Canvas courses automatically receive enrollments from CAESAR on a daily basis; however, there may be times when you need to add someone to your course who is not listed in CAESAR. This guide covers:

Adding people to current courses
Adding people to concluded courses
Requesting new Canvas user account creation
Finding a user's NetID

Adding People to Current Courses

If you need to add a TA to your course, request that they be listed in CAESAR as a TA. Your department assistant or the Registrar's Office can assist. Once added, the TA's enrollment will automatically come over to your Canvas course site within 24 hours.

Any additional users (such as program assistants) will need to be added manually to your Canvas course site. You will need their NetID.

To add someone to your course site:

In Canvas, navigate to your course.
Click the People tab in the left hand course menu.
Click the blue + People button in the top right.
Enter each user's NetID into the Add user(s) by NetID box.
You can use commas or line breaks between NetIDs.
See this guide on how to find someone's NetID at Northwestern.
Select the Role for all of the NetIDs to be added. (See this page for what permissions each role has)
Click the Next button.
In the Add People confirmation window, check that all the users are correct.
Click the Add Users button.

Annotated screenshot of the People pane

Annotated screenshot of the 'Add People' pane

Screenshot of the "Add People" confirmation message

Adding People to Concluded Courses

If your Canvas course is from a previous quarter, it may be considered "concluded" by Canvas, which means that no new users can be added to the course site without taking action.

To add a user to a concluded course, you will need to first un-conclude the course.

In Canvas, navigate to your course.
Click the Settings tab in the left course navigation.
Uncheck the Users can only participate in the course between these dates checkbox.
Click the Update Course Details button at the bottom of the page.
Add the user using the Adding people to current courses method described in the previous section.
Click the Settings tab in the left course navigation.
Re-check the Users can only participate in the course between these dates checkbox.
Click the Update Course Details button at the bottom of the page.

Requesting New Canvas User Account Creation

Most Canvas accounts are created automatically through Canvas’s synchronization with CAESAR, which occurs three times a day on weekdays and twice a day on weekends. After a new student or teacher has been enrolled in a course within CAESAR, that person’s enrollment is sent to Canvas, and a Canvas user account is automatically generated at that time.

Generally, people who will not automatically have Canvas accounts created for them are visitors at Northwestern or users with affiliate NetIDs. A broader group of Feinberg School of Medicine users, including residents, some faculty, and some incoming students, may not have Canvas accounts automatically generated for them.

If you or someone you are supporting needs a Canvas account manually created, you may email the Northwestern IT Support Center at consultant@northwestern.edu and request the creation of a Canvas user account. Provide the NetID of the user in your email so your request can be processed with ease. At this time, the Support Center is creating all Canvas accounts that require manual creation.

Finding a User's NetID

Canvas requires a user's NetID when adding someone to a course. You can look up a user's NetID in CAESAR or in the Northwestern Directory.

To look up a user's NetID in the Northwestern Directory:

Go to the Northwestern Directory.
If you're off campus, you'll need to use the Northwestern VPN in order to view NetIDs.
Search for the user by name or email address.
Click the [more] link under their name in the search results.
Copy their NetID.