User roles govern the amount and type of access to components of a Blackboard Course.

Types of User Roles

A user can be assigned only one of the following roles:

  • Instructor has master access over the Blackboard course functions.
  • Teaching Assistant has almost the same access level that the instructor does, with the exception that a TA CANNOT add additional instructors and TAs to a Blackboard course. The role of TA is typically assigned to faculty assistants, teaching assistants, or administrative assistants who help to develop and maintain course materials, communications, assessments, and grades in a Blackboard course.
  • Student has access to content areas, communication and collaboration tools, and assessments, given the instructor has made these available to students. Students do not have access to the Control Panel. Only those with the role of Student can take assessments and have grades recorded in the Blackboard gradebook. Instructors can make grades available to students and the student will see only his/her own grades via a “My Grades” view.
    Caution: If you change the role of a Student who is enrolled in your Blackboard course to that of TA or Grader they will be removed from the gradebook and will not be able to submit work in Blackboard.
  • Grader is able to access all areas under Assessments in order to manage/assign grades.
    Course Builder has access to most content functions. They cannot build assessments or pools, do not have access to the gradebook, cannot create calendar entries and course tasks, and cannot access course statistics.
  • Guest is defined by Blackboard, Inc. as a user in a course who do not directly participate in its activities. By default, Guest Access is turned off at the course level. Instructors have the control to turn this on or to allow/disallow guest access to specific areas and tools of the course. Read more about guest access.
  • Observer is defined by Blackboard, Inc. as users in a course who do not directly participate in its activities but who follow the actions of one or more Students enrolled in the course. By default, Observer Access is turned off at the course level. Instructors have the control to turn this on or to allow/disallow observer access to specific areas and tools of the course.

 

Change a User’s Role in a Blackboard Course

Navigate to the Users page. from Control Panel > Users and Groups > Users

User roles & affordances-1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click on the dropdown arrow icon next to a user’s name and select “Change User’s Role in Course” from the dropdown menu.

User roles & affordances-2

 

 

 

 

The available roles will appear. Click on the radio button next to the desired role.
Click “Submit”