Use this page to diagnose and resolve issues in Distributed Administration. Most issues occur when permissions, access context, enrollment, hierarchy, or configuration variables do not align.
Distributed Administration FAQs
The following section answers some frequently asked questions (FAQs) about Distributed Administration.
Should a Sub-org administrator use the Create Course widget in a Distributed Administration setup?
No, a Sub-org administrator should not use the Create Course widget in Distributed Administration. If they create a course as a Sub-org administrator role using the Create Course widget, that course is created outside the Sub-org unit hierarchy.
How do Sub-org administrators access homepages for their Sub Org Units?
Sub-org administrators should use the My Org Units widget to access links to their Sub-Org homepage from the Organization homepage. For more information refer to the Enable Access to the Sub-org unit homepage section of the Set up Distributed Administration topic.
Which tools can Sub-org administrators access?
The tools that a Sub-org administrator can access depends on the role permissions they are assigned by an organization administrator. Refer to the Role permissions and tools available to Sub-org administrators section of the Set up Distributed Administration topic for more details.
How do Sub-org administrators access available tools for their Sub-Org level?
Sub-org administrators must access available tools by navigating to their Sub-org unit homepage and clicking Course Admin to access the Course Administration page of their Sub-org unit. Refer to the Accessing tools from Course Admin section of the Explore the Sub-org unit homepage topic for more details.
Do I need to create a new custom Org Unit Type to use as my Sub-org unit?
D2L strongly recommends that you create a new custom org unit type as your Sub-org unit that has a unique name that is not shared by any of our standard org unit types, and is easy to identify when being used.
As an organization administrator setting up DA, you can use any existing custom org unit type as your Sub-org unit type as long as you've given it a unique name to avoid confusing it with an existing standard org unit type.
Refer to the Create a new custom Sub-org unit Type section of the Set up Distributed Administration topic for more details.
What is the difference between setting a default organization grade scheme vs. creating one at the Sub-Org level?
It is important to understand the difference between controlling the default grade scheme applied to all newly created org units as an organization administrator, and creating a new grade scheme as a Sub-org administrator.
Organization administrator: Set the default grade scheme for all newly created child org units
As an organization administrator, you can use the d2l.Tools.Grades.GradeSchemeId configuration variable to set the default Grade Scheme for all newly created org units that are a child of the organization top level unit.
For example, you can set the Organization Value of d2l.Tools.Grades.GradeSchemeId to Percentage. This then sets any newly created child Org Unit to a default Grade Scheme of Percentage. If you navigate to your new child Org Unit and select Grades > Schemes tab, you will see Percentage set as the Default Scheme for Organization Schemes.
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Important: The d2l.Tools.Grades.GradeSchemeId configuration variable only impacts newly created Org Units. This configuration variable setting does not change or update the default grade scheme setting for existing Org Units.
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Sub-org administrator: Create a new grade scheme for a Sub-org unit
In this case, Sub-org administrators can create a new grade scheme and manually set it as the default grade scheme at their Sub-org unit level.
For example, a Sub-org administrator at the Sub-org unit level can navigate to Course Admin > Grades > Schemes tab and click New Scheme to create a new grade scheme. This new grade scheme will appear under Course Schemes. A Sub-org administrator can then click the check mark under Set As Default to manually set their grade scheme as the Default Scheme for the Sub-Org unit only.
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Important: When a Sub-org administrator sets a Default Scheme for their Sub-org unit, this action will not enforce the default grade scheme for any org units below that Sub-org unit. Although the newly created grade scheme appears under the Grades tool for all course offerings nested under the Sub-org unit level, each instructor can choose to set it as the default grade scheme in each of those course offerings.
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Troubleshoot Distributed Administration
The followings section helps you to diagnose and resolve common issues in Distributed Administration setup and use.
Courses tool is missing or "Not Authorized"
Symptoms:
- A Sub-org administrator clicks Course Admin from their Sub-org unit homepage navbar and Courses is not visible as a tool option.
- A Sub-org administrator clicks Courses from their Sub-org unit homepage navbar and a "Not Authorized" message appears.
Root causes:
- The Sub-org administrator does not have the Manage Courses > Has Access to the Manage Courses tool role permission assigned at the Sub-org unit level.
- The Sub-org administrator is attempting to access Courses from the organization level navbar.
- The organization administrator has incorrectly used a standard org unit type as their Sub-org unit layer in the hierarchy.
Resolution for organization administrators:
- Confirm that their Sub-org administrators have the correct Manage Courses role permissions assigned at the Sub-org unit level.
- Ensure the Sub-org administrator is enrolled in the correct Sub-org unit.
- Ensure the Sub-org administrator accesses Course Admin from the Sub-Org homepage.
- Verify the Sub-org unit uses a proper custom org unit type.
Courses tool shows error related to parent types (Semester or Department)
Symptoms:
- A Sub-org administrator receives a "Course Offering is not allowed to have parent with type Semester" error message when they attempt to add a Semester standard org unit as the parent of a Course Offering.
Root causes:
- d2l.Tools.Courses.SemesterOptions is set to "Not displayed and not required"
- d2l.Tools.Courses.DepartmentOptions is set to "Not displayed and not required"
Explanation:
- This is expected behavior for the Courses tool.
- When these configuration variables disable Semester or Department visibility and requirements, those types cannot be used as a parent in any workflow, including Org Unit Editor and Courses.
Resolution for organization administrators:
- Update configuration variables to allow the parent type
- Or remove the invalid parent relationship
Templates created at the organization level do not appear to Sub-org administrators
Symptoms:
- A Sub-org administrator is creating a new course and cannot locate a template that was created at the organization level when they click Change Template.
Root cause:
- The Sub-org administrator is creating a course and searching for templates based on the Sub-org unit they are enrolled in.
Explanation:
- The Courses tool evaluates template availability and visibility based on the user's sub-organization enrollment.
Resolution for organization administrators:
- Org administrators must review their Sub-org administrator's enrollment level and ensure templates are available to Sub-org administrators from that enrollment level.
A Sub-org administrator is enrolled in a new course offering as an Org administrator
Symptoms
- A Sub-org administrator operating at the organization level can use the Courses tool to create a new course offering.
- The Sub-org administrator is enrolled in the new course as an Org administrator.
Root cause:
- The Sub-org administrator is creating the course from the organization level:
- If created at the organization level, the organization-level role is applied
- If created at the sub-org level, the sub-org role is applied
- Course creation uses the role from the level where the tool is accessed
Resolution for organization administrators:
- As an Org administrator, you must ensure that Sub-org administrators can only access the Courses tool from the Sub-org unit Course Admin page.
- Do not give Sub-org administrators role permission to create courses at the organization level, instead, limit their role permission and tool access to their Sub-org unit level only.
A Sub-org administrator cannot find the Semester they want when creating a new course
Symptoms:
- A Sub-org administrator is accessing the Courses tool and creating a new course from the Sub-org unit level.
- They click Choose Semester and cannot locate their desired Semester to associate with their new course.
Root cause:
- The semester the Sub-org administrator is searching for is not a child of the Sub-org unit.
Explanation:
- Only semesters that are a child of the Sub-org unit can be associated with a new course offering created at the Sub-org unit level.
Resolution for organization administrators:
- Ensure that any Semester org units are children of the Sub-org unit
- Avoid making a Semester a child of more than one Sub-org unit
- Avoid using a standard Semester org unit as the Sub-org unit in your Distributed Administration setup.
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Important: A Sub-org unit must not be children of Semesters. Sub-org units must be children of the Organization level only.
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