By default, if you take attendance, create an assignment, create a graded discussion board, or create an assessment in Blackboard Ultra, a column is automatically created for you in the grade center. If you have additional columns that do not already exist in Blackboard, you will need to create them manually.  In order to set up the overall grade for the course, there needs to be at least one gradable item in the grade book, so the "Set Up Overall Grade" option appears in blackboard. 

How to Create a Grading Column 

1. Enter into your course and click on the Gradebook Tab in between Discussion and Messages.
2. Select the Purple Circle Plus Sign in the middle of the page and select Add Item.
3. In the panel that opens up on the right-hand side, enter a name for the column in the Title field. The title field would be at the top of the panel where it says "New Item (Today's Date)." 
4. If you would like your students to see the column and their grade, make them visible to students. 
5. Select the Grade category that you are assigning this new grading column to for the overall grade calculation. 
6. Select Save.

How to Use and Create Categories for Grading 

Once all columns are created, you will need to place the columns into categories. What is a category? Think of categories as folders, they group columns together.  Example: My total grade is 100%. I have four quizzes worth 60%, participation worth 20%, seven homework assignments worth 10% and a final exam worth 10%. How would I set that up in blackboard?  The columns would first need to be created, which we covered in the columns for grading section, but now we need to place them into categories.  By default, the following categories are available for use: assignment, Test, Discussion, Journal, Exam, Homework, Presentation, and Quiz.  

Create Custom Categories

1. Go to the Gradebook Tab in between Discussion and Messages.
2. Select the Gear Icon in the top right-hand corner underneath "student preview."
3. The Gradebook settings panel will appear on the right-hand side of blackboard. Scroll down to the Grade Categories section. 
4. Select Add New Category.
5. Enter the name of your new category and select Enter on your keyboard. If you don't, the new category will not save. 

Assign Categories to Columns 

For Columns manually created in the Gradebook: 

1. Find the manually created column in the gradebook. 
2. Select the three dots from the column and select Edit.
3. Select the Grade Category to assign the manually created column to an overall grade category. 
4. Select Save when finished.

For Columns created by blackboard through assignments and tests in the Gradebook: 

1. Select the three dots from the column and select Edit. 
2. Select the Gear Icon next to assessment settings. 
3. The Assessment setting panel will appear on the right-hand side of blackboard. Scroll down to the section that says "Grading & Submissions."
4. Select the Grade Category drop down menu and select the proper category to assign this column. 

How to set up the Overall Grade 

If it is your first time using the Gradebook in Blackboard Ultra you will see a message about setting the Overall Grade on the right side or the bottom of the page depending on what view you are using. 

1. Click on the Set it up Box. If the Overall Grade has been setup, it will look like an item in the gradebook. click on the Overall Grade Icon 
2. Choose format to calculate the overall grade for your course. Select either Points or Weighted. 
3. Click Next.
4. Now you will see a breakdown of the gradable items in your course and where they have been assigned. By default, everything will be included here and grouped by category. From here, you can change how the over all grade is displayed to students (letter, point, or percentage). We recommend using Letter. 
5. If you selected the weighted option, by default, Blackboard will spread out the weights evenly among its default categories. You can go in and change all the weights according to your syllabus. 
6. To adjust the weights, click on the lock icon to unlock the text box and type in the correct weight percentage. Total weight can only equal a sum of 100%.  In order to save, you may have to shuffle around weights in certain categories until you reach 100%. 
7. Lastly, click Save and DO NOT CLICK THE RED X. If you do this, all your work will be gone and you will have to start over, so it is crucial to click save when you adjust the overall gradebook.