Canvas Support Roles and Permissions

In a Canvas course, a user’s role determines how they can interact with course content and other users. Roles are collections of permissions established at the system level that define access to course materials and data. Because roles control visibility into sensitive information—such as grades, student submissions, and personally identifiable information (PII)—it is important to understand who has access to what within your course. 

Roles are assigned based on a user’s access needs and may be determined by the user’s school, department, or job function. The table below outlines the available Canvas support roles and the level of access each role provides. 

Faculty Roles

Teacher 

• Primary Use: Official instructor (s) of record for the course. These users will be automatically added to course sites by the registration system.  

• Permissions: Full course permissions to add/edit/delete/copy manage course content and settings, grades, and SIS data.  

Support Roles 

Teaching Assistant (TA) 

• Primary Use: Teaching assistants who will be supporting the instructor for a course. These users must be approved by Dean to be added to a course. 

• Permissions: Full course permissions to add/edit/delete/copy manage course content and settings, grades, and student information expect SIS data. 

Supplemental Instructor 

• Primary Use: For those who provide peer tutoring and academic support in a class.  

• These users must be approved by Dean or ARC to be added to a course.  

• Permissions: Can view course content including assignments, quizzes and discussions but cannot view grade activity.  

Content Manager 

• Primary Use: Department and administrative staff supporting the creation of the course sites. These users must be approved by Dean to be added to a course. 

• Permissions: Content Managers have permission to view announcements, view and edit the course calendar, and view and edit course content, including assignments, files, pages, and rubrics. Content Managers cannot view grade activity, or access student identification information and analytics. 

Librarian

• Primary Use: Librarians who will be supporting instruction and research.  

• Permissions: Librarians have permission to view announcements, moderate discussion boards, create and modify assignments and quizzes, view and grade student submissions and view course content along with student names and email information.  

Student Roles 

Student 

• Primary Use: Students who have registered for the course. These users will be automatically added to course sites by the registration system.  

• Permissions: View course content and participate in course activities and assignments. Cannot view or modify course settings or view other students’ grades or assignments.