What are Permissions and Roles?

Permissions control the content and features participants in a UVACollab site can access and use.

Your role in a site determines which permissions are granted to you. For example, in course sites,  individuals in the Instructor role have the ability to create and grade assignments, while those in the Student role can submit assignments.

Permissions

Example screenshot of a Resources permissions page.

Most tools in course and collaboration sites include the following basic permissions:

  • Read: Access, view, and download content within the tool.
  • Create: Upload and create items such as resources, assignments, and quizzes.
  • Publish: Make draft or hidden items visible to site participants.
  • Edit: Modify existing items, created by yourself and/or others.
  • Delete: Remove existing items, created by yourself and/or others.
  • Submit: Submit work, such as assignments and quizzes.
  • Grade: Enter and edit grades in tools that can include graded items, such as Assignments or Tests & Quizzes.

In many cases, individuals in administrative roles in a site (see below for more information) have the ability to modify the permissions granted to other site participants.

Roles

Example screenshot of a roster showing instructor and student roles.

Roles define which permissions are granted to individual site participants. Most roles place site participants into one of the following groups:

  • Site administrators: Those who can add tools to a site, create and edit content in most tools, access hidden content, and perform administrative functions such as adding other participants to a site and grading work submitted by site members. The Instructor, Secondary Instructor, and Teaching Assistant roles in course sites, and the Owner and Administrator roles in collaboration sites are administrative roles.
  • Site members: Those who can access content that site administrators have made visible, and upload content and submit work in appropriate tools. The Student and Waitlisted Student roles in course sites and the Member and Observer roles in collaboration sites are basic member roles.

If necessary, those in the Instructor and Secondary Instructor roles in course sites and the Owner and Administrator roles in collaboration sites can change the roles of other participants in their sites. For more information, see How do I change participant roles within a site?

Roles in course sites

The following participant roles are available in course sites:

  • Instructor: Instructors have full permissions throughout the site, including the ability to publish or unpublish the site; add or remove site tools; add or remove site participants; modify permissions for other roles; create, edit, and delete content; and delete the site itself. By default, the Instructor role is automatically assigned to the creator of a course site.
  • Secondary Instructor: Secondary Instructors role have the same permissions throughout the site as those in the Instructor role; however, they do not have the ability to delete the site itself.
  • Teaching Assistant: Teaching Assistants have significant permissions throughout the site, including the ability to create, edit, and delete content in most tools. They do not have the ability to add or remove site participants, or edit course rosters. In Tests & Quizzes, Teaching Assistants can view and grade submissions for students in any group that also includes the TA (e.g., rosters with an assigned TA or groups you create in your site in which you add a teaching assistant). By default, in Gradebook, Teaching Assistants have permission to view and enter grades for all students in the site, but their permissions can be restricted by instructors.
  • Librarian: Librarians have the ability to read and create content in Resources, Announcements, and Media Gallery. They may also access a site before it is published and access hidden resources to make library materials available for courses.
  • Student: Students have the ability to access visible or published content in tools such as Resources and Lessons. They can also access and submit assignments, assessments, and posts in tools such as Assignments, Tests & Quizzes, and Discussions.
  • Waitlisted Student: Waitlisted Students have the same permissions throughout the site as Students. For more information on the Waitlisted Student role, see the help articles on waitlisted students.

Note: When an official course roster from the Student Information System (SIS) is added to a site, participants on the roster will be assigned the following roles automatically:

  • Primary Instructor in course roster - Instructor
  • Secondary Instructor in course roster - Secondary Instructor
  • TA or GTA in course roster - Teaching Assistant
  • Student in course roster - Student
  • Student in waitlist roster - Waitlisted Student

Roles in collaboration sites

The following participant roles are available in collaboration sites:

  • Owner: Owners have full permissions throughout the site, including the ability to publish or unpublish the site; add or remove site tools; add or remove site participants; modify permissions for other roles; create, edit, and delete content; and delete the site itself.
  • Administrator: Administrators have the same permissions throughout the site as individuals in the Instructor role; however, they do not have the ability to delete the site itself.
  • Member: Members have the ability to upload content in Resources and send messages to the site via the Site Email address. They can view the participant list and all group memberships in Site Settings, and access visible or published content in tools such as Resources and Lessons. They can also access and submit assignments, assessments, and posts in tools such as Assignments, Tests & Quizzes, and Discussions.
  • Observer: Observers primarily have read-only access to visible or published content, similar to Students in course sites. They can also access and submit assignments, assessments, and posts in tools such as Assignments, Tests & Quizzes, and Discussions.