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FAQ: Managing User Access

1. Adding Users
  1. What levels of access are available in course sites?

  2. How do I add a student?

  3. How do I add a TA to my course site?

  4. How do I allow guests to have access to my course site?

  5. How do I change an existing user’s role of access?

2. Removing Users
  1. How do I remove a student/TA?

  2. How do I remove an instructor from my course site?

3. Groups
  1. How do I create a Group?

  2. How do I add students to a Group?

  3. How can a TA add users to a Group?

4. Miscellaneous
  1. When will the instructor and/or the student access expire?

  2. Why do I get a "None Found" search result when trying to enroll or remove a user?

  3. Can I access other faculty's course sites?

  4. Why do I get a message that says I am accessing a site for which I am not authorized?

  5. I have a student whose access to one of my courses has been disabled. What happened?

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What levels of access are available in course sites?

Student: Enrolled students have access to all areas in the course that contain content, assessmentss, and tools.

Instructors: Professors have master control over the course functions. This includes managing content, grading assessments, changing grades, enrolling students, assigning students into study groups, deleting items, and publishing tests.

Grader: The grader access only permits access to the Grade Center.

Teacher's Assistant: Teaching Assistants are enrolled into the course with a combination of development responsibilities. This includes the ability to develop test questions, verify grades, manage users, and manage content.

Course Builder: Course Builders have access to all course functions except the Grade Center.

Guest: Guests can view areas of a course site that have been specifically enabled for guest access.
 
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How do I add a student?

Students are automatically added to all regularly scheduled courses. However, you can still add users to your course sites manually. In order to give a new user access to NU's Course Management System, he/she must have an active NU NetID and NU email account.

To manually add a user to your course site,
  • Go to the Control Panel
  • Click Enroll User under User Management
  • Enter a keyword into the search field
  • Check the appropriate radio button to search by last name, user name (net ID) or email address, and then click Search
  • Check the box next to the appropriate individual's name and click Submit
  • The new user now has Student access to your course site

If you are unable to locate a user, make sure the user is not already enrolled in the course,

  • Click List Modify User under User Management of the Control Panel
  • Enter the netid, last name or email into the search box
  • Select the appropriate radio button below
  • Click Search

If the user does not appear as an enrolled student, please contact CMS at course-management@northwestern.edu or 847-491-4044.

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How do I add a TA to my course site?

  • Go to the Control Panel of the course site
  • Click Enroll User under User Management (upper right)
  • Enter the netid, last name or email into the search box
  • Select the appropriate search method using radio button below
  • Click Search
  • Check the box to the left of the name of the person you wish to enroll
  • Click Submit
  • Click OK
Now that you've added a new user to your course site with a default role of a Student, you can change it to TA using these steps:
  • Click List Modify User under User Management of the Control Panel
  • Enter the netid, last name or email into the search box
  • Select the appropriate radio button below
  • Click Search
  • Click Properties to the right of the person's name
  • Select the role you wish them to have under # 4, Role and Availability
  • Click Submit
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How do I allow guests to have access to my course site?

There are four separate processes you need to complete to enable guest access:

1. Enable guest access on your course site
  • Go to the Control Panel
  • Click Settings under Course Options
  • Click Guest Access, then select Yes and click Submit
  • Click OK
2. Enable necessary tools for guest access
  • Go to the Control Panel
  • Click Manage Tools under Course Options
  • Click Tool Availability
  • Check the Allow Guest check box on the right-hand side for tools you'd like to be accessible to guests
  • Click Submit, then click OK
3. Enable each content area you'd like guests to have access to
  • Go to the Control Panel
  • Click Manage Course Menu under Course Options
  • Click Modify next to the course menu item you'd like guests to have access to
  • Check Allow Guest Access
  • Click Submit, click Ok
4. Enroll new or change existing users to the role of a Guest
  • Add guests using the Enroll User tool.
  • Change the existing users to the role of a Guest (further instructions).
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How do I change an existing user’s role of access?

To modify the role of an existing user,
  • Go to the Control Panel of the course site
  • Click List / Modify Users under User Management
  • Enter the user’s last name, net ID or email into the search field, check the appropriate search method by using radio button below and click Search. (Alternatively, clicking Search while leaving the search field blank will bring up the complete list of users in the course site).
  • Click the Properties button for the user whose level of access you would like to change.
  • Under #4 Role and Availability, check the radio button next to the desired role.
  • Click Submit and then click OK.
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How do I remove a student/TA?

To remove a student or TA from a course site,
  • Go to the Control Panel
  • Under User Management, click Remove Users from Course
  • Enter the user’s last name, net ID or email into the search field, check the appropriate search method by using radio button below and click Search. (Alternatively, clicking Search while leaving the search field blank will bring up the complete list of users in the course site).
  • Check the box next to the name of the person you'd like to remove
  • Type "Yes" in the box below your search results and click Submit
 
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How do I remove an instructor from my course site?

To remove an instructor,

Step 1: Change the instructor's access level to "student"
  • Go to the Control Panel
  • Search for the user you wish to remove
  • Click the Properties button next to the instructor you would like to remove
  • Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click the Student radio button under User Role
  • Click Submit, click OK
Step 2: Remove the user
  • Go to the Control Panel
  • Click Remove Users from Course under User Management
  • Enter the user’s last name, net ID or email into the search field, check the appropriate radio button underneath and click Search. (You may also click Search while leaving the search field blank, which will bring up the complete list of users in the course site).
  • Check the box next to the name of the person you'd like to remove
  • Type "Yes" in the box below your search results and click Submit
 
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How do I create a Group?

To create a Group,
  • Go to the Control Panel
  • Click Manage Groups under User Management
  • Click Add Group
  • Complete the form
  • Click Submit
 
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How do I add students to a Group?

To add users to a Group,
  • Go to the Control Panel
  • Click Manage Groups under User Management
  • Click the Modify button next to the Group you would like to add students to
  • Click Add Users To Group
  • Search by User Name or click List All
  • Check the students you would like to add to the Group
  • Click Submit
 
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How can a TA add users to a Group?

TA's can create Groups but cannot add users to a Group. For a TA to be able to add users to a Group, you would need to temporarily change the TA's role to instructor.
 
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When will the instructor and/or the student access expire?

Instructors have access to their course sites, provided they are retained in the Course Management System, as outlined in the Data Lifecycle Policy.

Students have access to a course site through the first week of the new quarter following the end of the class.
 
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Why do I get a "None Found" search result when trying to enroll or remove a user?

There are three possibilities if your search returns a "None Found" message.

A user:
  1. Is already enrolled in the course site,
  2. Does not have a valid Northwestern NetID, or
  3. Has dropped the class
To check whether the individual has access to your course site,
  • Go to the Control Panel of your course site
  • Click List / Modify Users
  • Enter the user’s last name, net ID or email into the search field, check the appropriate radio button underneath and click Search. (You may also click Search while leaving the search field blank, which will bring up the complete list of users in the course site).
  • Click OK
If the person is listed, but still does not have access to your course site, please e-mail us at course-management@northwestern.edu or call 847-491-4044. Please include the individual's name, NetID, email address and the CourseID of the course site you would like the person to have access to.
 
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Can I access other faculty's course sites?

For access to another faculty member's course sites, please contact that faculty member and ask him/her to enroll you into that course site.

For information on how to enroll someone into a course site please see the "How do I add a student/TA?" FAQ.
 
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Why do I get a message that says I am accessing a site for which I am not authorized?

If you are logging into the system from an off-campus location, verify your password by trying to access the following website:

http://password.northwestern.edu

If you cannot access that URL then you are most likely behind a firewall and therefore need to contact your own network administrator.

If your password is invalid you need to contact email-accounts@northwestern.edu

If you have no problems accessing the site and your password is correct then please contact course-management@northwestern.edu or call 847-491-4044.
 
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I have a student whose access to one of my courses has been disabled. What happened?

It is likely that your student might have dropped the course, in which case his or her access to your course site will be permanently disabled unless you send us a request to re-enable it to: course-management@northwestern.edu.
 
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