An update to the Turnitin system within Blackboard has brought a new feature – the ability for staff to delete any Turnitin assignment from the list of assignments shown when you click on “Turnitin Assignments” under Course Tools in the course’s Control Panel. Unfortunately, the “Delete Assignment” link appears directly under the “Sync Grades” link for each assignment – and there is no confirmation step, so as soon as you click on the link the assignment is deleted. There is thus a small chance that an assignment could be deleted accidentally by a member of staff trying to sync grades. This will delete the submission point, all assignments submitted to it, and the associated column with all its grades from the Grade Centre.

We are working with Turnitin to adjust this, but in the meantime we would urge you to take extra care when on the “Turnitin Assignments” page in Blackboard courses.