West Liberty University

WLU is authorized to enroll out-of-state students into online courses and programs via our participation in NC-SARA. For more information about NC-SARA and to determine if your state is included, review the webpage, SARA for Students.

If the state where you intend to practice a particular occupation requires licensure (examples: nursing, CPA, social work, and clinical psychology), please determine prior to enrollment if our online courses/program satify this state’s educational requirements for licensure.

Course materials may be protected by copyright. United States copyright law and West Liberty University policy prohibit unauthorized use, duplication, or retransmission of course materials. See http://www.copyright.gov/title17. By accessing course sites within Sakai, instructors and students agree to abide by copyright laws and the West Liberty University Acceptable Computer Use Policy. This material is only for the use of students enrolled in the specific course(s). Protected materials on this site may not be retained on the user’s computer or other electronic storage devices for longer than the duration of the specific class for which they are assigned, nor further disseminated by the user to any other persons.

Students

Schedule changes are processed by Sakai twice daily, Noon and 8 PM. Therefore, you will not have instantaneous access to new courses. Please wait 24 hours before inquiring about missing courses. 

Faculty

Schedule changes must be completed by the Provost’s office in Banner before they can occur in Sakai. Changes are processed by Sakai twice daily, Noon and 8 PM. Therefore, you will not have instantaneous access to new courses in the LMS. 

You may drop an online course by doing the following:

1. Please send an email to the instructor via his/her WLU email and cc: the Registrar’s office at registrar@westliberty.edu. If you can’t find the instructor’s email address in the course syllabus, you should be able to locate it in the WLU directory.
2. In the body of the email, state that you wish to drop the ONLINE course effective today. Be sure to include your full name, WLU ID number, specific course number (ex. ENG-123-01-S22), and course reference number that you see on your schedule in WINS, if available.
3. The Registrar’s office will process the drop but the faculty member MUST be included/notified.

The basic premise of netiquette is that the communication behavior expected of students in the online environment is the same as that expected in a classroom. Following these simple netiquette rules when communicating online will contribute to your success:

• Common courtesy and good manners, along with proper use of grammar, sentence structure, and correct spelling, are all part of proper netiquette (from the University of Oklahoma) when taking an online class.
• Adhere to the same standards as you would for written language, including always capitalizing the pronoun, “I”.
• Remember who your audience is when posting to discussion boards, sending emails, or participating in a chat room discussion. You should behave as if you were sitting in a traditional classroom.
• Remember that the online classroom setting is more formal than public forums or personal chat groups you may have used.
• Be clear and concise. Explain your ideas entirely but get to the point.
• Using all capitals is the equivalent of SHOUTING and is considered RUDE.
• Avoid “flaming” or attacking someone for their point of view. Remember that it will be read by many readers, including the instructor.
• Remember classmates come from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and situations. What may be polite in your mind might be offensive to others.
• Read over what you are going to send at least once, just as you would proofread a paper you submit in a face-to-face course. Remember, once you submit your work, discussion, or email, generally you cannot change what you have written.
• It is not acceptable for you to present the work or ideas of others as your own. If you quote from a source, use quotation marks and provide the original author’s name and the work from which the quotation is taken. Use your own understanding of the work, instead of direct quotes if possible, and give credit to the original author by citing the name and source of the idea.

You can review the rules, regulations, and procedures concerning student conduct code at Student Handbook.

The Sakai User Guide is a great resource for students, faculty members, and staff to learn more about Sakai. It provides step by step instructions with screenshots for many routine tasks such as submitting an assignment and creating an assessment in Tests and Quizzes. Please make sure to select the user guide for our version of Sakai which is always listed at the top of Sakai’s home page.

If you are unable to locate your course AFTER COURSE SITES OPEN…  

To place your course sites on the left-hand side of the screen on your favorites bar:

• Click on the Sites icon (three boxes by three boxes to the left of your name at the top right of the screen). 
• Locate your Fall 2024 courses.
• Hover over the course, a pushpin icon will appear. Click on it to make it black. 
• A blue bar will appear at the top of box, click reload. 
• Close the Sites window by clicking the X at the top right of the window.

If you have followed these instructions and are still having difficulty, please open a Sakai Help Ticket.

Many courses use Respondus Lockdown Browser for online testing. Please be aware that this product is not compatible with mobile devices— phones, iPads, tablets. It is also not compatible with Chromebooks. Although you may have used Respondus with your Chromebook in K-12, the company does not support its use in colleges and universities. 

Respondus Lockdown Browser requires a reliable internet connection. Poor connectivity can result in the locked-down browser freezing. When clicking to save or submit, students must click once and wait for the action to be completed. Over clicking will result in a data discrepancy error. Both of these issues can be resolved by a hard restart of your computer, however, this will cost test time. While your computer restarts, the timer on your test continues to count down, so it is important that students have both a reliable internet connection and patience when clicking.

To use this product:

1. Students should download the product once by attempting to access a test using it. 
2. Once the download is complete, there will be a Respondus Lockdown Browser icon placed on the desktop (PC) or in the Applications folder (Mac) of your computer. 
3. Every time you want to access a test that requires Respondus Lockdown Browser, you will do so by clicking on the desktop icon on PCs; launch from the Application folder on Mac. This will take you to Sakai using the locked-down browser. You can then log into Sakai, locate your course, then access the test you wish to take from the Tests & Quizzes tool. The test MUST be selected from the Test & Quizzes tool. Attempting to access the test from any link other than those in the Tests & Quizzes tool (on the left menu) will not provide access.

To learn more about the tool, visit its website.

WLU students should use this form to report issues with online courses. Please contact the office of eLearning at (304) 336-8432 if you haven’t received a response within 3 business days.

1. Go to https://westliberty.edu/go-wlu/
2. Click the WLU – Single Sign-On button. This button will redirect you to the university’s Single Sign-On (SSO) portal.
3. Select AD – campus.westliberty.edu
4. Login using your active directory (AD) credentials. Your AD credentials are provided to you by the IT department.
5. Once logged in to the SSO portal, from the list of available applications, select Sakai. A new browser window will open with Sakai.
6. If you experience login issues, please submit an IT Help Ticket. 

Password Help If you forget your password or decide you want to change it, you will use WLU’s Self Service Reset Password Management (SSRPM) System. You must register for this system using the SSRPM link inside the WLU – Single Sign-On portal. For detailed instructions on this task, visit https://westliberty.edu/it/helloid-sso-guide/.

If you need further password assistance, please submit an IT Help Ticket.

The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Online Education at West Liberty University supports the design, development, and delivery of rigorous, engaging eLearning for students who need or want to learn without the barriers of time or place.  This is achieved through the use of current, supported technology, professional development for faculty and staff, and online learning preparation for students.

If you need assistance with Sakai or have general questions about the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Online Education, please open a Sakai Help Ticket.