Students who have registered for a course in MyNIU are automatically enrolled in the associated Blackboard course (updates to the roster are synchronized daily with data from Registration and Records), but faculty have the ability to add others to their courses as needed. For example, TAs must be added to a course manually. Faculty may also want to add colleagues to their course to share materials or co-teach.
User Roles
A Blackboard user is anyone using Blackboard, whether she/he is teaching staff, students, or administrative staff. There are seven types of users:
- Student: Enrolled students have access to all areas in the course that contain content and assessments. Students are automatically added to the Blackboard course within one business day of registering for the course. Students cannot edit course materials, view the grades of other students, or access course settings.
- Teaching Assistant: Teaching Assistants have access to most course editing functions, including creating test questions, managing users, and reviewing grades. They may access courses that are unavailable to Students but cannot remove the Instructor or use the AI Design Assistant. Teaching Assistants must be added manually by a user with the Instructor role.
- Course Builder: Course Builders have access to all course functions except the Gradebook. Course Builder can be assigned by the Instructor.
- Grader: The Grader role is assigned to individuals who assist in grading assessments. Graders can be assigned by the Instructor.
- Facilitator: Facilitators can access course materials, the Gradebook, calendar, announcements, discussions, and groups. They may assist with grading, content management, and communication but cannot modify course content and settings; they cannot manage the course roster. This role is commonly used in large or multi-section courses where additional faculty members or subject matter experts support the instructor.
- Instructor: The Instructor role provides full access to all course functions and settings. This role is typically assigned to the individual responsible for developing, teaching, or facilitating the course. Those with the Instructor role can access a course that is closed to Students.
- Guest: The Guest role does not function in the Ultra Course View. Although the role is listed and can be assigned, users with the Guest role cannot see or access the course.
- Spectator: Spectators have read-only access to course content, discussions, and other course materials. They cannot edit content, grade assessments, or change course settings This role is ideal for auditors, observers, department chairs, and external reviewers.
- Disability Resource Center Staff Member: This role is used by members of the DRC to coordinate services for students with disabilities. It provides access to content to inform the work of transcriptionists and sign language interpreters.
- Student Tutor: Student Tutors can view course content, discussion boards, and announcements but may not edit them. They cannot access assessments, grades, or course settings. The course instructor may manually enroll Student Tutors to support students in their course.
- Copy Only: Users with the Copy Only role can view course content and copy materials into their own courses or course shells, but cannot edit, delete, or modify content within the course to which they are assigned. This role is useful for sharing course materials with colleagues and may be assigned by the course instructor.
Users should only be manually enrolled if they are not registered students in the course, such as a teaching assistant, another faculty member, or an interpreter.
To Enroll a User
- Click the Roster link in the Details & Actions panel to the left of the Course Content page
- Click the Enroll People icon in the upper right (a plus sign (+) in a circle)
- In the search box type a name or username to reveal a list of matches (using an A- or Z-ID is recommended for individuals with common names)
- Select one or more people
- Choose a role for each selected person
- Click the Save button
Frequently Asked Questions