Adding Canvas Roles

Read and review the Adding Canvas Roles then complete the Canvas Add or Remove Request form.

To add a user to a Canvas section for the current or future quarter. 

• Review Bellevue College Canvas Roles first. 

• A service request must be generated by the original instructor of the course.  

• The Canvas role to be added must be identified in the form. 

• We suggest that you use the Observer role, unless the requested user is co-teaching your class. 

Note: An Associate Teacher is able to interact with the students, copy current course content, edit/delete course content. 

To add a user to a Canvas section for a past quarter: 

• We will not be adding any types of Canvas roles to a past quarter starting in Winter quarter 2026. 

To share content from past courses: 

• If the original instructor's permission is NOT available, we are unable to fulfill the request. 

• If the original instructor is no longer with the college and there is no permission document provided by the instructor, we are unable to fulfill the request. 

• Deans Program Chairs, Program Managers, do not have the authorization to share content that belongs to the primary instructor. Materials Ownership – Article 10 

• If the original instructor is available, we need an email with header/footer included as a document for authorization from that instructor. 

• It is best that the primary instructor creates the Canvas Roles Add/Remove request ticket. 

• The Canvas Roles Add/Remove form must be completed in full. This includes the Quarter, Year, Course Name, Course # and Course URL and the reason. The Description field can be filled with details.  

• If anyone else is completing the ticket, they must include the original course instructor's authorization to complete the request. The authorization must include the name of the requestor being added along with the permission and any other related details that are specific. For example, an instructor may provide authorization for access to any of their courses, for any teacher. Or an instructor may only allow access to two teachers and only specific classes with a specific Canvas role. 

Note: Read Materials Ownership if the original instructor was paid to develop the content and attach the document to the ticket. Materials Ownership – Article 10 

Workflow to share content: 

• For an Associate Teacher role request -  

• The ticket requestor is given a choice to Export a course copy, save it to their choice of repository like OneDrive and then share with others. 

• OR an empty sandbox is created, past content is imported, and the new users are added. 

• For an Observer role request - 

• An empty sandbox, past content is imported, and the instructor is added with the Teacher role, and the other instructor is added with the Observer role. 

Note - An Associate Teacher is able to copy current course content and have the permission to reuse your content. We suggest that you use the Observer role if you want the content to be viewed only and NOT copied. 

Instructors can remove the Associate Teacher or Observer roles at any time using the Canvas Roles Add or Remove Request ticket. 

Review the faculty agreement on course review and evaluation between Bellevue College and BCAHE here: 

Adding a user for an Online Course Observation Guidelines 

For more information, please review the Bellevue College Canvas Roles. Once the new Canvas Role is added to your class, we recommend that all students be informed of the additional person and their purpose for being added to their class.