoc.html

The Cyberlaw Encyclopedia: Copyright. Comprehensive compilation of basics, case citations, legislation and treaties. http://gahtan.com/techlaw/copyrite.htm

Stanford University Libraries. Copyright & Fair Use. A highly rated resource on basic issues of copyright and intellectual property sponsored by Stanford, the Council on Library Resources and Findlaw Internet Legal Resources. http://fairuse.stanford.edu/

O’Mahoney, Benedict. The Copyright Website. Maintained by an attorney who specializes in copyright and intellectual property, this site provides background and basics and multimedia illustrations of interesting cases. http://www.benedict.com/

Templeton, Brad. 10 Big Myths About Copyright Explained. Templeton, founder of ClariNet, the first and largest electronic newspaper on the net, provides clear, common sense guidance on copyright issues, including “linking rights” from an electronic publisher’s perspective. http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html

University of Texas System. Copyright Crash Course. A primer on copyright issues for faculty of the University of Texas System, this site is maintained by two attorneys who are members of the System’s Office of the General Counsel. The “Ask a Lawyer” Section includes a comprehensive FAQs section. http://www.utsystem.edu/OGC/IntellectualProperty/cprtindx.htm

U.S. Library of Congress. Copyright Office. The basic reference on copyright legislation in the United States and internationally. http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/

Yahoo: Full Coverage: Science and Technology: Digital Copyright Law. Current news stories and related sources updated frequently, exhaustive resource listings under copyright and intellectual property links. http://headlines.yahoo.com/Full_Coverage/Tech/Digital_Copyright_Law/