Restricting User Access

Every so often, we get an official request to restrict a user from some portion of Blackboard.

Some questions we need to ask:

• how urgent is this request?
• what is the scope of the restriction?
• is the restriction permanent (e.g., someone leaves the University) or possible needs to be reversed in the future?
• what course roles does this user have in the affected Course/Org(s)?
• does the user still need (or have the right) to get into other Course/Org(s)?
• do we need to retain course records for that user (e.g., submissions, discussions, grades)?
• does the user have special roles in Blackboard that give them extra functionality?
• and - in our case - will the user retain a valid University login id (e.g., has not been revoked/disabled)?

Some methods for restricting access:

1. Making them unavailable in Course/ Org(s) via Course > Control Panel > Users & Groups > Users > Change Users Availability in Course



2.  Remove them from Course/Org(s) via Course > Control Panel > Users & Groups > Users > Remove Users from Course


3. Making them unavailable via Admin GUI > Users > Select User > Make Unavailable



4. Using snapshot to change their USER ID  in Blackboard so it mismatches their University ID (e.g., userid -> userid_disabled)

5. Deleting their USER ID via Admin GUI > Users

There are Pros and Cons to each, and so one or more methods may be used.  We should look at those in more detail...