In December 2026, Information Technology Services (ITS) will remove all 2020 semester credit-bearing courses from Brightspace as part of URI’s regular course retention process.
Once these courses are removed, they cannot be recovered. Faculty who need to retain course materials, student submissions, grades, or other files from a 2020 course should save them before December.
What is being removed?
The removal applies only to 2020 semester credit-bearing courses. It does not include master course design shells, training courses, or project sites.
URI maintains five years of prior courses in Brightspace before older semester courses are removed. Removing outdated course data helps manage Brightspace storage while supporting system performance and reliability.
What should faculty do?
If you have materials in a 2020 course that you may need in the future, export or download them before the course is removed.
Depending on your needs, this may include:
- Course content and materials
- Student submissions
- Grades
- Other course files or data
Requirements for retaining student assignments, exams, and grade information may vary by department. Faculty should consult with their chair and dean to determine whether 2020 student work or other course data needs to be retained.
How to save your course content
ITS has step-by-step instructions to help you archive information from Brightspace:
- Guide to Export/Archive Course Content (KB0010484)
- Guide to Export/Archive Student Course Data (KB0010464)
Don’t wait until December to review your courses. Export anything you need to keep before the 2020 courses are removed.
Need help?
Teaching and Learning Services offers several ways to get assistance:
- Submit a support ticket for help archiving your Brightspace content.
- Attend a professional development session for additional training and support.
- Join a virtual drop-in session, offered four to five days a week.
- Visit the Teaching and Learning support center on the second floor of the library for in-person assistance.