Introduction
If you need to give an external examiner access to your Blackboard course, there is a custom role which you can use to grant access to course materials, and to student work submitted to Blackboard and/or Turnitin.
A summary of what the role can and can’t do
This is a Course Role – like Instructor, Teaching Assistant, or Marker.
You can assign the External Examiner role when enrolling a user onto your course.
Please be sure to assign the new role, ‘External Examiner (Ultra)’.
Permissions associated with the role
Course Content
- Can view all course content, including that which is currently unavailable to students.
- Not able to create new content or edit existing content
Gradebook
Has restricted access to the Blackboard Gradebook.
- Can view and modify all grades – any type of gradable item (Blackboard and Turnitin Assignments, Tests, Blogs and Wikis).
- Can leave feedback.
Turnitin Assignments
- Able to view submitted work, grades and feedback.
- Technically able to add feedback and edit grades in the Turnitin assignment Inbox.
- Limited ability to edit assignment settings.
N.B. anyone with access to work submitted to Turnitin will also have editing rights – it is not possible to grant read-only access.
Blackboard Assignments
- Not able to edit assignment settings.
- Able to view submitted work, grades and feedback.
- Can view ‘Student Activity’ and ‘Question Analysis’.
Tests
- Not able to edit Test questions or edit settings.
- Can view Test questions.
- Can view students’ grades and feedback.
- Can view ‘Student Activity’ and ‘Question Analysis’.
Blackboard Journals
- Not able to edit Journal settings.
- Able to view entries, grades and feedback.
- Able to view ‘Student Progress’.
- Able to view posts, but not edit.
Guide last updated on February 13, 2025