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Ultra: Course and Organisation roles

The move to Ultra has not changed the roles which are available within Courses and Organisations, but some permissions have changed.
This article aims to help you enrol colleagues with the most appropriate Blackboard role, and provides a summary of the permissions associated with each role.

Courses

Organisations

Courses

Summary of Course roles

Course role Recommended use
Instructor Assign this role to
  • Module Convenor (should be set as Primary Instructor)
  • Module Co-convenor
  • Academics leading on the delivery of teaching on the module

Note:

  • Instructors are the only staff whose names are visible to students under ‘Course staff’.
Permissions:
  • Full control over course availability, course content and design (within limits set at system level)
  • Full access to the GradeBook (but cannot send marks to RISIS, and should not Post marks for summative assessments)
  • Ability to enrol users, change users’ role in the course, remove colleagues who no longer need access to the course.
Primary Instructor It is possible to designate up to two people as Primary Leader. This does not confer any additional privileges, but ensures that these staff appear on the organisation home page. See Ultra: Course Staff
Teaching Assistant Assign this role to
  • Staff involved in delivering some aspects of teaching on the module, who may also be involved in marking assessments.
  • Programme Administrators – staff providing administrative support, including management of assessment.

Note:

  • Assistants do not appear in the list of Course Staff on the organisation home page.
  • This role has very nearly the same permissions as the Instructor role, but is used to distinguish between lead staff and those supporting the module.

Permissions:

  • Control over course availability, course content and design (within limits set at system level) but should always consult with / defer to the module convenor)
  • Full access to the GradeBook (Programme Administrators are also able to send marks to RISIS).
  • Programme Administrators should be the only staff who Post marks for summative assessments.
  • Ability to enrol users, change users’ role in the course, remove colleagues who no longer need access to the course.
Course Builder Assign this role to
  • Staff who contribute content to a module, and need to upload content, but are not involved in marking on the module.
  • This could include guest lecturers or colleagues from departments such as Careers.

Note:

  • Course builders do not appear in the list of Course Staff on the organisation home page.

Permissions:

  • Can create and manage content, including discussion boards and announcements.
  • Can create assessments, but do not have access to the GradeBook.
  • No permissions to manage course enrolments.
Marker

Assign this role to 

  • Staff involved in marking or moderating assessments but who do not deliver teaching on the module.

Note:

  • Course builders do not appear in the list of Course Staff on the organisation home page.

Permissions:

  • Can view but not edit content.
  • Access to the GradeBook to mark work.
  • No permissions to manage course enrolments.
Mentor

Assign this role to University staff who are acting as a mentor.

Note: this role is principally designed for use with the Academic Practice Programme.

Permissions:

  • Essentially read-only access to course content, including YuJa videos.
  • Student view of assessments.
  • No access to announcements, discussions or journals.
  • Cannot access unavailable courses or unavailable course content.
  • Cannot create or edit content.
  • Cannot view or edit course enrolments.
  • No access to the GradeBook.
Non-UoR Staff

Assign this role to staff affiliated with the University at a partner institution (e.g. NUIST) who need limited access to UoR course content.

Note: No personal user information or grades are accessible to this role.

Permissions:

  • Essentially read-only access to course content, including YuJa videos. 
    (Note: the role has the ability to make minor edits to some types of course content) 
  • Can access unavailable course content, but not unavailable courses.
  • Student-level access to discussions and journals.
  • Cannot view or edit course enrolments.
  • No access to the GradeBook.
Student Assign this role to
  • Students who need access to a course.
  • Colleagues who need to view a course, but are not involved in delivery or marking. 

Note:

  • Student enrolments in Blackboard are generated automatically from RISIS, so there will be very few occasions when you need to manually enrol students onto a course.
  • Students are not able to access a Private (unavailable) course, although these will appear in their list on the Courses tab.
Guest The Guest role is not supported in Blackboard Ultra

Permissions for the main Course roles

Course area  Instructor Teaching Assistant Course Builder Marker Student
Details and Actions
Class Register Can
  • enrol users
  • change users’ role
  • remove colleagues who no longer need access to the course.
Can
  • enrol users
  • change users’ role
  • remove colleagues who no longer need access to the course.
Read only permissions No access No access
Progress Tracking Can view student progress. Can view student progress. No access Can view student progress. Can view own progress.
Course Image Full control No access

Can turn course banner on/off.

Cannot upload or edit course image.

No access No access
Course is private / open Full control Full control Full control No access No access
 Class Collaborate Full access Full access Full access

No editing rights – same access as students.

Can access
  • the Collaborate Room (if available)
  • currently available Collaborate sessions
  • Collaborate recordings
Books and Tools Full access Full access Full access

No editing rights – same access as students.

Can access links to available LTI tools e.g. Talis reading lists and Yuja.
Question Banks Full access Full access Full access Can create new Question Banks. No access
Top Menu
Calendar Full access Full access Full access Read-only access Read-only access
Announcements Full access Full access Full access Read-only access Read-only access
Discussions Full access Full access Full access Can participate in any available discussions Can participate in any available discussions
Gradebook Full access Full access No access

Can mark submitted work.

Cannot create new GradeBook columns.

Access to own marks and feedback
Messages Full access Full access Full access Full access

Can read messages.

Cannot create or respond to messages.

Analytics Full access Full access No access Full access No access
Groups Full access Full access Full access No access Access to any Groups of which they are a member
Content Full access Full access Full access

Can view all course content.

Cannot create or edit content.

Read-only access.

Organisations

Summary of Organisation roles

Organisation role Recommended use
Leader Assign this role to
  • Staff who manage the Organisation.
  • Administrative staff who need to make changes to organisation settings and enrolments.

Notes:

  • The ‘Owner’ and ‘Administrative Contact’ named when requesting your Organisation will be given the Leader role by default.
  • Avoid assigning the Leader role to too many individuals – consider using the Assistant role for colleagues who need to upload and publish information, but who do not have overall responsibility for the organisation.
Primary Leader It is possible to designate up to two people as Primary Leader. This does not confer any additional privileges, but ensures that these staff appear on the organisation home page. See Ultra: Course Staff
Assistant Assign this role to
  • Staff who need to upload and publish content, but who do not have overall responsibility for managing the organisation.

Note:

  • Assistants have very nearly the same permissions as Leaders, but do not show up in the list of Organisation Staff on the organisation home page.
Organisation Builder Assign this role to
  • Staff who need to upload and publish content, but who do not have overall responsibility for managing the organisation.
Marker Not applicable to organisations
Participant Assign this role to
  • Students
  • Staff who need to be able to view an organisation, but not make any changes to it
  • External Examiners on External Examiner organisations.
Guest The Guest role is not supported in Blackboard Ultra

Permissions for each Organisation role

Organisation area  Leader Assistant Organisation Builder Participant
Details and Actions
Class Register Full access Can
  • enrol users
  • change users’ role

Can enrol users as participants.

Cannot change user roles.

No access
Progress Tracking Full access If Progress Tracking turned on, can view participant progress. Can turn on/off If Progress Tracking turned on, can view own progress.
Course Image Full access No access

Can turn course banner on/off.

Cannot upload or edit course image.

No access
Course is private / open Full access Full access Full access No access
Class Collaborate Full access Full access Full access Can access
  • the Collaborate Room (if available)
  • currently available Collaborate sessions
  • Collaborate recordings
Books and Tools Full access Full access Full access Can access available LTI tools e.g. Talis reading lists and Yuja
Question Banks Full access Full access Full access No access
Top Menu
Calendar Full access Full access Full access Read-only access
Announcements Full access Full access Full access Read-only access
Discussions Full access Full access Full access Can participate in any available discussions
Gradebook Full access Full access No access Access to own marks and feedback
Messages Full access Full access Full access Can read messages.
Cannot create or respond to messages.
Analytics Full access Full access No access No access
Groups Full access Full access Full access Access to any Groups of which they are a member
Content Full access Full access Full access Read-only access.

Guide last updated on May 9, 2024

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