Initial Group Permissions

Initial Group Permissions

The ability to set initial group permissions allows system administrators to configure group permission settings before a syllabus is ever created in Concourse. Setting Initial group permissions will determine whether a particular group (e.g. Instructors) can view and/or edit individual syllabus elements, access or upload files, whether their CV will be visible, and if the group should be able to self-manage their course. 

What's the difference? Initial Group Permissions vs Group (en masse)

Initial group permissions will only apply to syllabi and syllabus items that do not already exist in your system. Group permissions allow you to update permissions (en masse) to a large set of existing syllabi/syllabus items.

Plan Your Permissions

Before setting or updating initial group permissions in Concourse, it is helpful to understand each of the groups and available permission options.

Groups

To understand Concourse group permissions, it is important to understand the groups available within Concourse. Concourse groups are assigned to users either through feed or by role information passed from the LMS.
Frequently Used Groups

  • Instructors: An Instructor is a user who has been assigned to teach a course at your institution. An Instructor may have access to view every part of a syllabus, as well as edit content or add original content to all or part of the syllabus.

  • Students: A Student is a system user who is registered as a student in a course at your institution. Students are assigned to individual syllabi associated with each course they are taking based on their role in the LMS.

  • Guests: Guests are system users not assigned to the syllabus they are viewing. For example, one instructor viewing another instructor's syllabus would be a guest.

  • Public: Public users are those external to your system. Access is typically provided through a web page on an institution's website.


Additional Groups 

The following groups are available, but their permissions are typically managed through Domain Permissions - consult your implementation team for more information.

  • Assistants: An Assistant may be someone in a department or division designated by a template manager with the capability to edit all or parts of a course template. An Assistant may also need the capability to assist instructors with editing sectional syllabi, and may therefore need to be able to access an instructor's syllabus and assist with editing. Generally, Help Desk personnel and support staff may benefit from Assistant permissions in Concourse.

  • Developers: A Developer may be someone in a department or division who manages the information on course templates. This person may be responsible for updating all or some parts of a syllabus, as well as ensuring compliance with any department or division initiatives. 

  • Managers: A Manager is a technical Concourse user, and can be considered a course administrator. This person may create process feeds, set and update permissions, set up and manage integrations, delete courses, create and drop registrations, etc. Typically, individuals assigned as Managers within Concourse work in IT, Academic Affairs, and/or eLearning.


Permissions

Yes/No Permissions = Turns on/off the permission for that group
  1. View User List: Set to Yes, this permission allows the selected group to view a list of all users registered to the syllabus and related viewing information.
  2. Display Group CV's (if enabled): Set to Yes, this permission displays the CV's of the selected group.
  3. Files (if enabled): Set to Yes, this permission allows the selected group to add files to the syllabus.
Syllabus 
    1. None: Users in the selected group may not access the syllabus
    2. View: Users in the selected group may view the syllabus
    3. Edit: Users in the selected group may edit the syllabus (Edit = Upload for Starter version of Concourse)
Syllabus Items (Not applicable for Starter version of Concourse )
    1. None: Users in the selected group may not access the specific syllabus item
    2. View: Users in the selected group may view the specific syllabus item
    3. Edit: Users in the selected group may edit the specific syllabus item
    4. Inherit: For existing items cloned from another syllabus, users in the selected group inherit the permissions assigned to the cloned item; when adding new items to the syllabus, users in the selected group inherit the permissions assigned to the syllabus item (see screenshot below)
Exceptions
  1. When items are copied to or copied from another syllabus, only the content is being copied, not the permissions applied to the item. The inherited permissions will remain on the syllabus receiving content.
  2. If an item is deleted from a syllabus and added again later, it will be treated as a new item and will receive the same permissions as the syllabus.
Important! When setting syllabus permissions it is important to remember that the lowest set permission will take precedence.
For example:
  1. If the Syllabus is set to None and Meeting Times is set to Edit, the group will not be able to see/edit Meeting Times.
  2. If the Syllabus is Set to Edit and Meeting Times is set to View, the group will be able see Meeting Times, but not edit it
 

How to Apply Initial Group Permissions

  1. Access Initial Group Permissions: Admin > System > Initial Group Permissions
  2. Select the Group for which you would like to apply permissions
  3. Adjust permissions based on the processes and requirements of your institution
  4. Click Save.
Follow the same steps for each group to ensure correct permissions are applied.

Initial Group Permissions ScreenshotAbbreviated screenshot of Initial Group Permission screen with Select Group set to Assistants, View user List set to No, Syllabus set to Edit, Meeting Time set to View, Contact Information set to Edit and Description set to View, remaining syllabus items are not displayed.
Important! Initial Permission settings only apply to syllabus items that have not yet been added to an existing syllabus in your system. This means that if a syllabus is cloned, any items already existing on the syllabus will keep the permissions from the original syllabus. 

If you have any questions, please reach out to us at support@campusconcourse.com or submit a help ticket. 
If you are in the implementation process, please contact your implementation team for support.

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