Respondus not connecting/authenticating to Bb

Problem:  An issue with Respondus not connecting to Bb has been identified.  This is preventing the upload and download of assessments to Bb courses.

Solution:  The following workaround will allow publication of assessments.  Assessments can be manually published by going to Respondus->Preview & Publish->Publish to Blackboard->Publish Wizard->”Save pool to local file for manual upload”->”Test with points”.  After saving the local file, it can be manually uploaded into a course with a web browser, by going into the course’s test, surveys and pools area, and clicking on the Import test button.

Alternatively,  the following steps will allow Respondus to sync normally with your Bb course:

That said, Respondus has provided the following steps that should allow the application to properly sync with Bb:

  1. Update Respondus to version 4.0.5.14.  If you’ve installed it recently, you may be able to update it by going to Help->Check for updates. Otherwise, go to https://www.uvm.edu/software/distribution/windows/respondus/Respondus4.0.5.14.exe – then installing, and registering the software (you can access the registration data, if needed, here: https://www.uvm.edu/software/distribution/licensing/respondus/respondus.html).
  2. Open Internet Explorer and log into Bb by going to bb.uvm.edu.
  3. Leaving IE open in the background, open Respondus.
  4. If editing an existing assessment, Click on Preview & Publish -> Publish to Blackboard.  If retrieving an assessment, click retrieval and reports.
  5. Click Publish Wizard
  6. From the Blackboard Server dropdown, select “Add New Server”.
  7. Choose “Yes, check for preconfigured server setting.”
  8. Enter an appropriate name for the connection, such as “UVM Bb (New)”
  9. Click the “Next” button to run the connection test.
  10. Click on the “Login w/ UVM NetID” link.  IMPORTANT:  do not log in on this screen, be sure to click the link and log in on the following screen.
  11. Enter your login information on this (the webauth) screen.
  12. Once you are logged in, click on the “Close after Login” button on the upper right.