SPARK Access for Co-Instructors & Other Instructional Staff

About Co-instructor and Instructional Staff Roles

Use these pages to find out how to obtain access to SPARK for co-instructors or instructional staff, or for colleagues or assistants helping out with your SPARK course.

• Co-instructors and other instructional staff associated with your class in SPIRE (e.g., librarians, project coordinators) receive unlimited access to SPARK's course design and teaching tools (i.e., the Build and Teach tabs).
• Primary Instructors can make a special request for colleagues or assistants who will help build a course, but will not have a teaching role in the course, to have Section Designer access.

Note: Only Primary Instructors (i.e., the instructors eligible to request the SPARK course) can request access changes to SPARK.

Your co-instructor needs access to SPARK

To obtain SPARK access for a co-instructor:

1. Confirm with the Academic Scheduling Representative in your department that your co-instructor is listed in SPIRE as a:
   • Primary Instructor if you and your colleague share responsibility for all aspects of the course (e.g., design, instruction, grading). Note: Graduate students cannot be Primary Instructors for classes numbered 500 and above.
   • Secondary Instructor if your colleague is only partially responsible for the class (e.g., only has teaching responsibilities, but is not designing the course, etc.).
   Note: The process of listing instructors in SPIRE may take three (3) business days or longer.
2. Once SPARK is updated with the latest information from SPIRE, your colleague will have access to the Build, Teach, and Student View tabs.

Other instructional staff in your class need access to SPARK

Some courses require additional instructional staff who do not have teaching responsibilities -- librarians, graduate students or staff members coordinating student projects, other staff responsible for course logistics, etc. To obtain SPARK access for these individuals:

1. Confirm with your Academic Scheduling Representative that they are listed in SPIRE as Section Assistants. Section Assistants are staff members or graduate students who coordinate student projects, grade assignments, or hold office hours, but do not teach.
   Note: The process of listing Section Assistants in SPIRE may take three (3) business days or longer.
2. Once SPARK is updated with the latest information from SPIRE, Section Assistants have access to the Build, Teach, and Student View tabs.

Non-instructional assistants need designer access to SPARK

You can arrange for colleagues, staff or student assistants who do not need to participate in a course, and do not need to teach or have access to the grade book, to have Section Designer access to your course.

Fill out the SPARK Special Accounts Form. Remember to select the Section Designer option for each colleague/assistant. Once SPARK is updated, your assistant will have access to the Build and Student View tabs.

Regarding Teaching Assistant Access to SPARK, please see SPARK Access for Teaching Assistants.

Note: Adding section designer access is a manual process and may take up to three (3) business days.