Course merges consist of multiple course sections taught by the same instructor merged in a Blackboard’s single course shell. UTSA keeps course sections separate in Blackboard and does not combine multiple sections of the same course into a combined shell (merge courses) for the following reasons: 

1. To enhance student-to-faculty contact; 
2. To provide an engaging and personalized learner experience; and 
3. Allow efficient course archiving; 

To assist faculty with managing and developing multiple course sections, the Office of Digital Learning has acquired Qwickly Course Tools, this tool can be deployed inside Blackboard and provides the ability to create one action across multiple Blackboard sections. These actions include email, announcements, calendar events, assignments, documents, and web links.