This page defines the sub-account roles: Local Canvas Coordinator (LCC) and Unit Administrator (UA).

Requesting the role of Local Canvas Coordinator or Unit Administrator

Canvas users can complete the respective form to request the elevated account roles of Local Canvas Coordinator (LCC), Unit Administrator (UA), or Assistant Unit Administrator within their department, faculty or college. More information about the requirements and training is provided in the relevant accordion item on the Centre for Teaching and Learning's Canvas page.

Sub-account roles: LCC and UA

Canvas functions by allocating specific ‘permissions’ to specific ‘roles’, which map roughly to duties within University units, such as administrative, IT or teaching duties. The term ‘sub-account’ relates to organisational units in Canvas for the management of courses and people. Two specific roles have been created at the sub-account for use at Oxford: the Local Canvas Coordinator and Unit Admin roles, with suitable permissions to enable them to oversee and manage sub-accounts for their unit.

The two roles have the same permissions; the only difference between them is that the name of the LCC appears on a published list of LCCs. The reason for this is that the LCC is the contact person not only for their colleagues, but also for the central Canvas programme team and others across the University.

Purpose of the LCC

The primary purpose of the LCC is to be the local ‘go to’ Canvas person and to offer support for Canvas queries from administrators and academics within the context of the specific department, faculty, school or unit. In most instances, the LCC will be an administrator within the specific department.

LCCs may also be involved in helping to support new staff in their department-specific implementation of Canvas and will serve as a contact point to communicate about general Canvas-related matters. The LCC is invited to take part in the termly Canvas User Group meetings as the representative for their department, and to learn about ongoing and future Canvas developments at the University.

The LCCs are typically be individuals with an affinity for IT, an interest in Canvas, a deep knowledge of their department, of a helpful disposition, and possess good communication skills. Many are likely to be currently deployed as Local WebLearn Coordinators within the department and as such, the LCC role is likely to be a transition from the existing one. It remains a completely voluntary role as help and guidance is available from both Learning Technologists in central units and directly from Canvas (Instructure) through the Help button on the left-hand menu in Canvas.

Extensive training is available to those wishing to take on the LCC role. Completion of the training is required before the LCC or UA is granted access to their unit's sub-acount in Canvas.

Becoming a Local Canvas Coordinator

The Local Canvas Coordinator will be granted the LCC role at the level of the sub-account for their unit (usually their Department or Programme of study). The Unit Admin role has the same powers and permissions as the LCC role and both roles are able to administer all the Canvas ‘containers’ and enrolments within their sub-account. For this reason, Local Canvas Coordinators and Unit Admins need to be authorised by their unit to act in this role and undertake the training provided.

Note:

The list of LCCs is displayed to staff members around the University, so that they know who to contact in their unit. If you would prefer not to appear on the list of LCCs, please contact digital.education@ctl.ox.ac.uk and request us to change your role to Unit Admin instead.

Expectations for the Local Canvas Coordinator

Be the ‘go-to’ person to support Canvas users in the local unit.
Periodically attend user group meetings to assist with communication to, and feedback from, the unit.
Attend the Canvas Fundamentals online session offered through the IT Learning Centre.
Attend the Canvas LCC and Unit Admins consultation and training session offered by the Centre for Teaching and Learning, by arrangement.

Responsibilities of the Local Canvas Coordinator

Act as the contact person for your unit with the central Canvas team.
Assist with managing the unit’s presence (i.e. sub-account) in Canvas (see ‘Roles and permissions’ below). Use the visual representation of the ‘tree’ structure of your unit’s sub-accounts (provided by the central Canvas team) to access parts of your sub-account where you may need to grant people access or admin roles.
Roll over courses before the end of the academic year in readiness for the new academic year, using the Manage Courses process in your sub-account.
Create Canvas accounts for external users using the Manage External Users tool in your sub-account.
Expand knowledge and experience of using Canvas by investigating the support materials provided by the Canvas supplier and community, the central Canvas team, and the Oxford specific guidance in Canvas (this course!).
Respond to ‘how-to’ support questions from colleagues and informal training requests from Canvas users in your unit by providing informal, just-in-time help and training, or direct them to appropriate formal training and guidance materials.
Assist with the maintenance or updating of Canvas areas if the course ‘owner’ is unavailable. This is expected to be required only infrequently.
Be aware of additional tools available via Canvas (ORLO, Panopto, Calendar Import Tool) and where to find detailed advice and support on their use.
Help to promote the use of Canvas as a teaching and learning resource amongst colleagues within your unit; and provide contacts to the central team for exploring more innovative ways of using Canvas.

LCCs and Unit Admins are requested to inform digital.education@ctl.ox.ac.uk if any colleagues need to have their LCC / Unit Admin role removed (e.g. if they leave the department/college or stop being an LCC or Unit Admin).

Roles and permissions

In order to support others on the effective use of Canvas or to solve queries within the unit, the LCC role has been set up with a broad level of permissions.

They have permission to:

How to add, remove or change roles at the sub-account level

Within the relevant sub-account, it is possible for you to add new Assistant Unit Administrators, or remove existing ones; or to grant the sub-account roles Library Editor, or the view-only roles Auditor, Bodleian Librarian, College Librarian or College Administrator. Although it is not possible to directly edit or change an existing sub-account role, if necessary, you can add the person with the new role and then remove them with their previous role.

After careful consideration of the circumstances and requirements, and permission from their senior management, LCCs (or relevant colleagues) should complete the required form to request the elevated roles of LCC or Unit Admin if anyone else requires those roles at the sub-account level in your unit.

Go to your department's sub-account in Canvas
Click Settings on the left-hand menu
Click the Admins tab at the top of the screen
Click on + Account admins and complete the required fields to add the new administrator