How do I add users to my Canvas course?

Instructors in our instance of Canvas are able to add other UW System users to their Canvas courses using the People tool. The How do I add users to a course? guide explains how to do so step by step.

Teachers generally cannot manually add users with the Student role to instructional timetable (SIS-based) courses; these student enrollments are managed automatically by your campus Student Information System. In the event that the SIS isn't correctly adding a student, it may be possible for your campus Canvas Administrator to manually enroll students in SIS-based courses.

The People tool can be used to add assistants, instructional designers, visiting instructors, and colleagues to your courses in one of many course-level roles, each with their own set of abilities within the course. Please review the Canvas - Course Level Roles guide to decide which role is best for any given situation.

Before adding a user to your course, please consider some alternative options, such as demoing your course over a screen-share in a web meeting or sending your course design to another instructor as a course export file. Both of these options are simple ways to share your course with users outside of UW System, and both insulate your courses from any unintentional changes or FERPA violations.

Common Questions:

How do I add another user to my course as an instructor?

Use the Teacher role if you need to co-teach a course or quickly allow another user to teach your course in your absence. This role has the ability to edit the course, interact with students, and reset all course content, so please use this role with caution.

How do I add another user to my course for an official visitation?

Use the Teacher Reviewer role if you need to grant another instructor or departmental staff access to your course for purposes of a review. Teacher Reviewers have similar access to the Teacher role, but do not have permission to make changes to a course.

How do I add another user to my course so they can see all the course content but not interact with students?

Use the Interpreter or Interpreter Pre-Semester role. This role is intended for captioners, ASL interpreters and others that may need access to the materials in a course without any other interactions. Interpreters do not have the ability to create, edit, or delete course components. They are unable to see student submissions or grades.

The “Pre-Semester” version of this role can access course materials before the configured course start date.