Teacher and Student Roles in Canvas

Important: All roles described on this page are assigned and managed through Banner.

Roles in Canvas define what users can see and do within the platform. Generally, it’s important to know who has access to course information, particularly sensitive and legally protected information like student work and grades. Whether you're assigning roles or troubleshooting access issues, a clear understanding of Canvas roles helps streamline collaboration and supports effective learning environments.

Overview: Teacher and Student Roles In Canvas

The table below lists the teaching and learning roles available at UIW. Banner, our Student Information System (SIS), assigns these roles to users based on their enrollment in the course.

Course role Definition Banner Table Teacher Instructor for an academic course, identified as the Instructor of Record. The instructor was enrolled in SSASECT, and the primary indicator was checked. Student Individual students for an academic course and enrolled in a section. Enrolled from SFASTCA.

An individual may only be assigned to one course role per course. Students enrolled in the course may not be assigned any other course role other than the Student role.

Permissions: Teacher and Student Roles In Canvas

Permission Teacher Student Analytics - view pages ✅ ✅ Announcements - View ✅ ✅ Conversations - send messages to entire class ✅

No ❌

Conversations - send messages to individual course members ✅ ✅ Course Calendar - add / edit / delete events ✅ No ❌ Courses - change visibility ✅ No ❌ Courses - view usage reports No ❌ No ❌ Discussions - create ✅ ✅ Discussions - moderate ✅ No ❌ Discussions - post ✅ ✅ Discussions - view ✅ ✅ Grades - edit (Includes quiz moderation) ✅ No ❌ Grades - select final grade for moderation ✅ No ❌ Grades - view all grades ✅ No ❌ Grades - view audit trail No ❌ No ❌ Groups - add / edit / delete No ❌ No ❌ Groups - view all student groups ✅ No ❌ Grades - view audit trail No ❌ No ❌ Item Banks - manage account No ❌ No ❌ Learning Outcomes - add / edit / delete ✅ No ❌ Learning Outcomes - import ✅ No ❌ Manage Assignments and Quizzes ✅ No ❌ Manage Course Content ✅ No ❌ Manage Course Files ✅ No ❌ Manage Course Sections ✅ No ❌ Manage Courses ✅ * No ❌ Manage Groups ✅ No ❌ Manage LTI ✅ No ❌ Manage Pages ✅ No ❌ Outcome Mastery Scales - add / edit No ❌ No ❌ Outcome Proficiency Calculations - add / edit No ❌ No ❌ Questions banks - view and link ✅ No ❌ Reports - manage ✅ No ❌ Rubrics - add / edit /delete ✅ No ❌ SIS Data - read ✅ No ❌ Student Collaborations - create ✅ ✅ Submissions - Submit on behalf of students No ❌ No ❌ Users - Designers ✅ No ❌ Users - Observers ✅ No ❌ Users - Students No ❌ No ❌ Users - TAs ✅ No ❌ Users - Teachers ✅ No ❌ Users - allow administrative actions in courses ✅ No ❌ Users - generate observer pairing codes for students ✅ No ❌ Users - manage students in courses ✅ No ❌ Users - view list ✅ ✅ Users - view login IDs ✅ No ❌ Users - view the primary email address ✅ No ❌ Web Conferences - create ✅ ✅