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Add a User to a PSU Canvas Course

This article was last updated Feb 17, 2025 @ 2:28 pm.

While most people are added to a Canvas course through an automated process, you may occasionally need to add one or more people manually. In most cases, this is something you can do yourself, but some situations may require support from OIT.

Adding a user with an Odin ID

You can add anyone with an active Odin ID to your Canvas course as long as it is during the active course dates or prior to the course start date.

  1. In Course Navigation, select People (1) link.
  1. In the upper right corner of the class list, select the +People (2) button.

Note: If the +People button is grayed out, it is likely because the course has concluded. To add a user, you will need to reopen the course by updating the course’s Participation date settings. However, be aware that updating the course’s Participation settings will open the course to all users. If you want to reopen the course for only specific users, follow the steps found in the Incomplete Student Access to a Canvas Course article.

  1. Enter the PSU email address (3) of the person you want to add. (Note: To add multiple users, enter their email addresses on a single line separated by commas.)
  2. Using the dropdown menus, assign the user(s) Role (4) and Section (5). (Note: When adding multiple users at once, only one role and section can be assigned. If you’re not sure which role to choose, read User Roles in Canvas.)
  3. Select Next (6).
  1. If located, the users to be added to the course are displayed. Confirm these are the correct users, then select the Add Users (7) button.

If you are unable to add a user with their email, you can also try adding them with their Login ID. This is the same as their Odin ID (or the part of the email before the @). If you continue to have trouble, contact the Office of Academic Innovation for faculty support.

Adding a user without an Odin ID

A user must have an Odin account to be added to a Canvas course. If you are working with a community partner or other colleague outside the PSU community and would like them to have access to your course, they must first obtain an Affiliate Account and Odin username.

After receiving an Affiliate Account and Odin username, you should be able to follow the steps above to add a user with an Odin ID. If you have any trouble adding the new user, contact the Office of Academic Innovation for faculty support. Please include the user’s pdx.edu email address in your request. This email address is required for our support professionals to add users to a course, as PSU IDs are not used in Canvas.

Disappearing Student

Question:
My student keeps getting kicked out of my Canvas course! Every time I add them back in, the student gets removed again. Can you fix this?

 

Answer:
Your student is likely being removed from Canvas because of enrollment status changes in PSU’s official enrollment system, Banner. Banner sends enrollment information to Canvas regularly to keep Canvas enrollment up-to-date. If you manually add a student to your Canvas course, but that student isn’t enrolled through Banner (or their enrollment changes after you add them), Banner will tell Canvas to remove the student because of the change in their enrollment information.

 

When this occurs, contact OAI. Our support professionals can work around the Banner unenrollment.