Using Carmen is generally easy for Instructors and Students. If you are new to the system or having difficulties, there are some common questions and solutions that might be useful. In some cases, solutions for students and instructors differ slightly.
Logging in, Finding Courses, and Logging Out
Getting and Giving Access to Courses
Tools, Features, and Assignments
File and Course Management
If you can't log in to Carmen, here are three steps to try to diagnose the problem:
Check that your computer has an internet connection.
If you can't connect to other websites, the problem may be due to your network connection, and not be related to Carmen.
Check that Carmen itself is available.
If Carmen is offline for maintenance or a system problem, no one can log in. See the system status page for information about system outages. Remember, Carmen has a weekly maintenance schedule that sometimes shuts down the system from midnight to 3 a.m. on Sundays.
Check whether your username or password has a problem.
You can verify this information at the OSU Account Management site.
If none of these is the problem, please contact the Help Desk at 8help@osu.edu or 614-688-HELP for assistance.
A course shell is created for every course listed by the Registrar's office. To find your course:
Go to carmen.osu.edu and login with your OSU Internet Username (lastname.#) and password.
On the Carmen home page, look for the current quarter and year and find the department offering the course. If necessary, click the plus (+) to expand the list.
After locating your course listing under the correct department and quarter, click on the course title.
If the course is cross-listed, be sure to check under the heading for the other department(s).
If you don't see your course listed under My Courses, it might be for one of these reasons:
Your instructor has not activated the course and has not set activation dates.
Courses aren’t listed on the Carmen home page for students until they are activated or have dates set for activation. Check with your instructor if you have questions.
Your instructor is not using Carmen for this course.
Some courses may not use Carmen. Check with your instructor if you have questions.
You've just changed your course schedule.
Carmen's classlist is updated by an automated enrollment process that runs on a regular schedule. If you add a course one day, you should be able to see and enter the course website within 2 business days.
To verify whether your enrollment has reached Carmen or your instructor has activated a Carmen Course, log into Carmen and click the “Course missing?” link to the right of My Courses. The Carmen Access Summary shows all Carmen courses in which you are enrolled. If you DO NOT see your course in the activation summary, contact the Registrar to verify your enrollment. If your course is listed, it is up to your instructor whether or not to activate it within Carmen.
There is a problem with how you are enrolled in the course.
If you can't find your course, check with your department course scheduler to ensure you are correctly listed as an instructor of the course in SIS. Please allow 2 business days for enrollments to be updated after changes are made to SIS data.
If the course is cross-listed, be sure to check under the heading for the other department(s).
If you had requested that your Carmen course be merged with another course and you now can't locate it, please contact carmen@osu.edu for further assistance. Provide the quarter/year, course name and number (including the department or subject) or the university class number (or both) for all courses involved in the merger.
There is some other problem.
If none of these are the problem, write to carmen@osu.edu and provide the quarter/year of your course and the course name and number (including the department or subject) or the university class number (or both).
If your students can’t find your course,
Make sure you have made the course active
If your course is active and your students still can't locate it, they may need to click the plus (+) to expand their list under My Courses.
If only a few students can't see the course, it is likely they haven't been added to your classlist by the automated enrollment process that runs each night. If the course doesn't appear 48 hours after a student has appeared on your roster in the Faculty Center, have the student call 8-help, or write to carmen@osu.edu and provide the quarter/year of your course, the full course title or the university course class number (or both), the student's OSU internet username, and the date the student registered for the course.
If your course is cross-listed in the Registrar's Master Schedule, check in the Carmen My Courses list under the other department to see if your course is there.
Cross-listed courses are listed in Carmen under the department that appears alphabetically first. For example, if your course is listed both under Anthropology and Economics, it will appear in Carmen under Anthropology.
Be sure to logout when you are finished using Carmen. When using a lab or shared computer, remember to quit the web browser you were using in order to prevent unauthorized use of your account.
Instructors can add participants to a course, choosing whatever role is appropriate. Adding a student to a course in Carmen does NOT officially enroll the student from the Registrar's perspective.
See Enroll Participants for instructions on adding someone to a course.
See Using Carmen with Non-Academic Courses or Non-OSU Guests for instructions about adding non-OSU participants to a course.
Instructors can remove individuals a course. Removing a student from a course in Carmen does NOT officially un-enroll the student from the Registrar's perspective. Students wishing to un-enroll must do so through the Registrar's office. Otherwise, Carmen's automated enrollment process will re-enroll the student in the Carmen course based on Registrar data.
See Unenroll Participants for instructions on removing someone from a course.
If the person you wish to remove is someone (TA, Assistant, etc.) who was added to the course via the automated enrollment process from the Registrar, you will need to have your departmental course scheduler remove the person from the Registrar’s listing. If that isn’t possible, please use the Role Change request form or email carmen@osu.edu. Specify the following: the instructor's name, your name (if not the instructor) and role, the quarter/year, the department, the course number and title, and the user’s name and OSU internet username.
The registrar's database updates the Carmen system on a regular basis. Students who add classes should appear in the Carmen classlist sometime the following day. This process can sometimes take longer, especially during the beginning of the quarter.
If students do not appear in the Carmen classlist 48 hours after adding the class through Buckeye Link, the student or instructor should write to carmen@osu.edu. Provide the quarter/year of the course, the full course title or the university course class number (or both), the student's name.#, and the date the student registered for the course.
You may see different options in the navigation bars of different courses because instructors decide which features to activate. Instructors who desire more information about using Carmen tools should first consult the Carmen Instructor Help site.
If something in a Carmen course is broken or missing, it might be for one of these reasons:
Is it broken for everyone or just you?
Check with your colleagues, instructor, or students. If the tool is broken for everyone, contact 614-688-HELP or carmen@osu.edu. Provide the quarter/year of the course, the full course title or the university course class number (or both) and a description of the problem. If the tool works for other people, consider the reasons listed below.
Are you using a supported web browser?
Check that you are using a supported web browser. See Supported Browsers and Systems for details.
Do you have the right version of Java installed?
Check that your computer has the recommended version of Java installed. (Java is a component installed on your computer that is required for some websites, including some of Carmen's tools.) To check your version of Java, visit the Java Web site and click on the "Do I have Java?" link. When the detection process is complete, the page will display what version you are using.
Are you using a toolbar or other browser add-in that is interfering with how Carmen works?
Some browser toolbars and add-ins
interfere with how Carmen works. Try using a different browser or turn off all toolbars and add-ins. If the Carmen tool works without your additional browser features, you can systematically turn them back on to determine which one is causing the problem.
Do you have other required software installed?
Check that you have other required software installed. Your Carmen course may require a PDF viewer, such as Adobe Acrobat, or a media player, such as QuickTime, Windows Media Player, or Real Player. Instructors should inform students about any software beyond what is required for Carmen itself. Contact the Help Desk for assistance with any supported software packages.
If none of these is the problem, please contact the Help Desk at 8help@osu.edu or 614-688-HELP for assistance.
Try NOT to take Carmen quizzes or upload files to the dropbox between 2 and 4 a.m. any day of the week. Routine database updates during that time can slow the system and disrupt efforts to upload files or submit quiz answers.
Carmen staff may perform system maintenance or updates during Ohio State's standard maintenance window Sundays from midnight to 3:00 a.m. This may negatively affect access or performance. Advance notice will be given if system downtime is required.
Students
Use appropriate file names.
When submitting documents (whether uploading a document to the dropbox or attaching a file to a discussion post), use only letters and numbers (no symbols such as %, &, ", or ’) in file names. If provided, follow your instructor’s guidelines on file naming conventions, such as including the assignment number in the file name.
Complete all steps of the process.
When using the dropbox to submit assignments, always make sure you see the File Submission Successful message on screen before leaving the dropbox area. When using the dropbox, you will first locate the all files you wish to submit, then upload them, and finally, submit them.
Save quiz questions regularly.
When taking a quiz, save questions as you answer them. If you change your mind about an answer before submitting the quiz, you can change and resave it.
Use a stable internet connection.
Be sure you are using a stable, secure internet connection when submitting a file or taking a quiz. If you lose access during the process, you may not be able to reconnect and complete your work.
Students
If you are having technical difficulties with a quiz or a dropbox assignment, contact your instructor immediately to explain that you are trying to meet the due date.
Then, contact the Help Desk by email at carmen@osu.edu or by phone at 688-HELP for assistance in correcting the problem. Be prepared with as much detail as possible about the problem, including the name and number of your course, your OSU internet username (name.#), your computer's operating system, and which browser you are using.
As part of your general course guidelines, advise your students to contact both you and 8-Help if they have a problem completing an assignment or quiz.
Once you become aware that students are having trouble submitting an assignment or quiz, send email to carmen@osu.edu or phone 688-HELP for assistance in correcting the problem.
Check to make sure that the name of the file uploaded to the Dropbox DOES NOT contain special characters, such as the ampersand (&), percent symbol (%), or quotes (", or '). These characters interfere with Carmen's file system. If the file name does contain problematic characters, the student will need to rename the file and upload it again.
The Carmen system is not built to store large audio-visual files or collections of images. Doing so can cause access problems for students. For alternatives for storing these kinds of media and linking to them from within your Carmen course, please see Working with Other Media Sources.
PowerPoint presentations and PDF documents can also be large. It is extremely important to optimize these files when you are creating or editing them. Optimized files will be smaller (faster to upload and download) and may also be more accessible to students using adaptive technology. See File Optimization/Accessibility for details.
Carmen includes a feature that allows instructors to copy existing components from one course into another course shell. See Copy Course Components: Overview for details.
Merging sections from different Carmen courses into a single Carmen shell or splitting sections into separate Carmen shells requires assistance. Please write to carmen@osu.edu with the request. Specify the quarter/year, the department and course number, full title, and the class number for all the courses and sections involved in the request.
