Course Roles control access to the content and tools within a course. Each user is assigned a role for each course in which they participate. For example, a user with a role of Teaching Assistant in one course can have a role of Student in another course. Instructors and Students are enrolled automatically based on Banner assignments and registrations. Users with other course roles can be added to the course on the Class Dashboard. See How to Add a User to Your Course for instructions.
The Course Builder role has access to most areas of the Control Panel. This role is appropriate for a user to manage the course without having access to student grades.
Course Builders have access to the following areas of the Control Panel:
- Content Areas such as Information, Content, etc
- Calendar
- Contacts
- Tasks
- Settings
- Import Course Cartridge
- Import Package
- Resources
- Course Copy
- Export Course
- List Users
- Discussion Boards
- Send email
- Collaboration
- Manage Groups
- Tests, Surveys, and Pools
- Blogs, Journals, and Wikis
Course Builders do not have access to student data or the Grade Center.
The Course Copy role has read-only access to most areas of the Control Panel. This role is appropriate for a user to allow them to view content and to copy content into another course. This role is based upon the Course Builder role but without the ability to modify content or course structure. Course Copy users do not have access to student data or the Grade Center.
The Grader role has limited access to the course Control Panel. A Grader assists the Instructor in the creation, management, delivery, and grading of Assessments. A Grader also assists the Instructor with managing the Gradebook.
Graders have access to the following:
- Announcements
- Calendar
- List of Users
- Tests, Surveys, and Pools
- Grade Center and views
- Course Statistics
Users with the role of Guest have no access to the Control Panel. Individual content areas within the course can be made available to Guests, but none are available by default and they do not have access to course tools such as the Discussion Board, Journals, Blogs, etc.
Visitors such as prospective students, alumni, or parents may be given the role of Guest. See How to Permit and Restrict Guest Access to Your Course and Content for more information.
Instructors have access to all areas in the Control Panel. This role is generally given to those developing, teaching, or facilitating the class. Instructors may still access a course that is unavailable to Students.
The Instructor role is determined by the listed instructor(s) of record in Banner. All Instructors, primary or secondary, must be added by the academic department via Banner. This is usually done by the department's administrative assistant.
Student is the default Course Role. Students have no access to any areas on the Control Panel and can only access course content and tools that are made available to them via the main course menu.
The Student role is determined by registration for a course within Banner. All students must register via Banner to be added to a Blackboard course.
Teaching Assistants have access to most course features, including student data and the Grade Center. If the course is unavailable to Students, Teaching Assistants may still access the course.
This role is only available to assigned graduate/teaching assistants employed by the University. If the user is not listed in our systems as a graduate/teaching assistant, they cannot be given the Teaching Assistant role in a Blackboard course. Check with the Graduate College and Human Resources to ensure all of the necessary paperwork has been submitted and that the graduate/teaching assistant has been entered as an employee in the system before attempting to add them to a course with the GA/TA role.
The Enrollment Manager option is a custom role created by Missouri State. Enrollment Managers can add and remove users from the course, as well as edit users’ roles in the course. This role is only used for non-credit courses in Blackboard, such as departmental course templates, departmental course sites, program sites, and campus organization sites. This role will not be granted to any user in a course with actively enrolled, credit-earning students.
The Organization Manager option is a custom role created by Missouri State. Organization Managers can add and remove users from their Blackboard Community sites, as well as edit users’ roles in the organization. This role is only used for Community sites in Blackboard, such as departmental program sites and campus organization sites.
Please Note:
For both the Enrollment Manager and Organization Manager roles, in order to remove someone with an Enrollment Manager, Instructor, Organization Manager, or Leader role from a course/organization you will first need to change their role to something else, such as Student or Participant before they can be removed.
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