Roles and Permissions FAQ
Advising is highly configurable through roles and permissions. UI features and behaviors change based on role (Director, Advisor+, Advisor, Assistant, Faculty) and the permissions you grant to each user.
Roles and permissions are central to user setup and management.
- Roles allow the system to control the access rights for groups of users. This drives security:
- What functionality they may use
- Which students they may access (just their own, their SSU’s, or all)
- Permissions are then added to individual users, to grant special rights (such as alert management).
Limited to SSU — Except where noted, these permissions operate within the user’s assigned SSU (Student Success Unit, such as Advising, Financial Aid, Athletics). That is, if you are granted the power to manage others’ calendars, it only applies to other calendars within your own SSU.
How many roles are there?
Five, and each new user must be assigned to one of them. Roles are the groups you use to organize and manage your users.
These five Roles are the default access control groupings for Advising. Some Roles also include specific Permissions for all users in that role:
| Role | Visibility and Access | Permissions Included |
| Director | Sees all students, advisors, and faculty within an SSU | Manage resource libraryManage schedules Send announcements |
| Advisor+ | Sees all students within an SSU | |
| Advisor | Sees only their assigned students within an SSU | |
| Admin Assistant | Sees no students; manages advisor calendars | Manage schedules |
| Faculty | Views student rosters for their current sections; gives commendations or raises alerts on struggling students |
How many permissions are there?
Seven, but they are all optional. Permissions are added manually to individual accounts, except where the Role grants them by default. Add permissions to a user account only if their Role access needs to be expanded for them to do their job.
| Permission | Typical Roles | What it grants |
| Manage alerts | Director Advisor+ Advisor | See, resolve, and comment on all alerts within the SSUReceive any daily digest (Alert Committee) |
| Manage resource library | Director | Add, edit, delete, and share materials in the resource library.(Without this permission, users just view its content) |
| Manage schedules | Director | Add availability, view schedules, and create appointments on behalf of other advisors in their SSU. |
| Manage users | Director only | Change roles and permissions for others in the SSU |
| Send announcements | Director only | Send announcements to student groups they have access to in their SSU. |
| View all students at the institution | Director Advisor+ | See all students across all SSUs. |
| Faculty | Director Advisor+ Advisor Admin Asst | View rosters for classes they are currently teachingGive commendations and raise course alerts on students |
What can I customize?
The left half of the table below shows the default visibility for the different roles, which each of you can customize for yourself, in your own in-app Settings. The table shows the defaults.
The right half of the table shows which permissions can be customized for you by someone with Manage Users permissions. Note that Manage Calendars refers to handling others’ calendars, not your own.
| Role | Who Sees Calendar | Can Be Messaged | Advising Directory | Manage Announcements | Manage Calendars | Manage Library |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | All Students | Y | Y | Required | ||
| Advisor+ | All Students | Y | Y | Y | N | Y |
| Advisor | If Assigned | Y | Y | N | N | N |
| Faculty | No Students | N | N | N | N | N |
| Admin Assistant | No Students | Y | Y | N | Required | N |