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Instructor Help: Guest Accounts
- What is a guest account and who needs one?
- Can a student preview my syllabus without a guest account?
- How can I request that a guest account be created for my course site?
- Can I create guest accounts myself?
- Is a new guest account required for each class or each quarter?
1. What is a guest account and who needs one?
All instructors teaching Humanities classes, and all students enrolled in Humanities classes, have an Ecampus account automatically created for them. These accounts, which allow access to Humanities course sites, are generated from the Registrar's database. In some cases, you may have colleagues or non-standard students who are not in the database but would like to access your course site. To grant them access to an Ecampus course site, the Ecampus team must create a guest account.
A guest account should not be requested to grant access to students who have recently enrolled in the course and are awaiting addition to the system. It takes at least 24 hours for the Registrar and Ecampus to complete their processing and add new students to the system (and usually until Monday if the student enrolls on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday). Once Ecampus has captured an enrollment change, the student will have a regular Ecampus account and access to all course sites in which s/he has enrolled. If the student enrolls in the first two weeks of a quarter and already has a valid Ecampus account, s/he can expedite his/her access to the course site by self-registering.
Students who are not part of the regular student body at UCLA are enrolled differently and therefore do not appear in the Registrar's database from which Ecampus draws its data. UCLA Extension students who take courses on campus will be affected by this, as will students from other universities who are enrolled through distance learning or under special arrangement. Such students will need to have guest accounts created for them.
You may also wish to create for yourself a guest account with student-level access, so you can see how the course site functions from the students' perspective.
2. Can a student preview my syllabus without a guest account?
Yes, a student or any other visitor can preview your syllabus or course description if you have chosen to make it publicly available. This function was previously available on Ecampus and was re-enabled for the Ecampus upgrade in spring 2005. When you add a file to the "public_syllabus" folder in your course site, Ecampus will automatically create a link to it in the top left of the course welcome page / info page (see picture below). If you prefer that your syllabus remain private (available only to students who can log into your course site), put a more general "course information" file in the "public_syllabus" folder, and link the syllabus itself to the course Homepage. If your ITC or someone on the Ecampus team posts the syllabus for you, s/he will make it public unless you request otherwise.
3. How can I request that a guest account be created for my course site?
Instructors must originate or approve all requests for guest access to their course sites. In addition to the instructor's emailed permission, we need the following information about the individual requesting guest access to that instructor's course site. You might want to have the individuals email you the information and then simply forward their emails, with your permission, to us at ecampus@humnet.ucla.edu.
- Full name: First / Last
- 9-digit UCLA UID (if the requestor has one)
- Current email address
- Course details. Please include:
- Department or subject area
- Course number
- Lecture or Seminar number (if any)
- Academic term (Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer Session A, B or C)
4. Can I create guest accounts myself?
No. At this time, Ecampus staff must create all guest accounts, and will gladly do so upon request of the instructor.
5. Is a new guest account required for each class or each quarter?
No. Guest accounts, like regular accounts, persist in the system as long as they are active, so they can be reused. For this reason, creation of new guest accounts each time is discouraged. The same guest account can be used to add another class, if the instructor has granted prior permission, or if it is during the period when self-registration is enabled (generally through the first two weeks of any quarter, including the add/drop period).