Course Role Permissions
Canvas provides five base course-level user roles that each include their own set of default permissions.
Canvas Base Roles
| Role | Primary Usage | Permissions | Limitations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Student | Enrolled in a course site. | View course content and engage in course activities, including the ability to submit assignments, participate in discussions, and view the course roster. | Cannot view or modify settings for a course. |
| Teacher | Have full access to the Canvas features for instruction. | All course-level permissions, including the ability to add, edit and delete all content in a course, edit course settings, and manually add individuals with active Canvas user accounts. | None. |
| TA | For assistant instructors and teaching assistants. | Permissions similar to the Teacher role. They have all course-level permissions, including the ability to add, edit and delete all content in a course, edit course settings, and manually add individuals with active Canvas user accounts. | Cannot add other Teachers or TAs into the course, nor publish the course. Does not have access to SIS Data. |
| Designer | For instructional designers/technologists (and staff with similar responsibilities) who write and manage course content, but do not actually teach courses or grade student work. | Create course content, discussions, announcements, assignments, quizzes, and other content features. | Cannot view or modify grades. Designers cannot add Teachers or TAs to the course, but can add students. |
| Observer | For users who have no official role in the course, but have been given permission to view course content and discussion forums. | Have access to view course content. This role can be linked to a student enrolled in a course in order to to monitor their progress. | No permissions to edit or participate in course activities. |
VCU Canvas admins have created the following custom roles to fit the various needs of the university.
Canvas Custom Roles
- Librarian
- based on a TA Role
- does not have the ability to change course availability
- does not have access to grades.
- SI Leader
- based on a Student role, but does have the ability to send messages to the entire class through the Canvas Inbox feature
For more details on what permissions each roles has, see the Course Roles Permission Comparison Chart below.