Blackboard 9.1: Add / Remove Teaching Assistants (Tas)

BLACKBOARD 9.
1:
Add / Remove Teaching Assistants (TAs)
NOTE: These instructions discuss how to add and remove a TA. However, these same instructions
can easily be applied when adding or removing other users from the course, with some caveats (see
below). For instance, adding a Course Builder is exactly the same process as adding a TA, except
that the role selected is different.
Many instructors want to add Teaching Assistants (TAs) into their courses in Blackboard. There is
more than one way to do this:
1. When submitting course information to the Registrar, indicate the TAs for the course. The
Registrar will then populate the course with the TAs for you inside of Blackboard, along with
regular student enrollments. NOTE: This is the preferred course of action. EdTech fully
supports instructors doing this FIRST, before attempting the second method below.
2. Add a TA manually yourself. The Registrar permits instructors to do this without negatively
impacting the enrollment information in a course.
IMPORTANT: The Registrar permits instructors to add TAs and other instructors, but the
Registrar does NOT like people to do so. The Registrar PREFERS departments to notify the
Registrar of all instructor and TA assignments for a course. The Registrar then takes care of
enrolling them in the class in their role.
WARNING: Dropping a student in a course through Blackboard, as opposed to allowing the
Registrar to handle the process, can cause enrollment issues in a course. EdTech
STRONGLY recommends all enrollments in a Blackboard course (both adds and drops, as
well as role changes [i.e. student to TA]) be handled through the Registrars Office rather than
through Blackboard.
Teaching Assistants in Blackboard have all the functionality of an instructor in the course. They can
add and remove content. They can change grades in the Grade Center. However, they cannot
remove an instructor or alter an instructors role in the course. Instructors can add and remove TAs.
The following roles are available in a course:
Student Default role for users. Students should only be enrolled in a course through the
Registrars enrollment processes and NOT through Blackboard.
Instructor The primary instructional role in the course. Instructors can add and remove all
other users in a course.
Teaching Assistant (TA) Secondary instructional role in the course. TAs can add a remove
other users, but cannot add or remove instructors. They have access to the Grade Center and
can add or remove content.
Course Builder This role allows the user to add or remove content to the course. Course
Builders do NOT have access to the Grade Center.
Grader The opposite of a Course Builder, Graders can access the Grade Center, but cannot
add or remove content.
Guest Guests have extremely limited access to the course materials. They cannot
participate in any of the more interactive components of a course (such as discussion boards)
and cannot submit assignments or other graded items.
Educational Technology @ Missouri S&T

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BLACKBOARD 9.1: Add / Remove Teaching Assistants (TAs) -- 1
ADD TAS INTO A COURSE

1. Navigate to the course where you want to add a TA.
2. Click Users and Groups in the Control Panel.
3. Click Users.
4. Click Find Users to Enroll.

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5. Type in the Username for the user(s) to be added. Separate multiple usernames with a
comma. Or click Browse to search for users based on Last Name or First Name. Only users
that are NOT already enrolled in the course will show up in the search results.
6. Select the Role for any user(s) added from the drop-down list. NOTE: A TA attempting to add
users can only add users with the Student role. However, students should only be added
through the normal Add/Drop process of course registration handled by the Registrars Office.
7. Click Submit.
NOTE: To add a different user role, simply select that role from the list: Instructor, Course
Builder, Grader, or Guest. Do NOT add Students to a course using this method.

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CHANGE A STUDENT INTO A TA (OR OTHER ROLE)

It is also possible to change a students role from Student into a TA. In other words, a student has
been added to a course and needs to be promoted to a TA for that course, for some reason. Altering
a student into a TA will keep that student enrolled in the course, independent of the Registrars
enrollment status for that student in the course.
WARNING: Changing a students role in a course can have severe repercussions for the student.
Once the student is changed into a TA, they will no longer appear in the Grade Center and will
no longer be able to submit assignments or see their own grades (if they have any).
Students who are promoted to TAs are obliged to keep any confidential information about
other students in class private, per FERPA regulations.
EdTech does NOT recommend instructors do this. The best practice is to contact the Registrar to
have a students role changed from student to TA for the course.
1. Navigate to the course where you want to change a students role.
3. Click Users.

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4. If you know the user who you want to change, use the Search boxes to find that user.
If you want to see all the users in the course, select Not Blank from the second drop-down
list and click Go. This will show all of the users in the course, 25 users at a time.
5. Click the action link
next to a users name.
6. Click Change Users Role in Course.
7. Select the new role for the user.
8. Click Submit.

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REMOVE A TA FROM A COURSE

If you want to remove a TA from a course, the matter in which the TA is removed is dependent on
how they were initially enrolled.
If the TA was enrolled by the Registrar, then contact the Registrar. The Registrar will remove
the TA from teaching the course. The next time Blackboard talks to the Registrars database,
that change will be reflected in Blackboard.
If the TA was enrolled manually, then you can un-enroll the TA yourself, following the steps
below:
1. Navigate to the course where you want to remove a TA.

3. Click Users.
4. If you know the user who you want to change, use the Search boxes to find that user.
If you want to see all the users in the course, select Not Blank from the second drop-down
list and click Go. This will show all of the users in the course, 25 users at a time.

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5. Click the checkbox next to the TAs name. Select multiple checkboxes if you need to remove
multiple TAs from a course.
6. Click Remove Users from Course.
7. You will receive a warning message indicating the action is final and cannot be undone. Click
OK to confirm. NOTE: Once a TA has been removed, you will need to add the TA manually
again as outlined above.

edtech@mst.edu

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BLACKBOARD 9.

Educational Technology @ Missouri S&T