Canvas Access for Non-Registered Participants

  • Faculty & Staff

Requesting SAS Canvas Access for Non-Registered Participants

Since 2017, the University has limited instructors' ability to add Students and Observers to Canvas sites by themselves to prevent misunderstandings about course credit and room capacity. Instructors should not add individuals as TAs or Teachers (which grants content editing privileges) without proper authorization.

Our streamlined form allows Instructors, TAs, and Department Administrators to request Canvas access for:

  • Observers and other unregistered students
  • Collaborators
  • Other Guests

Important Considerations

  • Additions cannot exceed room capacity. Please verify your current enrollment and room capacity at the Room Scheduling Portal before submitting. Enrolling over the capacity violates the fire codes.
  • Only Instructors, Teaching Assistants, and Department Administrators, Lecture Demonstration Coordinators and Lab Coordinators can request that a person be added to a Canvas site. Please ask the appropriate person to complete the form.

Information you'll need:

  • Details about the course and the person

    • Full course number (e.g., SUBJ-0001-001) or link to a non-course Canvas site
    • For each person
      • Full name
      • Email address
      • PennKey or 8-digit PennID

  • The role at Penn that describes the person you would like to add

    • Penn undergraduate or graduate student with active affiliation
      • In most cases, students with active affiliation at Penn can be added as Observers in your Canvas site
    • Visiting Scholar or PostDoc with active affiliation
      • As long as the person has active affiliation at Penn, they can be added as an Observer in your Canvas site
    • Any faculty or staff, including Hospital employees; full or part-time
      • Please other faculty and staff to https://www.lps.upenn.edu/auditor-program to register for the course
        This page includes information about the staff tuition benefit
    • Student in the Quaker Consortium
      • Quaker Consortium students register as regular students in the College, so they should be automatically added to your Canvas site.
      • If their registration is delayed, please give them the link to your course's Canvas site.
        Canvas sites for College courses are open for "virtual course shopping" until the end of the Course Selection Period. 
      • If their registration is further delayed, please contact us again after the Course Selection Period and we’ll add them as a Student
        At that point, you can tell the form that the Quaker Consortium student is a regular Penn undergrad with active affiliation
      • Please note that Quaker Consortium students are not eligible to enroll in graduate courses 5xxx and above
    • Student in another affilated program such as Penn Philosophy Consortium, etc.
      • Please make sure that this is an official affiliation with Penn and have the name of the program so we can process their enrollment correctly
    • An external colleague, member of the public, etc.
      • External colleagues and other members of the public must register and pay for the course as an Auditor, but they will not receive a grade
      • Please refer them to https://www.lps.upenn.edu/auditor-program to register for the course

  • The role the person should have in your course. The choices are:

    • Observer
      • In most cases, students will be “Observers” in your Canvas site. 
      • If students just want to see your Canvas site while they wait for a spot to open, they can already see your site during the Virtual Course Shopping Period https://infocanvas.upenn.edu/policies/course-shopping-period
    • Auditor
      • We use the term “Auditor” to mean someone who registers and pays for a course, but is not graded, so if you select that role, you will be routed to a website where they can learn how to register for an Audit. 
    • Teaching Assistant
      • TAs are usually added to the Registrar's records by your department so they can be paid, which automatically enrolls them in Canvas
      • We can add them to Canvas if there is a delay.
      • Please be aware that the TA role can add and delete content, and do everything the Teacher role can do
    • Undergraduate Learning Assistant
      • Undergraduate LAs can see course material, but should not be allowed to view or change student grades, so we have a separate Canvas role for them
    • Designer
      • Designers are staff from the Library or your Department who can add and delete content to your site
      • The can see grades, but can't change them

Next Steps

Once you have the information that you need, please complete the form below to route your request appropriately. We'll either add the individuals directly or seek approval from the divisional Registrar as needed.

https://computing.sas.upenn.edu/add-to-canvas