Adding Users to your Blackboard Learn Course

In Blackboard 9.1, instructors have the ability to add other users to their class, such as guest students, teaching assistants, co-instructors, or any other type of non-student user.  Any user with a UTAD username and a Blackboard account can be added to the course.

DISCLAIMER: Adding students to your Blackboard Learn course manually does not officially register the student for the course. Unless the student is properly registered for the course in the student registration system, they will not receive credit for the course. If you add a student in this way, you should be sure to verify the registration in the student registration system or contact the Registrar to prevent unforeseen consequences for the student. Students will automatically be added to Blackboard within two business days of officially registering for the course.

Open the Control Panel

Image of the Blackboard control panel opened on Users and Groups with Users outlined.

Log into your Blackboard course and go to the Control Panel.

  1. Click on Users and Groups.
  2. Select Users.

Finding Users to Enroll

Image of the Users screen with Find Users to Enroll at the top highlighted in red and instructions directing users to click on it.

You will now see a list of users in the current course.  Go to the top of the page and click the button labeled Find Users to Enroll.

Enrolling Users, Part 1

Image of the Add Enrollments screen with the following annotations: 1.Username: If you know the UTAD username of the person you would like to add, enter their UTAD in the space marked Username (Skip to Step 3, Role)2.If you do not know the UTAD username, click Browse to search for the user.3.Role: Select the role of the user. (Student, instructor, Teaching Assistant, Course Builder, Grader) 4.Enrollment Availability: Set availability to Yes to allow access to the course.5.When finished, click the Submit button at the bottom of the page.

You will now see a screen similar to the one above labeled Add Enrollments.

  1. Username: If you know the UTAD username of the person you would like to add, enter their UTAD in the space marked Username (Skip to Step 3, Role)
  2. If you do not know the UTAD username, click Browse to search for the user.
  3. Role: Select the role of the user. (Student, instructor, Teaching Assistant, Course Builder, Grader) 
  4. Enrollment Availability: Set availability to Yes to allow access to the course.
  5. When finished, click the Submit button at the bottom of the page.

Searching for Users

Image of the Searching for Users screen with the following annotations: 1.Search: Set the search parameters for your search: (Username, Last Name, First Name, email); (Contains, Equal To, Starts With, Not Blank)2.Insert search term (e.g. last name) and click Go.3.The search results will appear at the bottom of the screen.  Check the box next to the user from the list you wish to add.4.Click the Submit button when finished.

You will now see a screen similar to the one above after clicking Browse:

  1. Search: Set the search parameters for your search: (Username, Last Name, First Name, email); (Contains, Equal To, Starts With, Not Blank)
  2. Insert search term (e.g. last name) and click Go.
  3. The search results will appear at the bottom of the screen.  Check the box next to the user from the list you wish to add.
  4. Click the Submit button when finished.

Explanation of User Roles

Role Description
Course Mentor The Course Mentor role has limited access to a course or organization under Course Management in the Original Course View.

Course Mentor can only view grade details in Grade Center.

If the course is unavailable to students, a course mentor can still access the course.

A course mentor can't remove or adjust any other role settings in the course.
SDS Course Builder Used when adding another person to a course who will be updating closed captioning for Collaborate or Echo360.
Student Student is the default course user role. A user with the role of Student submits coursework and participates in discussions. Students can't create or grade course items. Students see private courses in their course lists, but they can't access them.
Instructor Instructors have full access to the course. This role is generally assigned to the person developing, teaching, or facilitating the class. If a course is unavailable to students, users with the Instructor role may still access it. The instructor is included in the course description in the Course Catalog. The instructor role can control tool availability.
Teaching Assistant Users with the Teaching Assistant role have access to most of the course. If the course is unavailable to students, teaching assistants may still access the course.

The teaching assistant isn't included in the course description in the Course Catalog. Teaching assistants can't remove an instructor from a course.
Course Builder The Course Builder role has access to most areas of the course. This role is appropriate for an assistant who shouldn't have access to student grades.

If the course is unavailable to students, a course builder can still access the course. The course builder can't remove an instructor from a course.
Grader The Grader role has limited access to the Control Panel in the Original Course View. Graders can assist an instructor in the creation, management, delivery, and grading of assessments and surveys. A grader may also assist an instructor with adding manual entries.

If a course is unavailable to students, the course appears in the My Courses module and in the course list for a user with the role of Grader. However, a grader can't enter the course until the course is available.

As part of the delegation grading workflow, instructors can assign the ability to reconcile grades to graders.
Guest The Guest role allows prospective students, alumni, and parents to explore Blackboard Learn without making any changes to users, courses, or content. Users with the role of Guest are unauthenticated users.

In the Ultra experience, guests can access original courses in the course catalog.

If an administrator has enabled guest access, instructors can make areas within a course accessible to unauthenticated users. Guest users don't have access to the course or organization Control Panel in the Original Course View.

Facilitator The Facilitator role has default privileges related to course materials, gradebook, calendar, announcements, discussions, and groups to assist instructors in the progress of a course.

Many institutions use Subject Matter Experts to create content for large, multi-section courses that are facilitated by multiple faculty. These institutions or courses may also require more than one person to help keep the curriculum moving forward. Additionally, institution administrators can grant some or all grading, curriculum set up, and communication permissions to trusted facilitators to help ease these responsibilities in larger courses.
LEC Tutor Learning Enhancement Center tutor role.
SI Leader Supplemental Instruction leader role.
WC Consult Writing Center consult.
Peer Mentor Blackboard course Peer Mentor does not have access to tools under Course Management. Can access content to collaborate with instructors and students.

The "Guest" role provides limited access to the course. If you want an individual to have "read" access to the course, assign the "Student" role to that individual.