A knowledge base article about Can you add me to another instructor's bCourses site? provided by the UC Berkeley IT Service Hub - Knowledge Portal
We sometimes get requests from instructors or instructional staff who would like to access content created by another instructor (e.g., course materials from a prior semester) or a request from a dean or department chair who would like to review course materials of instructors in their department or program.
For privacy and security purposes, bCourses support staff do not add anyone to a bCourses course or project sites without the explicit permission of the instructor or owner of that site. Even with access provided, please be aware that direct use of course material requires the instructor’s permission; absent permission, course material can be used for reference but not used, copied, or revised for a new offering or course. Please review the Accessing bCourses Sites for Instructional Continuity policy for more information.
There are three options for requesting instructor consent to be added to their bCourses site:
If the original instructor/owner is still with the university and has CalNet access, contact them directly and have them add you to the site. Use the instructions on the How do I add people to my site? page for adding people to a site, which you can send to them in case they are not familiar with the process.
If the original instructor/owner has separated from the university, retired, or is not able (for medical or other reasons) to add you directly to the site, please have them send an email to bcourseshelp@berkeley.edu and have them include [1] the name of person to be added, [2] the name of the course, and [3] the role that they would like for the person to have.
Here's a sample message that they can send to bCourses support: “Please add [NAME OF STAFF] to my [NAME AND SEMESTER OF SITE] with the role of [ROLE].”
Typically, Course Designer is appropriate for copying/importing the content of that site to another, without providing access to grades or roster information. A full list of roles and their permissions are available on the What roles can I assign to users in my bCourses site, and what do each of them do? page.
In cases where the original course/project site owner cannot be reached for their consent, please see this page on the Office of Ethics, Risk, & Compliance Services website: Access to Electronic Communications.
Underneath the heading "Access WITHOUT consent," you will find more information, as well as a link to a form that you can fill out and submit to formally request access without consent to their course/project site.