Setting Group Permissions on a Course

This article will be most useful for System and Domain Admins.

Overview

Group permissions can be set across your Concourse system, on large syllabus sets and on individual courses. Setting group permissions on an individual course is a good approach when the course’s editing or viewing requirements differ from other courses in the domain, such as special editing exceptions. 

For example, if instructors in the College of Arts and Sciences have View permission for the Description item but one course in each department of the school is a designated service learning course, then instructors for those few courses need to be able to edit the Description item to add a service learning requisite; the most expedient way to adjust group permissions for those few diverse courses is to set group permissions at the course level. To learn how to set group permissions on a course, continue reading or watch the video below.

Before You Begin

Only Domain Administrators are able to change group permissions on the course level. Domain Admins are only able to change group permissions on courses within their assigned domains. If System Admins need to change group permissions on a course but do not have appropriate domain permissions, they can update their domain permissions on their own account page.

Only items that have been added to the syllabus appear in the list of items for which permissions can be set. As a result, if you attempt to change group permissions prior to the syllabus being populated (via feed, copying, etc.), then the list of items where permissions can be set may appear shorter than expected. 

Domain Admins assign group permissions on syllabus features as well as individual syllabus items. Features that can be enabled include: viewing the user list (Yes/No permission), engaging with Files (None/View/Edit permission), and displaying the CV (checkbox). For syllabus items, Domain Admins select None, View, or Edit permission:

1. None: The user group cannot access the syllabus or syllabus item; if the syllabus itself is set to None, the user receives an error message.
2. View: The user group can view the syllabus or syllabus item but cannot modify it.
3. Edit: The user group can view and edit the syllabus or syllabus item.
   

With this information in mind, let’s set group permissions on a single course in your Concourse system.

How to Set Group Permissions on a Course

To set group permissions on a single course, domain administrators should follow the steps below:

1. Access the syllabus where group permissions are to be set.
2. Select Settings in the course navigation menu.
3. From the Settings dropdown, select Group.
4. Select the group whose permissions are to be set.
5. Select the appropriate permission for selected syllabus items.
6. Select Save at the bottom of the page (See image below.).
   

Best Practices and Recommendations

Before setting group permissions for a single course, consider the following best practices and recommendations:

Group permissions can only be changed for one group at a time at the course level. If permissions should be changed for more than one group in the course, complete the operation multiple times.

1. If the Syllabus item is set to None or View, the selected group won’t be able to make any changes to the syllabus regardless of individual item permissions.
2. Think about how syllabus content is copied by instructors and other editors at your institution. Before making any changes to group permissions, remember that editors must have view (or edit) permission on the original syllabus and edit permission on the destination syllabus in order to copy content.
3. In any given course, users are likely registered as instructors or students, but there may also be managers, developers, and assistants registered to courses as well. It’s a good idea to review the Users page of the syllabus to confirm which groups are registered to the syllabus so that all permissions can be updated appropriately.
4. If group permissions will be changed to allow more editing permissions, you should consider downloading a PDF of the syllabus prior to updating permissions. By saving a PDF of the syllabus, you are effectively creating a version of the syllabus that can be manually restored if content is changed inaccurately by the new editor.
   

For more information, see our help articles on group permissions, setting group permissions en masse, and setting initial group permissions.

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