Course Roles in Canvas

Canvas allows people to access a course in a variety of roles, depending on their instructor role in PeopleSoft. Use this reference to understand the level of access each role permits and their use cases.

Canvas allows people to access a course in a variety of roles, depending on their instructor role in PeopleSoft. Use this reference to understand the level of access each role permits and their use cases. An individual may only be assigned to one role per course. A person's role in one course does not affect their role in another course or their wider system access. For example, a person can be a Teacher in one course and a Designer in another course.

All people are managed through an integration between PeopleSoft and Canvas. New people are keyed into PeopleSoft by the relevant academic department's scheduler at the department chair's direction. PeopleSoft enrollments and instructors are typically synced every 15 minutes to Canvas. Academic departments are responsible for managing access to courses based on an individual's affiliation with the university.

This article only covers the definitions and permissions for each role. For information on how to add someone to your Canvas course, see our course access guide or reach out to your department chair. The roles below are categorized by the role's intended function. To compare all roles side-by-side, refer to our roles and permissions comparison.

Overview of Available Roles

At Chico State, the following roles are available in the LMS:

• Student - grants access to participate in the course, including submitting assignments, discussion posts, etc.
• Teacher - grants full access to the course, including the ability to create, edit, and delete content. Users with this role can view and edit all student grades in the course.
• TA - grants access to create and edit content in the course but cannot delete content. Users with this role can view and edit all student grades in the course. This role can manage all course settings.
• Designer - grants access to create and edit content in the course but cannot delete content. This role can manage all course settings. Cannot view or edit grades.
• Grader - grants access to view course content and the gradebook. Users with this role can view and edit all student grades in the course. This role can manage all course settings.
• Faculty Peer Evaluator - grants the same access as Student.
• Peer Mentor - grants read-only access to the course and the ability to send messages to the entire class. Cannot view or edit grades.

Protection of Student Data

The security of student information is a top priority of California State University, Chico. Choosing the appropriate role for course users added outside the regular process is critical to protecting this data. Our legacy LMS, Blackboard Learn, has offered instructors of record the ability to grant "backdoor" access into to other individuals. As we move to a new LMS, Canvas, we intend to prohibit this kind of untracked access.

With Canvas, not only is access to the LMS granted almost exclusively via assignment to a class Instructor Role in PeopleSoft (CMS-CS), but those Role assignments will be made only upon satisfactory completion of required HR paperwork which establishes the desired contractual relationship and proper vetting.

"Instructor" can, for example, mean the primary individual delivering course content to the class, student employees who are supporting the instruction or grading the course assignments, peers who need access to the course materials in the LMS for different reasons. These roles and their capabilities within a course are discussed below.

Learning and Teaching Roles

Teaching and learning roles are the most common roles in the Learning Management System and represent the most common use cases of Canvas. Teachers can be added to courses by department staff in PeopleSoft at the direction of the department chair. Students can be added to courses through normal registration processes. In sandboxes and organizations, Teachers can be added through a request to Learning Technology Services. Students can be freely added to organizations by a teacher, but they cannot be added to sandboxes.

Permissions

The table below shows the permissions provided by Canvas that moderate how a person in one of these roles can interact with course content, features, and tools.

^ *Teachers can manage TAs and Designers in the following types of courses: Sandbox, Migrated Courses. Additionally, Teachers can manage students in Organizations.

^ ^†Teachers can set specific pages as student-editable.

Course Associate Roles

Course associates are specialized faculty, staff, and student employees that assist instructors with one or more aspects of course construction, delivery, or grading. These roles offer varying levels of access to course content and student information depending on the specific role selected. Course associates, such as TAs, Designers, and Graders need to be added to academic courses by departments staff at the direction of the department chair. In sandbox courses and organizations, course associates can be added freely by the person who created the course.

The table below shows the permissions provided by Canvas that moderate how a person in one of these roles can interact with course content, features, and tools.

Course Observer Roles

Course observers are people who are not formally enrolled in the course for credit but who otherwise need access to the content. Examples of this access can include tutors and SI Leaders who need to communicate with members of the class or faculty peers who need to evaluate online instruction. Course observers can be added to academic courses by department staff only at the direction of the department chair. Observers can be added to sandbox courses and organizations through a request to Learning Technology Services.

Permissions

The table below shows the permissions provided by Canvas that moderate how a person in one of these roles can interact with course content, features, and tools.