Canvas - Account Roles and Permissions [UW-Madison]

This document lists and describes the Canvas account roles that are used at UW-Madison. The vast majority of UW-Madison faculty, staff, and students interact with Canvas via course roles. Account roles are typically held by IT support staff, departmental administrators, or instructional designers.

For further information on account roles, see Canvas - Course Roles and Permissions [UW-Madison]

Account Admin Role

This is a top-level role used to manage system-wide access. It is assigned to a small number of central IT staff who are responsible for administering and supporting UW-Madison's instance of Canvas.

Sub-Account Admin Role

The "Sub-Account Admin" role is typically held by departmental IT staff who provide Canvas consulting and support for instructors. Other candidates for the Sub-Account Admin role may include program chairs or administrators who need access to multiple courses within their department for accreditation or other administrative purposes.

To apply for Canvas Sub-Account Admin access, fill out the Canvas Sub-Account Admin Request Form. Requests must be approved by a departmental authority and may take several weeks to process. For more information, contact learnuwsupport@wisc.edu.

Departmental Sub-Account Roles

UW-Madison provides five additional sub-account roles to meet the several and varied use cases found across campus. The table below identifies the primary administrative powers of each.

Role View Content Add/Edit Content Add/Remove Students Add/Remove Non-Students View Grades Edit Grades
Sub-Account Designer Y Y N N N N
Sub-Account Instructor Associate Y Y N Y Y Y
Sub-Account Support Y Y N Y N N
Sub-Account Observer Y N N N N N
Sub-Account Grade Viewer Y N N N Y N

Other Account Roles

These roles are fairly uncommon. In most instances, they were created to address specific support needs and are affiliated with IT support groups.

  • API/Service: Account role used to integrate with SIS.
  • DoIT AT Support Staff: Role used by DoIT Academic Technology staff to support faculty, students, and staff.
  • DoIT Help Desk 1: Role used by DoIT Help Desk Level One staff and Help Desk Level Two student employees.
  • DoIT Help Desk 2: Role used by DoIT Help Desk Level Two staff.


Keywordscanvas, roles, permissions, sub-account admin, subaccount, course coordinator, departmental, request form, administrator, designer, it staff, admin, handling, requests   Doc ID85447
OwnerLearn@UW MadisonGroupLearn@UW-Madison
Created2018-09-05 15:34:48Updated2024-01-24 14:58:53
SitesDoIT Help Desk, Learn@UW-Madison
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