Best Practices
in Role Management
Changing needs and
solutions
Kyle Mackie Shawn Vance
eLearning Program Manager Technical Support Manager

Role Management
 Introductions
 Definitions and Literature Review
 The Slippery Slope
 How’s, Who’s, Why’s of Role Creation
 Recommendations/What to think about
 Future directions in Role Management
 New ideas brainstorming session

Quick intro – Kyle
 eLearning Program Manager
– Technical support team, development and
maintenance of websites
– Training Instructors on D2L platform tools
– Creating Roles and assigning permissions

Quick intro – Shawn
 Technical Support Manager
– Manage day to day support operations
– troubleshoot and assist with technical issues
– Provide input to development/product
management based on client feedback
– Seeks ways to improve customer service ie) new
24/7 Support initiative.

Quick intro – Open Learning, UofG
 www.open.uoguelph.ca
 250+ DE courses
 18,000 enrolments
 9 org units
 “legacy client”
 do things a bit differently

Definitions
 What is meant by role?
– A role is comprised of a collection of security
settings in the D2L system. Roles are applied to
users at the orgUnit level. Users can have
different roles and different orgUnits. Assigning
permissions to a role dictates what the role will be
able to see and do within the system. By default,
organizations are set up with three roles: student,
instructor and administrator.

Definitions
 What is meant by role? (cont’d)
– Organizations have full control over the roles in
their system. For example, administrators may
create a “Student Helpdesk” role for students who
are responsible for the student helpdesk. This role
may be similar to the role of a typical student, yet
the helpdesk role will have more permissions
surrounding sending out login information and
unlocking student accounts.

Definitions
 What is meant by permissions?
– Permissions are rights or privileges that are
organized by tool and granted/denied by
OrgUnitType. A set of permissions define what a
role can and cannot see and do within the D2L
System.

Why are roles so friggin’ important?
 If tools don’t work properly, it might be a
permissions issue. (401 Not Authorized Errors)
 Every school is different, every program is
different
 D2L’s tool is almost infinitely customizable
BUT…

The slippery slope
 Instructor
 Coordinator
 Teaching Assistant
 TA without grades access
 TA with read-only grades access
 Instructor with access to quiz management
 TA with access to quiz management
 Guest instructor

The slipperier slope
 Info Desk
 Production and Info
 Assignment Coordinator
 Operations

The slipperiest slope
 Importing users from different orgs
 Different tools
 Different configurations
 Different needs
 Cascading…forever

How roles are defined
 Default settings
 Customization options
 Copying, naming

a million checkboxes…

…and not much sense

Who defines roles
 Default settings
 Administrative person/group
– defining who gets to define roles
– editing/viewing permissions
– how information is shared among team
 Keeping track
– users in different orgs
– descriptions, etc.

Why roles are defined
 administrative needs
 control versus freedom
 institutional policies (privacy, AUP) especially
grades, class list
 individual whims
 special circumstances (award submission)
 new tools, new versions

Recommendations
 Keep it simple
 Dedicated staff for role management
– NOTE: We recommend that only high-level administrators
have access to the Manage Roles and Security tool.
 Clear naming convention and description
 Try to make new needs fit into existing structure,
before creating new role
 Clarify "wants" versus "needs“
 Things are always changing

Recommendations - continued
 uber org vs. multi orgs
 copy roles to preserve originals when experimenting
with different setups
 new users -> plan out what roles you think you may
need in advance
 20 questions
 test..re-test and test again
– At orgHome and course offering level
 Examine D2L release notes and consider impacts

The future – new ideas
 Per user security settings (Windows-based
permissions. User/group type)
 Import/export and sharing roles
 Select all
 Set permissions for multiple roles/orgs
 Diagnostic tool
 Linked permissions – class list, IDs…
 Easier to read screen layout? Suggestions?
 Other ideas?

Questions?
 Questions about Role Management?