If you are a CUNY student, you already have a Brightspace account associated with your EMPLID (CUNY-assigned unique ID number).

However, before you use this account for the first time, you must set it up.

1. Navigate to https://brightspace.cuny.edu. 
2. Click on New User button at the bottom left of the login/registration dialog box.

   

3. Provide the first and last name you used to enroll in your courses, your date of birth, and either your EMPLID or the four last digits of your Social Security number. Follow all the remaining instructions to verify your identity.
4. On the next screen, select verification questions and follow the rest of the instructions to activate your account.
5. Create and confirm your password. Once submitted, you will be provided your complete CUNY login. You will use these credentials to access Brightspace and other CUNY systems.

Navigate to https://brightspace.cuny.edu. Use your CUNY credentials with the Username ending in @login.cuny.edu and your CUNYFirst (old Blackboard) password.

If you forgot your password or simply want to change it, please, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to https://brightspace.cuny.edu.
2. Click on Forgot Password.
3. Enter your CUNYFirst username or your EMPLID number.
4. On the next screen, answer the Challenge Questions.
5. Choose your NEW password and enter it twice.
6. Once done, navigate once again to https://brightspace.cuny.edu and enter your CUNYFirst (old Blackboard) username and your new password. You will be logged into the system. If this does not work, make sure that your username has @login.cuny.edu at the end and try again.

There may be several reasons why you are having trouble accessing Brightspace: there may be a duplicate account associated with your name, a missing email address, or a number of other issues. Contact the BC Helpdesk Monday through Friday 9AM - 5PM at:

Phone: (718) 951-4357
Email: Helpdesk@brooklyn.cuny.edu

You should use the latest version of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, or Apple Safari to access Brightspace.

Yes, you can access your Brightspace account via an app called Pulse. The app available in the Apple Store or Google Play.

If you are currently enrolled in a course and your professor has activated it on Brightspace, you will find your active courses as soon as you log into Brightspace. The My Courses panel is positioned in the middle of your Brightspace page under the college banner. You can use the chevron to open and close the panel.

All your active courses are appear as thumbnail cover images with a title underneath. Click on the course you are interested in to go to the homepage of the course site.

There are several reasons why some of your courses may not show up in Brightspace.

1. It is possible that one of your professors has either not made the course site available to students OR chose to use a different platform to conduct the course. Reach out to your instructors for the courses that are not showing up for more information.
2. Some of your courses may have been dropped. You would have been notified by the school administration if that is what happened. You can login to CUNYFirst to see the courses you are enrolled in or reach out to your professors.
3. You may have a duplicate account. Reach out to the Brooklyn College Help Desk to make sure that you only have a single account and are using the correct credentials to access it. Help Desk may be reached Mon-Fri 9AM-5PM by:
   • Phone: (718) 951-4357 option 4

One or more of your courses may have been dropped or you may have received a WN* grade. Check your CUNYFirst account to make sure that you are still actively enrolled in all of the courses you originally registered for. Alert your professor if you find that you were removed from a course mistakenly.

Once you log into Brightspace, mouse over and click on your name in the top right corner and select Notifications. 

Scroll down to Contact Methods and make sure that your email address is correct. If it is not you may need to update it.

NOTE: You can change the system email by updating your CUNYFirst profile. Review this step-by-step guide from the Bronx Community College.

Another reason you may not be receiving certain system emails is because you may need to update your notification settings in the system. 

In the Notifications area, you can set your Summary of Activity preference and choose the frequency and time when you receive summary notifications. You can also choose not to receive them by selecting Never from the How often? dropdown.

Make sure to save any changes you make in your Notifications settings by clicking on the Save button at the bottom of the screen.

You should also check to make sure that your Instant Notifications settings are set up correctly. These settings are also located in your Notifications area.

Here, you can select the messages you would like to receive triggered by specific events in your courses, such as when a new announcement is posted or an assignment is graded.

Choose the instant notifications you would like to receive via email by making sure that the checkbox is ticked for each instant notification you would like emailed to your system email address.

Once again, make sure to save any changes you make in your Notifications settings by clicking on the Save button at the bottom of the screen.

You can customize your Notifications settings further by including or excluding grade values and future course notifications from the emails you receive.

Remember to Save any changes you make.

Lastly, make sure that your active courses are not excluded from notification email delivery.

Scroll down to Exclude Some Courses. If it says “You currently have no courses excluded” then you should be receiving notifications from all of your courses.

Titles of any excluded courses would appear under Exclude Some Courses. Click on Manage my course exclusions to create or update exceptions.

Make sure that you click Save before you navigate away from your Notifications area to enable any changes you made.

Whatever email is associated with your CUNYFirst account is the one used by Brightspace to send you notifications. Typically, it is your college email address.

To check your email address in Brightspace, login to Brightspace, mouse over and click on your name in the top right corner and select Notifications.

Scroll down to Contact Methods. The current email associated with your account is there.

No, you cannot change your email address in Brightspace.

To update your email in Brightspace, you need to change it in your CUNYFirst account. To update your CUNYFirst profile, review this step-by-step guide from the Bronx Community College.

There are several ways to find the course areas you are looking for inside your course websites. First, the top menu anywhere in the course will have all the main course menu options, such as Assessments, Discussion, Grades, etc.

All assignments and activities that are coming up can be accessed directly from the course home page in the Work To Do widget in the right sidebar.

Once you navigate away from the course homepage, you will have a left sidebar with an interactive Table of Contents that will allow you to navigate to modules/topics and activities in the course or subtopics and activities inside each module or course area.

This table of contents will also indicate which content or activity you have accessed or completed.

Additionally, while you are inside a content area or topic, you can use left and right arrow buttons to advance to the next subtopic or activity or return to the previous one.

You can bookmark certain items in the course, like content pages, videos, activities, or assignments, and easily access them whenever you want by clicking on the Bookmarks link in the table of contents on the left.

There are two methods you can use to view your grades in your Brightspace courses.

Method 1. While logged in to D2L, mouse over and click on your name in the top right corner; select Progress from the menu.  

This area will display your grades, how much content you covered in ALL your active courses, as well as your completion status for all of the assignments and activities in your active courses.

Method 2. Alternatively, go to the specific course that you would like to view, and click on the Grades link from the top menu bar in the course.

This area of the course displays information for all of your completed, in-progress, and incomplete assessments in the course.

To view your syllabus and other course information, go to the Brightspace course site and select the Content link from the top navigation bar.

The first place to check for the course syllabus would be the Table of Contents.

If the syllabus is not in the Table of Contents, check the Overview section in the left-hand menu above the Table of Contents. If the syllabus is in neither one of those locations, reach out to your professor for assistance.

There is an Announcements widget available on the course homepage right under the course banner. You can use the chevron to minimize the announcement panel.

You can also access course announcements by clicking on the Announcements link from the course menu bar.

All pending assignments and activities in the course will be available in the Work To Do tab on the right-hand side in the course homepage. Click on the assignment you want to complete and follow instructions.

You can also access course assignments in a specific course by clicking the Assessments tab in the top menu bar inside your course and selecting either Quizzes, Assignments, or Surveys.

Read all assignment instructions carefully before you submit your work. Keep in mind that TurnitIn assignments contain an academic integrity component that scans student submissions for plagiarism.

Some of the assignments and activities in your courses may take place on Discussion boards. When you log in to your course on Brightspace, click on the Discussions tab in the top navigation menu.

If there is an assigned activity in a course that uses a discussion board, the assigned Discussion board link will also be available in the Work To Do widget on the right side on your course’s homepage.

Make sure that you save your files with a proper extension relative to the file type: .docx, .pdf, .png, etc.

Check assignment specifications to make sure you are uploading the right file format, because professors can require specific file types and restrict others.

Acceptable file formats will be listed under Allowed Filed Extensions.

To submit your file, click on Add File. A dialog box pops up where you can choose the location of your file.

Once your file is added, click on the Submit button at the bottom of the screen to make sure your assignment is submitted.

Some assignments may allow multiple submissions or revisions. If the assignment you submitted allows only a single submission with no revisions, you should reach out to your professor to reset your assignment or add another submission attempt for you. It is important to contact your professor before the assignment due date.

The main reason why you may see an item in your course and not be able to access it is because that item has not been made available by your instructor. Your instructor might set a specific availability window to make sure that students can only complete work on those items during a specified time period. In that case, you may be able to see the titles of these items but not access them either before the availability window open or after it closes.

The assessment above specifies the date that it must be completed as well as the access window, from March 15, 2025, until March 18, 2025. If you try to access it on March 13, you would not be able to complete this activity. Same is true if you try to access it on March 19.

However, it is possible that there is some additional condition that must be met before you are able to view or complete an activity. All of this information will be listed along with the due date (if any) and the access window for the item. Students may be required to complete some prerequisite activity, for example, before a specific topic or assessment becomes available to them. These conditions will be specified for the item they apply to.

If you feel that you met all required conditions and an item is still unavailable to you, contacting your instructor is the next step.

Your course homepage may have a widget labeled Professor Profile. This widget is typically located on the right side of your course homepage and includes the professor’s name, email address, and any other relevant information.

Another way to contact your instructor directly from your course site is to click on the Classlist icon in the top navigation bar.

In the Classlist area, if you know your professor’s name, find it in the list. If you do not know your professor’s name, look under the Role column to find the user with the Instructor role.

Check the box next to the instructor’s name and click on the Email icon right above the list. A message dialog box will open where you can compose your message.

Alternatively, you can also click on the chevron next to the professor’s name and select Send Email. Compose and send your message.

You can also look up your professor’s contact information in your course syllabus.

To contact a classmate in a specific course, go to the course website and select Classlist from the top navigation menu.

When you find the name of the classmate you would like to contact in the list, click on the little chevron next to their name. Select Send Email from the dropdown menu and compose your message.