Merge Requests

Merge requests are requests to combine the enrollments of two or more Brightspace course offerings into a single course offering.

All merge requests submitted by instructors are reviewed using the following policy:

In accordance with the provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which safeguards student privacy within higher education, it is essential to restrict student interactions across different course sections within our Learning Management Environment unless students share the same physical classroom at the same time. Following consultations with the University Registrar and the Provost, and to uphold student privacy and prevent any potential FERPA violations, our policy regarding Brightspace courses prohibits the merging of any courses unless there is a compelling educational need, in which an exception may be granted by the Academic Leadership team.

The merge request form is available here. Before submitting the form, please review the merge request requirements and guidelines below.

Merge Request Requirements

The Academic Leadership team has pre-approved merge requests for Bentley courses
To ensure protection for student privacy, instructor training in merged course management is required. This training must be completed before your courses are merged. ATC will schedule and provide this training
Please review the other requirements and guidelines below and then submit the merge request form. You can submit the merge request form prior to receiving the required merged course management training
Merge requests are irreversible, so please confirm which course sections you wish to merge before submitting the merge request form

Guidelines for including Course Content in Merge Requests

Guidelines for including Course Content in Your Merge Request

Course content from multiple sections cannot be merged when a course merge request is processed. Merge requests are usually submitted before the beginning of the semester and prior to adding course content to any course section being merged.

Optionally, you can still create new course content for the course prior to submitting a merge request, but this content must be added to only one section to be merged. Identify the section containing this course content in the list of sections to merge that is displayed on the merge request form.

If you would like to copy existing course content from another course (or a previous course) into the merged course, this requires a different Course Copy Request form. Please see the “Additional Details” section of the merge request form to find the link to the Course Copy Request form.

FAQs

What is the required training for merged course management, and how do I schedule it?

This interactive training for instructors reviews the specific Brightspace methods and techniques for protecting student privacy in a merged course offering. It is a live session and it can be customized for your planned merge request. It can be completed in-person or via Zoom.

You can contact Bill Elizondo (belizondo@bentley.edu, 781-891-2793) after submitting your merge request to schedule your training.

How do I show which course offering has pre-existing course content to include in the merge request?

On the merge request form, select the checkbox entitled "This section contains course content that should be included in the merged course (only one section can contain content)." Select only a single checkbox, the one that is adjacent to the course offering that contains this content

If your course offering is not included on the merge request form, you will need to submit a separate Course Copy Request form. Navigate to the "Additional Details" section of the merge form, select the "Yes, I need to submit a separate Brightspace course copy request" option from the drop-down menu, then select the displayed web link to the form.

Where is the Merge Request form?

Select this web link.

I have additional questions about Merge Requests?

Contact the ATC. Contact information is available here.