Blackboard – Request staff access to Blackboard courses

Staff guide: Can’t see a Blackboard module? This guide explains how to request access depending on your role.

Do you want to enrol and edit users on a course you are involved with?
See the separate guides to managing course enrolments:
–Blackboard Ultra – managing staff enrolments.

How do I request access to a Blackboard module?

You do not usually need to raise a ServiceLine ticket if you cannot see a Blackboard module you are involved with. See the guidance below for who to contact to request enrolment depending on your role.

Include the module code and 5-digit reference number with your request, for example, ECON1007-24689.

Module Lead

You’ll be automatically enrolled on a module if listed as the Module Coordinator in Worktribe (CRUMS), or Primary Instructor in Banner. 

• Contact your Faculty CQA team who can update Worktribe and Banner. The CQA team will forward your request to Timetabling.
• You can be manually added to the course by a Programme Lead in your department, an Instructor /Teaching Assistant enrolled on the course, or your School Administration and Assessment (A&A) team.

Blackboard role: You will normally be enrolled as a Primary Instructor, but if you are not directly delivering the module and don’t want to appear on the Course Staff list (visible to students), you can change your role to Teaching Assistant.

Instructor/Lecturer

Course Instructors are visible to students, so this role should only be used for staff directly responsible for teaching the course.

• Any staff added to the timetable will be auto-enrolled on the Blackboard module as a Teaching Assistant from September. Email timetabling@southampton.ac.uk to ensure you are on the timetable.
• Contact your Module Lead or a Programme Lead in your department who can add you directly to the module.

Blackboard role: You will normally be enrolled as an Instructor and appear on the Course Staff list (visible to students). If you have been auto-enrolled form the timetable the Module Lead can change your role from Teaching Assistant to an Instructor.

Teaching Assistant

Teaching Assistants have the same full editing permissions as Instructors, but are not visible to students in the Course Staff list.

• If you are listed on the Timetable you will be added to the module as a Teaching assistant from September. Email timetabling@southampton.ac.uk if you need to be included on the module timetable.
• Contact the Module Lead or any course Instructor if you need access to the Blackboard course before September and they can manually add you to the course.
• Any course Instructor can add you to a connected Team if you deliver online sessions.

Blackboard role: You will be added as a Teaching Assistant, but this can be changed to Course Builder if you don’t need access to student data or Instructor if you need to be visible to students in the Course Staff list.

PGR Student supporting teaching or marking

• Do you have a staff account via HR/UniWorkForce?
  • If YES – you need to subscribe to activate your staff computing account. Use this account to log into Blackboard when teaching and marking, and keep your student account for accessing your course content and assessment submissions. See this guide to accessing Blackboard with more than one account. Make sure anyone enrolling you on a Blackboard course uses your staff account and not your student account for your Blackboard staff roles. You can add (staff) to your preferred first name in Subscribe to help distinguish the accounts.
  • If NO – you can be added to Blackboard courses with your student account. If you are involved with marking Turnitin assignments and you also submit to Turnitin as a student, this may cause an error – open a ServiceLine ticket if this occurs.
• Contact the Module Lead or any course Instructor, and they can add you manually to the course with an appropriate role.
• Any course Instructor can add you to a connected Team if you deliver online sessions.
• Email timetabling@southampton.ac.uk if you need to be included on the module timetable.

Blackboard role: You will be added as a Teaching Assistant or marker, but this can be changed to Course Builder if you don’t need access to student data, or Instructor if you need to be visible to students in the Course Staff list.

Programme Lead or Deputy Programme Lead

Anyone with a Programme Leadership role can use our Staff Enroller tool to self-enrol in any Blackboard module included in their department’s programmes. If you are teaching or leading a module, follow the guidance above to be added as a Module Lead or Instructor instead.

• Programme Leads (registered in CRUMS/Worktribe) are automatically added to Staff Enroller.
• Any Programme Lead can add colleagues to Staff Ernoller if they need Programme Leadership access to Blackboard courses in your department – for example, a Deputy Programme Lead.
• See this guide to accessing and using Staff Enroller for Programme Leads.

Blackboard role: If you don’t have an existing course enrollment, you will be enrolled with the Programme Leadership role and you can view course content and edit the Class Register.

Leadership roles and anyone requiring auditing access to courses

The Blackboard Auditing Instructor role gives view-only access to Blackboard content and Gradecentre. (the Ultra Gradebook is no currently available for this role so request to be added as a Teaching assistant if you require this access)

• Leadership roles can request access to Staff Enroller and can self-enrol on any module with the course role Auditing Instructor.
• The Module Lead, Programme Lead, or any course Instructor can add an Auditing Instructor to a single Blackboard course.

Blackboard role: Auditing Instructor.

Examiner/moderator (University staff)

If you have been asked to moderate a Blackboard course that you do not directly teach, and need only temporary view-only access.

• Contact the Module Lead, Programme Lead or  School Administration and Assessment (A&A) team who can add you manually to the course.

Blackboard role: External Examiner.

External Examiner

External Examiners are added to Blackboard manually and have view-only access to content and the Gradebook.

• You should contact the School Administration and Assessment (A&A) or the person who has invited you to become an external examiner.

They will assist you in gaining access to Blackboard and the relevant assignment platforms.

Please see our guides:

• Managing External Examiner access to Blackboard
• Help Guides of External Examiners

Marker

A Blackboard marker can add feedback and marks to assessments and Blackboard Gradebook, but cannot edit course content.

• Contact the Module Lead or School Administration and Assessment (A&A) who can add you manually to a course as a Marker.

Blackboard role: Marker.

NHS staff

Starting from September 2024, all NHS accounts (both old and new) will use federated accounts to access Blackboard and other University applications.

Federated authentication accounts allow users to access University of Southampton applications using their credentials from a trusted organisation, such as nhs.net or uhs.nhs.uk, and support single sign-on.

• Follow this guide to for information and register for federated access to University systems using your NHS email.
• See this guide if you need help with logging into Blackboard with an NHS account.
• To request access to a Blackboard course, contact the Module Lead or administrator, or ask a colleague who is enrolled on the course to add you with an appropriate course role.

Administration and Assessment team members

• Fill out this form to request SES Banner Gradebook access to modules.
• SES users enrolled in Banner are auto-enrolled on Blackboard courses. We are updating this process and you will shortly be able manage your Blackboard course enrolments.

Blackboard role: Module Administrator.

Library staff

Library staff can self-enrol onto Blackboard modules to support reading lists and course content.

• Contact your line manager about access to the Blackboard Staff Enroller tool
• See this guide for more information on the Staff Enroller Tool for Library staff.
• Any course Instructor can add you to a connected Team if you deliver online sessions.

Blackboard role: Library Staff.

Learning support assistant

LSAs can view Blackboard courses (and connected Teams) to support individual students.

• Contact the Student Disability and Inclusion Team via studenthub@soton.ac.uk. The SDI team can add LSAs to the Staff Enroler tool and enrol you onto Blackboard courses with the role of Learning Support Assistant.
• See this guide on how to Self-Enrol in courses using Staff Enroller for LSAs.

Balckboard role: Learning Support Assistant.

New staff

• Complete this online form to request access to University systems. This ensures new staff are set up on all systems including Banner and timetabling.
• You will need your staff Username (e.g. abc1a22) and a list of the Blackboard modules/CRNs which you need access to. If you do not have a staff account yet, please await instructions via email, and ensure that you subscribe to activate your computing account.
• Follow the guidance above to request access to Blackboard courses.

Guests and Visitors

Users with visitor contracts will generally receive a Southampton account from HR and should access the relevant applications using this Southampton username and password.

If you are recording a guest lecturer, make sure you ask them to sign a Guest Lecturer Agreement Form and send this to legal services.

Related systems

Blackboard is the University of Southampton’s primary Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). When you request access to Blackboard, you may expect access to other closely related systems.

If you are enrolled on a module in Blackboard, you will automatically gain permissions for the associated platforms:

• Turnitin
• Panopto

You may need to take additional actions for access to:

• Eassignment
• Banner Gradebook
• ECS Intranet

Getting Help

Contact details can be found on the iSolutions – Getting help webpage. You can raise a support ticket by telephone, email or self-service.

Try to include:

• Why you need access to the Blackboard course
• The course name, ID or module number
• What level of access you require (Instructor, Teaching Assistant, Student)

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