Welcome to the Blackboard Mailbag, where we feature a commonly asked question that has been hitting our mailbox recently: blackboard@fordham.edu. You’ll find an archive of all of the previous questions and answers on our fordham.edu/blackboard website.
Note: Features may change with future updates.
Q: Can I enroll a TA or other instructor in my course?
Yes, you can enroll other Blackboard users in your course and adjust the type of access they have to the content and tools in your course.
You set course roles when you enroll users in courses. You can also edit course roles after enrollment.
Course Roles and Permissions
| Role | Description |
| Course Builder | The Course Builder role has access to most areas of the course. This role is appropriate for an assistant who shouldn’t have access to student grades.
If the course is unavailable to students, a course builder can still access the course. The course builder can’t remove an instructor from a course. |
| Facilitator | The Facilitator role has default privileges related to course materials, gradebook, calendar, announcements, discussions, and groups to assist instructors in the progress of a course. |
| Grader | The Grader role has limited access to the course. Graders can assist an instructor in the creation, management, delivery, and grading of assessments and surveys. The grader may also assist an instructor with adding manual entries.
If a course is unavailable to students, the course appears in the course list for a user with the role of Grader. However, the grader can’t enter the course until the course is available. As part of the delegation grading workflow, instructors can assign the ability to reconcile grades to graders. |
| Observer Ultra Course View | The observer role allows prospective students to explore Blackboard Learn without making any changes to users, courses, or content. |
| Instructor | Instructors have full access to the course. This role is generally assigned to the person developing, teaching, or facilitating the class. If a course is unavailable to students, users with the Instructor role may still access it. |
| Student | Student is the default course user role. A user with the role of Student submits coursework and participates in discussions. Students can’t create or grade course items. Students will only be able to see their own feedback and grades posted in the Gradebook. Students see private courses in their course lists, but they can’t access them. |
| Teaching Assistant | Users with the Teaching Assistant role have access to most of the course. If the course is unavailable to students, teaching assistants may still access the course.
Teaching assistants can’t remove an instructor from a course. |
Note: you will see the guest and observer roles in the drop-down menu, these roles do not currently work with Ultra courses. Please make sure to choose the “Observer Ultra Course View” when you want to give someone access to your course that does not allow them to make any changes to users, courses, or content.
Enroll Users
Select the plus sign button at the top of the roster to open the Enroll People panel.
- In the search box, enter a name, username, or at least two letters to reveal a list of matches. People already enrolled in your course don’t appear in the search results.
- Select one or more people. They immediately appear in the roster list. To reverse a selection, select a person’s name again.
- Choose a role for each selected person.
Note: you will see the guest and observer roles in the drop-down menu, these roles do not currently work with Ultra courses. Please make sure to choose the “Observer Ultra Course View” when you want to give someone access to your course that does not allow them to make any changes to users, courses, or content. - Select Save. The panel closes. At the bottom of the roster, a message appears with the names of the people you added.
Manage users
On the Roster page, access a person’s menu. Select Edit member information to open the Member Information panel. You can change anyone’s role or deny access to your course.
Change roles. When you change a person’s role, the person is repositioned in the roster list if you’re in grid view. Roles appear in this order: instructors, teaching assistants, graders, course builders, and students. In the list view, all members appear in alphabetical order.
Note: you will see the guest and observer roles in the drop-down menu, these roles do not currently work with Ultra courses. Please make sure to choose the “Observer Ultra Course View” when you want to give someone access to your course that does not allow them to make any changes to users, courses, or content.
Deny access. Clear the check mark for Allow access to course to deny course access yet retain the person’s course record and activity. The roster indicates the person’s status with a gray profile picture with a diagonal line. The person no longer sees your course on the Courses page.
Note: When students drop a course they will automatically be made “unavailable” in Blackboard. Students can not be deleted from courses as this permanently deletes all of their data in the course.
Access for Guests Outside the Fordham University System
If you need to give access to a guest outside the Fordham University System they will first need to submit a request to HR for electronic access.
Once your guest has electronic access you can email us at blackboard@fordham.edu or put a ticket in via the portal to request Blackboard access. After we’ve created the account for your guest you will be able to enroll them in your course or organization.
For additional FAQs and resources about Blackboard, visit fordham.edu/blackboard, attend one of our workshops, or reach out to us with your availability and we will accommodate small groups and one-on-one sessions.
Have feedback or suggestions on features? Blackboard’s parent company Anthology hosts The Idea Exchange. This is a place specifically for Blackboard to track and manage enhancement requests. It allows for things like upvoting ideas and sharing development plans and statuses. You will need to create an account to access the Idea Exchange.