It is possible to combine, or merge, multiple course sections in Brightspace into one. This is often done to combine rosters and streamline communications and/or content for multiple sections of one course.
After combining sections, Instructors and TAs will only have access to the merged section. To access the original unmerged course sections and/or section content, instructors will need to submit a request to the ITS Support desk. Similarly, students will only see the main course section, which should now be used as the primary course section for all course activity, communications, and content. Course section merges can be requested via the Request a Merged Course Form.
IMPORTANT: It is highly recommended to request course merging as early as possible and before course content is created and course activity begins. Doing so ensures that no course content is lost in the merging process. Course section mergers are also difficult to undo, so please correctly list each section and double-check section IDs before submitting the request form.
Considerations
- Merging course sections only merges the roster between two sections.
- Course offerings are not merged. It is the Brightspace sections that are moved from one course to another. Therefore, in order to do any complete a merge, the courses must have at least one section/roster.
- Any assignment submissions or grades present in the pre-merged courses sections cannot be moved or copied over to the merged main course.
- All course instructors must approve the course merge. If the course has multiple instructors, please add them in the request details section of the form, include their USC NetIDs, and list them as instructors.
- Zoom meetings must be recreated. Any Zoom meetings scheduled in the pre-merged course sections must be manually created in the main course, regardless of whether the course meets at the same or different days and times.
- Pre-merged course sections will become unavailable. To access the original unmerged course sections and/or previous course content, instructors will need to submit a request to the USC ITS Support desk (brightspace@usc.edu). Students will be unable to access the child unmerged courses at all.
The merge process can take up to three (3) business days from the time the USC Brightspace Support Team receives your request and will be completed during normal USC business hours.