Technology FAQ
How do I ...?
All students (and auditors) will receive credentials to effectively navigate student life at BSK, such as a bsk.edu email address and a Populi account.
The use of each is outlined below.
BSK Email
After being admitted to the seminary, we will send you instructions on establishing your institutional email address. Typically, this is sent to the email address through which you applied for admission.
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Please set this up as soon as possible and check it regularly; this is an important way through which faculty and staff will communicate with during your time as a student. It is also your login for Microsoft 365, which is the software suite you are expected to use for all BSK-related work. Your email address will typically follow this pattern [first initial] [surname]@bsk.edu for students. While most Microsoft applications can be used on local devices, for webmail: go to https://outlook.office.com/owa/
Please check your BSK email regularly or forward it to an account that you check regularly: all students are responsible for knowing information communicated through this channel.
If you need your password reset, please contact support@bsk.edu.
Populi
The Seminary uses web-based software called Populi as our learning management system. This has been added to our Single Sign-On (SSO) system, so you can access this resource after logging into your bsk.edu email account.
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Any information concerning Populi directly will only be sent to your bsk.edu email, so make sure to set that up as soon as you receive that information (see above) and check it regularly.
Students need to use Populi to access class materials, register for courses, receive and pay student bills, request official transcripts, generate unofficial transcripts and degree audits and many other academic and business functions related to Seminary life. For clear and helpful guides about what you can do Populi and how to do it, visit https://support.populiweb.com.
Please check with your professors and read your syllabi to determine what interactions may be expected through Populi for individual classes.
Populi will also be used to push out notices of class cancelations and other information. Please consider including your mobile telephone number and registering to receive text messages through the system.
If you help with Populi, please send an email to support@bsk.edu or follow the instructions on the sign-in page: https://bsk.populiweb.com/.
Zoom
It is recommended that all students sign up for a (free, limited) account with Zoom (zoom.us) using their bsk.edu email account and download the Zoom app on whatever device(s) they will be using to attend course meetings.
Students new to videoconferencing technology or the Zoom platform can view information here.
(DTL)
The Digital Theological Library
We use our SSO logins for access to the Digital Theological Library (DTL). [Note: like many library catalogs, anyone can freely browse the contents but in order to access actual articles and eBooks users will need to choose BSK their institution and validate by clicking the SSO button.]
If you lose or forget your password, contact the seminary librarian. More information about library access can be found here.
Technology Help
During class helpline: 859.788.3070 (this number is only monitored during scheduled classes)
General tech support: support@bsk.edu (Please note that email requests may take up to a full business day to receive a response.)
Technology Help page (You must have BSK Email address to access): IT Help Page
Technology Requirements
Click here to view the minimum recommended technology requirements for successfully engaging in coursework at the seminary.
Office Suite of Software
Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 is a comprehensive suite of software that we make available for free to the entire BSK community. While most people will use Outlook for their email and Word for word processing, there are several other applications in this package. All BSK-related work is expected to be submitted in a compatible format unless otherwise specified in advance by your professor.
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While you can access these tools from any web browser, your Microsoft 365 subscription is a “family” one that provides you with the right to directly install this software on five devices, but please be aware that you are constrained to a single 1Tb OneDrive account that is linked to each installation by default. We recommend that you de-select this account if you are installing on another person’s workstation, tablet, or phone.