The SuiteC toolset has reached end-of-life and has been retired as of the Summer 2025 term. The deprecation of this tool will enable RTL to serve the evolving needs of our campus community and focus our portfolio on the most impactful tools and services.
Instructors who have used the SuiteC Asset Library, Whiteboards, Engagement Index, and Impact Studio should use alternatives beginning in the Fall 2025 term. Courses that used SuiteC before that date will retain read-only access to the tools through June 30, 2026.
Please let us know if you have any questions at this time: bcourseshelp@berkeley.edu.
Timeline
- August 20, 2025: SuiteC became read-only. New assets and whiteboards can no longer be created. Material created in previous courses using SuiteC continues to be available to instructors and students.
- June 30, 2026: SuiteC will be removed from all bCourses sites.
Recommended Alternative Tools
SuiteC Asset Library Alternatives
There are a number of supported tools that can be used in place of the SuiteC Asset Library, including the Media Gallery, Discussion Boards, and Ed Discussion.
Media Gallery
The Kaltura Media Gallery, available in every bCourses site, allows course participants to view assets in a grid format. Once enabled, students can upload files to the Media Gallery and interact with the media by providing text descriptions, viewing and searching, commenting, and liking (heart).
Instructors can enable the Media Gallery in their bCourses site by following these instructions. Once enabled, students can upload image, video, and audio files to the Media Gallery (see accepted file formats). In the Media Gallery, content moderation is enabled by default, so you will likely want to disable the moderation setting using these instructions so that you do not have to manually approve every upload to the Media Gallery.
Note: Your course Media Gallery may also house Course Capture videos for the course, if instructors or GSIs have published the Course Capture recordings into the course's Media Gallery. To avoid this, Course Capture videos can be shared directly via bCourses pages instead of saved in the course Media Gallery.
Discussion Boards
Discussions are available in every bCourses site. Students can upload and embed image, video, and audio files to discussion posts and attach files, including PDFs. Responding students can interact with the media by viewing, commenting, and liking (thumbs up) entries on the discussion board.
The content on discussion boards is viewable as a scrollable page with newest or oldest posts at the top. Students can also see only unread posts by default. To view responses to posts, instructors can view in a “Split Screen” option that opens a tray of the conversation on the right side of the screen. Learn about all the discussion board display options: How do I view and sort discussion replies as an instructor?
Ed Discussion
Ed Discussion is available for every bCourses site once instructors enable it for their course. Students can embed image, video, and audio files to discussion posts and attach files, including PDFs. Students can interact with the media by responding, annotating uploaded images, viewing and searching, commenting, and liking. The content is viewable as a scrollable page with newest or oldest posts at the top.
SuiteC Whiteboard Alternatives
There are a number of supported tools that can be used in place of the SuiteC Whiteboard, including Google Drawing, Google Slides, and Zoom Whiteboards.
Google Drawings
Google Drawings is a free, web-based diagramming software that is available for all UC Berkeley instructors and students. Google Drawings allows users to create drawings, organizers, charts, and other types of diagrams in real-time collaboration. The drawing canvas can be embedded directly in a bCourses assignment or page, and will update automatically. Students can interact and collaborate by drawing, adding text, uploading image, video, or audio files, and commenting.
To embed a Google Drawing in a bCourses assignment or page, follow these steps:
- Open the Google Drawings file.
- Select File > Share.
- Select Publish to web.
- Expand the “Published content & settings” dropdown menu and select the option to restrict access to UC Berkeley.
- Select the Publish button.
- Select the “Embed” tab and copy the code (it should start with “<img src=…”)
- In your bCourses assignment or page, open the rich content editor.
- Switch to the HTML view (select the </> icon below the editor) and paste the Embed code.
Google Slides
Google Slides are available to all instructors and students. Students can collaborate in real-time and upload image, video, and audio files to Google Slides. The slide deck can be embedded directly in a bCourses assignment or page, and will update automatically. Students can interact and collaborate by drawing, adding text, uploading image, video, or audio files, and commenting.
To embed a Google Slides deck in a bCourses assignment or page, follow these steps:
- Open the Google Slides file.
- Select File > Share.
- Select Publish to web.
- Expand the “Published content & settings” dropdown menu and select the option to restrict access to UC Berkeley.
- Select the Publish button.
- Select the “Embed” tab and copy the code (it should start with “<iframe src=...”)
- In your bCourses assignment or page, open the rich content editor.
- Switch to the HTML view (select the </> icon below the editor) and paste the Embed code.
Zoom Whiteboard
Zoom has a digital whiteboard option available for use. With our campus Zoom license, you currently need to be in a live Zoom call with collaborators to use the Whiteboard in collaboration. When logged in to the Zoom session, students can interact with the whiteboard by drawing, annotating, uploading files (image, video, audio, PDF files, embed links), viewing, commenting, liking, and adding stickers. Learn how to use Zoom Whiteboard in a Zoom meeting.
Zoom whiteboards can be exported from the live Zoom session and embedded directly into bCourses assignments and pages. However, the Whiteboard will not be editable after it has been exported.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why is SuiteC being discontinued?
A: SuiteC will be deprecated due to limited adoption across campus. Reallocating the resources that support SuiteC will enable RTL to serve the evolving needs of our campus community and focus our portfolio on the most impactful tools and services.
Q: Why can't SuiteC remain available indefinitely in a "maintenance-only" mode?
A: Although feature development for SuiteC ceased several years ago, the platform still necessitates a significant commitment of developer time and resources. This level of support is no longer sustainable, as it diverts valuable resources from the development and maintenance of other critical systems.
Q: I’ve used SuiteC recently. Can I access past data after August 20, 2025?
A: Yes, material that was created in SuiteC before August 20, 2025 will remain accessible in a read-only mode until June 30, 2026.
Q: Can I request a permanent export of data from my courses taught using SuiteC?
A: Yes, through May 2026, instructors can request an export of all assets associated with their course. Please use this SuiteC Asset Library Export Request form to request a data export before May 2026.
Q: I have graded submissions stored in SuiteC that I need to retain after June 30, 2026. What are my options?
A: SuiteC was designed to sync assignment submissions from the Speedgrader to the asset library, so submissions in this format will remain accessible indefinitely in the Speedgrader. If students submitted assignments directly through the Asset Library, or by submitting a Whiteboard or Asset URL as an assignment, we recommend requesting a data export if you wish to retain this material after June 2026.