Roles and Rights | Brightspace Support

Within Brightspace, Utrecht University uses a fixed set of roles to determine what users can see and do within courses and other parts of the learning environment.

These roles are based on the standard roles provided by Brightspace and have been adjusted by Utrecht University where necessary, so they align with the university’s educational practice, responsibilities, and management structure.

This document provides a complete overview of all roles used within Brightspace, including:

course roles, such as Instructor, Teaching Assistant and Learner,
faculty roles, such as Brightspace Support Faculty,
administrative roles for central management,

For each role, the associated permissions and capabilities are described, as well as the situations in which the role is used within Utrecht University. This helps clarify which functionalities are available to different types of users within Brightspace.

At the bottom of this page, you will find the roles matrix with a complete overview of all roles and their associated permissions within Brightspace.

1. Course roles

· 1.1 Learner
· 1.2 – Learner
· 1.3 – Learner Observer
· 1.4 – Impersonate – Learner
· 1.5 Instructor
· 1.6 – Instructor
· 1.7 Instructor Sandbox
· 1.8 – Impersonate – Instructor
· 1.9 Teaching Assistant
· 1.10 – Teaching Assistant
· 1.11 Course Builder
· 1.12 – Course Builder
· 1.13 Onderwijsondersteuner
· 1.14 – Onderwijsondersteuner
· 1.15 – Brightspace Support
· 1.16 Observer
· 1.17 – Observer

Course roles determine which permissions users have within a specific course. These roles are used by instructors, students, and support staff.

There are two types of course roles:

Automatically assigned roles
These roles are automatically assigned via the integration with Osiris and the Local State Editor. These roles are centrally managed and cannot be modified manually.

Manual roles
These are variants of the same standard roles, configured so instructors and key users can manually add or remove them without conflicts with the Osiris integration.

Manual roles can be recognized by a dash before the name, such as – Instructor or – Learner.

1.1 Learner

This is the standard Brightspace role for students, automatically linked via Osiris (or via the LSE). No changes have been made compared to the standard Brightspace role.

1.2 – Learner

This role is a manual copy of the Learner role with the same permissions.
Instructors can use this role to add students to a course themselves.

In the Classlist, the following remains visible:

Learner = automatically added via Osiris
– Learner = manually added

1.3 – Learner Observer

The Learner Observer role is intended for viewing course content without active participation.

Key characteristics:

Based on the Learner role
View content only
No active participation possible

Not available:

Grades
Assignments
Groups
Discussions
External Learning Tools (LTI)

Disabled settings compared to Learner:

Appear on Attendance Registers
Content statistics, feedback and SCORM reports
Assessment in Grades
Self-enrollment in Groups
Class Progress
Groups: none of the above

1.4 – Impersonate – Learner

This role is intended for faculty key users and support staff.

With this role, specially configured test accounts can be impersonated (log in as a student) for testing and support purposes.

1.5 Instructor

The standard role for instructors at Utrecht University.

Standard permissions:

Create and edit course content
View and edit grades

Additional permissions (UU-specific):

Add and remove users
Change roles within the course

1.6 – Instructor

Manual variant of the Instructor role with the same permissions.

Instructors can use this role to add colleagues to a course themselves.

1.7 Instructor Sandbox

This role is used in sandbox courses for testing and development purposes.

Limitations compared to Instructor:

Cannot add or remove users
Cannot change roles

1.8 – Impersonate – Instructor

This role is intended for key users and support staff to impersonate test accounts as Instructor for testing and support purposes.

1.9 Teaching Assistant

This role is similar to Instructor, but without permissions for user management.

Used for teaching assistants.

1.10 – Teaching Assistant

Manual variant of the Teaching Assistant role.

Can be added manually by Instructors.

1.11 Course Builder

This role is intended for users who build course content.

Limitations:

No access to the Classlist
No user management
No access to Grades
No access to Assignments
No access to Groups

1.12 – Course Builder

Manual variant of the Course Builder role.

1.13 Onderwijsondersteuner

This role is intended for faculty support staff who help set up courses.

In Blackboard, this role was known as Onderwijssecretariaat.

Permissions and limitations:

Can view Grades but cannot edit them
Can temporarily add Learners (pilot phase)

Once the full Osiris integration is in place, user management will be removed.

1.14 – Onderwijsondersteuner

Manual variant of this role.

1.15 – Brightspace Support

This role is intended for support staff who assist instructors with course management.

Based on the Teaching Assistant role.

1.16 Observer

Read-only role for viewing courses.

Used for example by:

Examination Boards
Audits
Accreditation and review committees

1.17 – Observer

Manual variant of the Observer role.

2. Faculty Roles

· 2.1 Faculty Instructor
· 2.2 Brightspace Support Faculty
· 2.3 Observer-Faculty

Faculty roles are so-called cascading roles at faculty level. This means that a user with this role automatically has access to all underlying components within that faculty, including all courses.

When this role is assigned at faculty level, the user does not need to be added to individual courses manually. Access is automatically “passed through” to all existing and future courses within the faculty.

Users with a faculty role can therefore view courses and, depending on the specific role, also make changes. This role is not visible in the Classlist of a course, meaning the user does not appear as a participant to instructors or students.

This type of role is used for faculty key users and for support provided by the central Brightspace Support team and CAT (Centre for Academic Teaching), so they can efficiently support all courses within a faculty without needing to be added per course.

– 2.1 Faculty Instructor
· 2.2 Brightspace Support Faculty
· 2.3 Observer-Faculty

2.1 Faculty Instructor

Cascading copy of the UU Instructor role.

Provides faculty key users with management permissions within their faculty.

Replaces Blackboard roles:

Domain Instructor
Mini Admin
Domain Observer

2.2 Brightspace Support Faculty

Cascading copy of the Brightspace Support role.

Provides support staff with access to all courses within a faculty for support and migration purposes.

This role provides full access to course content, but does not allow users to be added or removed, nor roles to be changed.

2.3 Observer-Faculty

Cascading read-only role.

Used for accreditation and review committees.

Can only be assigned by Super Administrators.

3. Administrator Roles

· 3.1 Super Administrator
· 3.2 Administrator
· 3.3 Faculty Administrator

Administrator roles are used by Functional Management and faculty key users with management responsibilities. Users with this role have extensive access to system functions within Brightspace, including the management of courses, roles, organisational units, and other central settings.

Depending on the specific administrator role, they can view and change system configurations, manage users and roles, and provide support for functional and technical questions.

These roles are intended for management and support at central and faculty level and are only assigned to users who are responsible for the functional and technical management of Brightspace within the university.

3.1 Super Administrator

Full system access to Brightspace.

Can:

Manage all content
Manage users
Manage roles
Manage system settings

3.2 Administrator

Copy of the Super Administrator role.

Not actively used within Utrecht University.

3.3 Faculty Administrator

Non-cascading role with access to the Users Tool within the Admin Panel.

Faculty key users have:

Faculty Administrator at UT Org Unit
Faculty Instructor at faculty level

4. Roles Matrix

The roles matrix below provides an overview of the roles used within Brightspace and their associated permissions. For each role, it indicates whether users can manage course content, view or manage grades, and manage users.

This matrix helps provide insight into the differences between roles and clarifies which permissions apply to each role within a course or at faculty level.

Rol	Manage course content	Manage grades	Manage users	Cascading
Course roles
Learner	❌	❌	❌	❌
– Learner	❌	❌	❌	❌
Learner Observer	❌	❌	❌	❌
Impersonate Learner	❌	❌	❌	❌
Instructor	✔️	✔️	✔️	❌
– Instructor	✔️	✔️	✔️	❌
Instructor Sandbox	✔️	✔️	❌ (beperkt)	❌
Impersonate Instructor	✔️	✔️	✔️	❌
Teaching Assistant	✔️	✔️	❌	❌
– Teaching Assistant	✔️	✔️	❌	❌
Course Builder	✔️	❌	❌	❌
– Course Builder	✔️	❌	❌	❌
Onderwijsondersteuner	✔️	Alleen lezen	✔️ (tijdelijk)	❌
– Onderwijsondersteuner	✔️	Alleen lezen	✔️ (tijdelijk)	❌
Brightspace Support	✔️	✔️	❌	❌
Observer	❌	❌	❌	❌
– Observer	❌	❌	❌	❌
Faculty roles
Faculty Instructor	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️
Brightspace Support Faculty	✔️	✔️	❌	✔️
Observer-Faculty	❌	❌	❌	✔️
Administrator roles
Faculty Administrator	❌	❌	✔️	❌
Administrator	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️
Super Administrator	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️