KSU D2L Brightspace

Courses that have been assigned to instructors in Owl Express will be available in D2L within 24 hours of being assigned in Owl Express once the initial course load for the term has occurred. The initial course load occurs approximately one month before the start of the term and is announced in D2L Announcements.

If courses for the term have been loaded and you do not see your course, please check with your department to be sure you are the instructor of record in Owl Express.

Owl Express (Banner) courses are available to instructors in D2L approximately one month prior to the start of the term. 

If earlier access is needed for course-building, instructors may request a course shell using the Course Shell Request Form. Content can be copied into the Banner course once available. Refer to the Knowledge Base article How to Copy Course Components in D2L for Instructors for instructions.

Note for new faculty:  Accounts are created in D2L at the same time that courses are loaded, so you will not be able to log in to D2L until approximately one month prior to the start of term. If earlier access is required, you must complete a manual account request (more information in the D2L Account information section of this page). 

Student access to D2L courses begins on the published course start date and ends 60 days after the course end date, unless modified by the instructor.

Instructors may grant early or extended access by editing the course’s start and/or end dates. Refer to the KSU Knowledge Base article How to Change a Course’s Start and End Dates in D2L for step‑by‑step instructions. Please note especially the start dates for later parts of term.

For additional assistance, visit the KSU Service Portal or email the Service Desk at service@kennesaw.edu. 

Course Shell Requests

Please use the Course Shell Request Form to request a non-Owl Express (non-credit) course for D2L Brightspace. To request an Owl Express course, please email the Registrar’s Office at registrar@kennesaw.edu. 

A course shell functions identically to a normal course, but has no start or end date, and no automated student enrollment functionality. The course instructor must handle participant enrollment. Course shells cannot be used for course credit-earning activities.

Course Reset Requests

In the case of content errors, UITS Learning Technologies administrators can perform a D2L course reset upon request. Course Reset will return the course back to an empty shell in a single, permanent action. This process purges all data and there is no restore. A key feature is that it will not affect user enrollments. To reduce the chance of unintentional deletions, the instructor of record must complete and submit the Course Reset Request Form.

Third-party Integration Requests for D2L Brightspace

Many third-party publishers and vendors offer integrations with the ability to connect to D2L Brightspace courses. University Information Technology Services (UITS) and Digital Learning Innovations (DLI) facilitate and support these integrations but require advance notice (one semester preferred) to ensure both successful implementation and compliance to university accessibility and quality requirements. All third-party integrations must be reviewed and approved before implementation.

Refer to the KSU Knowledge Base article How to Check for Existing Third-Party Tools in D2L to confirm whether the tool is already available in D2L Brightspace.

If the tool name does not appear in the Existing Activities or External Learning Tools lists, begin the request process by following the steps outlined in the D2L Third-Party Integration Request Process article.

Assignment to an Owl Express course will result in the automatic creation of the user’s account. Please allow 48 hours after instructor assignment or student registration for the account to appear.

If there will be no assignment in Owl Express, please use the D2L Manual User Account Creation form to request an account. Please see notes based on account type.

For Student Accounts
If the student account does not have a @students.kennesaw.edu email address, please email Service Desk at service@kennesaw.edu to request an email override before completing the D2L account request. 

For Faculty/Staff Accounts
Faculty and staff must have a Buckley form with a current FERPA certificate on file with the Office of the Registrar before we can create a D2L account. FERPA training occurs in October each year or within 30 days of hiring, so a current certificate will be from your most recent assignment of FERPA training. We must verify this with the Office of the Registrar and the process can take a couple of days. We appreciate your patience. We cannot accept forms directly from faculty/staff.

If you know that these requirements have not yet been met and would like to get the process started, please see the following information:

1.  Please complete FERPA training found on OwlTrain.

You will need to login to the OwlTrain system using your KSU credentials. You can find the FERPA training assignment under Compliance (click the square icon with nine dots in the top left of the home page) or under My Assignments on the home page. Please save a PDF of your FERPA certificate as you will need to upload it to the Buckley form.  Refer to How to Download and Print Your Completion Certificate  to locate your certificate in OwlTrain. 

Important: If you do not see FERPA training, please check to see if you have a certificate dated October or newer. If you do, your training is current and you may attach that certificate to your Buckley form. If you have no certificate or your certificate dates from before October, please email service@kennesaw.edu to request that the FERPA training be added to your account. If your start date is in the future, please ask your supervisor to request the training on your behalf. 

2.  Please complete the Buckley form found on the Banner Security Forms page, and please note:

• Be sure to complete all indicated fields and click the FINISH button.
• Make sure your supervisor is expecting to sign the form as the links are time-sensitive.

Manual Enrollment of Instructor(s) to D2L Course (emergency)

Manual enrollment into a course should be performed by the instructor of the course whenever possible. How to Add Participants to a D2L Course provides instructions for enrolling participants in a course. 

Enrollment by UITS of faculty or staff into an Owl Express course where the person is not the instructor of record will require the permission of the department chair or dean. The Manual Enrollment of Instructor(s) to D2L Course form may be used by a department chair to request enrollment of self and/or other instructors. A delegate of the chair may complete the form but must attach a PDF of an email showing the chair's permission for the requested enrollment. 

Enroll 20+ Participants to D2L Course Shell

Enrollment of fewer than 20 participants into a non-Owl Express course should be handled by the instructor of the course. How to Add Participants to a D2L Course provides instructions for enrolling participants in a course. 

You may use the Enroll 20+ Participants form to request assistance with bulk enrollment when you have 20 or more participants to enroll into a non-Owl Express (non-credit) course shell.

D2L provides regular, incremental improvements throughout the year. For the latest updates on D2L features, enhancements, and improvements, please visit the Announcements section in D2L. 

Please visit our UITS Technology Guide for information on integrated tools: 

• Kaltura/MediaSpace
• Respondus
• SoftChalk
• Turnitin
• VoiceThread
• Zoom