You have returned to the top of the page and may restart browsing.
Skip Main Navigation
You have skipped the global top navigation and may now begin browsing the page.
  1. Home
  2. Departments
  3. USAonline
  4. USAonline | Canvas Role Permissions

USAonline | Canvas Role Permissions

USAonline logo with image of a professor teaching in front of a classroom full of students

Canvas Permissions for Course Roles (detailed spreadsheet here)

Teacher
The highest level of access in a course. Teachers have complete administrative and instructional control, including publishing the course, managing users and sections, editing all course content, submitting assignments on behalf of students, and handling all grading, analytics, and integrations.

TA (Teaching Assistant)
Designed to assist the Teacher with daily course management. TAs can grade assignments, view analytics, manage course content, files, and student groups, and moderate discussions. However, they cannot publish the course, manage LTI tools, or add/remove other instructional staff.

Designer
Focused on building and structuring the course environment. Designers can add, edit, or delete course content, assignments, quizzes, pages, and rubrics, as well as manage external LTI tools. They do not have access to grading or student submissions.

Student
The primary learner role. Students have access to interact with the course material, view announcements, participate in discussions, create student collaborations, and message individual course members.

Audit
Similar to a Student, but intended for users who are sitting in on a course without receiving a grade. Auditors can view announcements, participate in discussions, and message individuals, but generally do not submit assignments or take quizzes.

Librarian
A supportive role designed for sharing library resources. Librarians can update course pages, view question banks, create and moderate discussions, and send messages to either the entire class or individual members.

DeptChair (Department Chair)
An oversight role designed for departmental review. Department Chairs have read-only access to view announcements, discussions, student groups, and the user list, but they cannot edit content or view student grades.

Peer Observer
Intended for colleagues reviewing a course. Peer Observers can view announcements, discussions, and student groups. Notably, they can also view all grades and grade audit trails, and help manage item banks and learning outcomes for curriculum review purposes.

Observer
The most restricted role, typically used for parents, advisors, or mentors. Observers are essentially "view-only" and can read announcements, but their primary function is to observe the progress of specific students they are linked to without interacting with the course content directly.