(For Admins) Granting a sub-account role

To grant a colleague access to a sub-account (with a suitable role) you need to first identify the sub-account that is appropriate for them. If you have the required permission to add people with a sub-account role, you will have been sent the sub-account tree for your unit which will help you to make the correct choice.  

 

What is a sub-account?

Canvas is based on organisational structures known as ‘sub-accounts’ which match the University's institutional structure.

  • The main (or root) Canvas account is the University of Oxford, which is managed by the central Canvas team.
  • Divisions, departments, faculties and colleges (‘units’) each have their own sub-account(s) (see example below), which can be managed locally, by granting individuals relevant sub-account roles, where appropriate (see cautions in the red box below).
  • More fine-grained sub-accounts (where relevant) include Postgraduate Taught (PGT), Postgraduate Research (PGR), Undergraduate (UG), ‘Shared courses’ and sub-accounts for individual Programmes of Study (PoS). This means that administrators may be given rights over only the relevant part of the sub-account structure for their unit.

 

Roles

Custom sub-account roles (with associated permissions) have been agreed for use at Oxford University. These are summarised  below:

  • Local Canvas Coordinator (LCC) (designated local Canvas expert whose name is published on a list) - See description, expectations and responsibilities
  • Unit Admin (designated local Canvas expert whose name is NOT published on a list)
  • Assistant Unit Admin (assistant to the Unit Admin, with slightly reduced permissions)
  • Auditor (able to view all courses within a sub-account, but not edit)
  • Bodleian Librarian, College Librarian, College Admin (able to view all courses within a sub-account, but not edit)
  • Library Editor (able to view and edit reading lists in a sub-account)

 

Advantages of sub-accounts

  • You can search for and access all courses within the sub-account without being enrolled on them.
  • You can search for all people within the sub-account to check their status and enrolments.
  • You can enrol users on any courses within your sub-account, including bulk enrolment using the Group Enrolment Tool (GET) across multiple Canvas courses.
  • You can run usage reports across your sub-account.
  • You can create and manage question banks for teachers to use in quizzes within your sub-account.
  • You can grant relevant sub-account roles to other users within your unit, where appropriate (see cautions in the red box below).

 

Note: Since the Local Canvas Coordinator and Unit Admin sub-account roles enable viewing rights and high-level permissions across a unit’s sub-account, it is University policy that these roles should be granted only by the central Canvas Team, and training is mandatory. These roles should also not be amended/swapped around by anyone outside of the central Canvas Team, as this has other implications for central record-keeping and annual audit processes.

 

Example sub-account structure: Geography 

In the example below, one might want to give an undergraduate administrator access at the level of 3C12 SOGE UG, so they can see all the courses associated with the BA and those shared with other programmes. An academic working on only one programme with no shared teaching courses would need access for that programme, e.g. TM_BD1 MSc Biodiversity, Conservation and Management, while a librarian working accross the whole department may need access at the 'higher' level of 3C12AC Geography.

3C12 SOGE

  • 3C12AC Geography
  • 3C12 SOGE UG
    • 3C12 SOGE UG Shared Teaching Courses
    • UA_EV1 BA Geography
  • 3C12 SOGE PGT
    • 3C12 SOGE PGT Shared Teaching Courses
    • TM_BD1 MSc Biodiversity, Conservation and Management
    • TM_NP1 MSc Nature, Society and Environmental Policy
    • TM_NP2 MSc Nature, Society and Environmental Governance
    • TM_VE1 MSc Environmental Change and Management
    • TM_VP1 MSc Water Science, Policy and Management

 

How to apply for an Admin role

  1. Please complete the required form Links to an external site. to request the elevated account roles of Local Canvas Coordinator (LCC) or Unit Administrator (UA) for agreed individuals in your department, faculty or college.
  2. The nominated people should then attend the ‘LCC and Unit Admin’ Canvas training course, arranged on request through digital.education@ctl.ox.ac.uk. The sessions are usually held on Thursday afternoons at 14:00.
  3. The Canvas team will grant initial sub-account roles of Local Canvas Coordinator (LCC), Unit Administrator (UA), and you can then grant other roles in your sub-account, where necessary.
  4.  You will then be able to view the ‘tree’ structure of your unit’s sub-account and further sub-accounts contained within them. This will enable you to access part of your sub-account where you may need to grant people admin roles.
  5. For more information see the guidance on Local Canvas Coordinators and Unit Admins.

 

Granting a sub-account role to a colleague using a sub-account tree

  • If you have the required permission to add people with a sub-account role, view the sub-account tree for your unit to identify the appropriate sub-account in which to grant your colleague the required role. 
  • Once you are confident about where you want to give access, click on the link in that sub-account.
  • Continue with the steps listed below.

 

Granting sub-account roles to your colleagues directly in Canvas

    • Click Settings (bottom of the left-hand menu).
    • Open the Admins tab along the top. Scroll down to click the +Account admins button.
    • Select the relevant role from the drop-down list of roles that appears.
    • Enter the details of your user(s): copy and paste a list of users, using an email address or SSO username (called the 'SIS ID' in Canvas). The latter is recommended (since it is unique for every user), whereas we may not know which is their primary email address (college or department).
    • Select Continue. 
    • You will now see a list of the users that are ready to be added to the course with the selected role. Choose either OK to add the users or Go back if you need to edit the list before completing this action.

 

Note: While you can add users in bulk through this route, you will need to do it separately for users who require different roles in the sub-account.