Enable Names and Role Provisioning Services in Blackboard Ultra

Rana Wilds’s profile pictureUpdated 1 hour ago by Rana Wilds

Role provisioning automatically reads a user's role from Blackboard Ultra and assigns a matching role in Padlet. An Instructor becomes a Teacher. Blackboard Ultra sends a Student as Learner, which stays a Student in Padlet. This happens every time a user launches Padlet from Blackboard Ultra.

How it works

Two separate mechanisms are involved:

Launch token (always on in Padlet): when someone opens a padlet from inside Blackboard Ultra, the launch itself tells Padlet what role that person has, and Padlet sets their Padlet role from it. This happens on every launch. Padlet has no setting that turns it off, but Blackboard admins can restrict it: if Role in Course is unchecked under 'User Fields to Send' (step 4), Blackboard stops sending the role and Padlet can't assign one.

Names and Role Provisioning Services (NRPS) (optional, the Allow Membership Service Access setting in step 5): a separate service that lets Padlet ask Blackboard Ultra for your full class list, so students appear in Padlet before they've ever clicked a Padlet link. It does not control login permissions or role assignment.

Turning NRPS off stops the class list lookup. It does not stop Padlet from reading roles. Students won't appear in Padlet until they launch it themselves.

Default role mappings

LMS role

Padlet role

Administrator

Admin

Faculty, Instructor, Lecturer, Manager, Staff

Teacher

Learner, Designer, Facilitator, Tutor, Online Learner

Student

Custom roles

Student

Padlet only promotes users, never demotes them: Student → Teacher → Admin. If a Student becomes an Instructor in Blackboard Ultra, they'll be promoted to Teacher in Padlet. If they later become a Student again, they'll stay a Teacher in Padlet until manually changed.

If the default mappings don't fit your school, contact Padlet support with your Blackboard Ultra roles and the Padlet roles you'd like them mapped to. Custom mapping is set up on our side.

Before you start

You need Blackboard Ultra admin access and Padlet for Schools admin rights.

Enable Names and Role Provisioning Services

  1. Log into the Admin account within the Blackboard Ultra LMS. Click your profile icon followed by Admin.
  2. On the Administrator Tools page, under 'Integrations,' select LTI Tool Providers.
  3. Open the menu next to the Padlet tool and select Edit.
  4. Scroll down to 'Institution Policies.' Under 'User Fields to Send,' check the boxes next to Role in Course, Name, and Email Address. Role in Course is required for role assignment.
  5. Under 'Allow Membership Service Access,' select Yes. This is the NRPS setting that lets Padlet look up your class list.
  1. Click Submit.

FAQs

If I disable NRPS, will roles stop being assigned?
No. The launch token still reads roles on every launch (as long as Role in Course is still checked). Disabling NRPS only stops the class list lookup.
Why is a user getting the "maximum teachers" error?
Blackboard Ultra is trying to upgrade that user to a Teacher or Admin in Padlet, but your plan is already at its maximum number of teachers and admins, so the user can't access Padlet. One of these changes will fix it:

1. Use custom role mapping to map that role to Student
2. Increase your plan's teacher cap
3. Manually change their Padlet role. If you set it lower than the role their Blackboard Ultra role maps to, Padlet raises it again on their next launch, so options 1 or 2 are more lasting
A user's Blackboard Ultra role changed, but their Padlet role didn't. Why?
Padlet only promotes, never demotes. If they were promoted to Teacher in Padlet, they stay a Teacher unless manually changed (or promoted to Admin).

Exception: if your school uses External Rostering Services (like ClassLink or OneRoster), full roster syncing can override this safeguard and downgrade users.
What happens when a new student enrolls?
With NRPS enabled, they auto-appear in Padlet with the Student role (unless their Blackboard Ultra role maps higher). Without NRPS, they appear when they first launch Padlet.
Can I manually change a user's role?
Yes, in Manage People. Raising someone's role sticks, because Padlet never demotes on launch. If you set someone lower than the role their Blackboard Ultra role maps to, Padlet raises it again on their next launch. To keep the lower role, also change their Blackboard Ultra role.

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