Overview

The Default Role for Student Accounts setting controls which dashboard role is automatically assigned to a _Student_ the moment their online account is created in Classter.

A dashboard role defines what a _Student_ sees and can interact with when they log in to the portal: the menus available to them, which modules they can access (such as Timetable, Marks, Attendance, or Curriculum), the reports shown on their dashboard, and the actions they are permitted to take.

By configuring this setting, institutions ensure that every new _Student_ account starts with a consistent and appropriate portal experience, without requiring staff to manually assign a role to each _Student_.

This setting belongs to a family of four similar settings, one for each user type in Classter:

• Default Role for _Student_ accounts (this guide)
• Default Role for _Teacher_ accounts
• Default Role for Employee (Secretary) accounts
• Default Role for Parent (Guardian) accounts

All four settings work in the same way for their respective user types.

 

 

Where It Is Used

 

Location in the Application

Core module > Security Settings > Accounts and Roles section

 

Who It Affects

All _Students_ whose online accounts are created at the institution.

 

When It Takes Effect

The setting is applied in three situations:

1. New account creation by an administrator

When a staff member creates a _Student_ online account from within Classter – manually or in a bulk operation – the system automatically assigns the selected default role to each new account.

2. _Student_ self-registration via the portal

When a _Student_ registers through the institution’s Classter registration page, the system assigns this default role to their account upon successful registration.

3. _Student_ transfers between institutions

When a _Student_ is transferred from one institution to another within a multi-institution setup and does not already have a dashboard role at the destination, this setting is used as a fallback. The full logic is described in Section 4.

 

Scope

This setting is configured independently per institution and per academic period. An institution operating across multiple academic years can assign a different default role for each year. Each institution in a multi-institutional installation also has its own independent value.

 

 

Configuration / Fields Analysis

The setting is a single-select dropdown. There is one field to configure.

 

Field: Default Role for Student Accounts

Property	Detail
Field type	Single-select dropdown
Required	Strongly recommended. Leaving it empty means new student accounts receive no role and the student portal will appear blank on first login.
Scope	Per institution and per academic period. Each institution and each year has its own independent value.
Options list	Dynamically populated with all active dashboard roles of type Student configured at the institution for the current period.
Effect of change	Only affects accounts created after the change. Accounts that already exist retain their currently assigned role.

 

How the Options List Is Populated

The dropdown lists every dashboard role that has been created in Classter and marked as a Student-type role at your institution for the selected period. Roles created for other user types (Lecturers, Employees, Parents) are not shown here.

If the list appears empty, it means no Student-type dashboard roles have been configured yet. Creating at least one _Student_ dashboard role is a prerequisite before this setting can be used.

 

 

Business Logic / Behavior

 

Automatic Role Assignment on Account Creation

Whenever a new student account is created – whether by an administrator from the back-office interface or by the student registering on the portal – Classter reads this setting and automatically links the selected role to the new user account.

The student immediately receives all portal access rights, menus, modules, and dashboard items configured for that role. No additional manual step is required.

 

Individual Role Override

The default role is a starting point, not a permanent assignment. After an account has been created, any administrator with the appropriate access can change that student’s role at any time using the Change Role option in the user accounts section.

This is useful when specific students require a different portal experience – for example, exchange students who need limited access, or student council members who need additional views.

Changing an individual student’s role does not alter the institution-wide default. Changing the default setting does not retroactively update roles already assigned to individual accounts.

 

Student Transfers Between Institutions

In multi-institution Classter installations, when a student is transferred from one institution to another, the system determines which dashboard role to assign at the destination by following these steps in order:

• Step 1 – Existing assignment: If the student already has a dashboard role at the destination institution, it is left unchanged. No new role is assigned.
• Step 2 – Equivalent role match: If the student has no role at the destination, the system checks whether the role from the origin institution has a configured equivalent at the destination (institutions can mark roles across locations as related). If a match is found, that equivalent role is used.
• Step 3 – Default role fallback: If no equivalent role is found, the system assigns the value from this setting at the destination institution.
• Step 4 – No assignment: If this setting is also not configured at the destination, the student account will have no role, and the portal will appear blank until a role is assigned manually.

 

Alumni (Graduates)

Alumni – graduates who retain a portal login after completing their studies – also rely on this setting as a fallback during institution-to-institution transfers. Their account type is treated as a sub-type of the Student type for role assignment purposes, so the same four-step logic described above applies.

 

Role Deletion – Automatic Cleanup

If a role that is currently selected as the Student Default Dashboard Role is deleted from the system, Classter automatically clears this setting to prevent a broken reference. After the deletion, this setting will be empty and must be reconfigured by selecting a different role.

 

Configuration Copy Between Academic Periods

When an institution copies configuration from one academic period to the next (for example, at the start of a new school year), this setting is included in the copy operation.

Rather than copying a raw internal identifier – which may not be valid in the target period – the system locates the equivalent role in the target period by matching the role’s cross-period identity. This ensures the correct role is carried forward even if the internal records differ between periods.

 

 

Examples

 

Example 1 – Standard Setup for a School

Greenfield Academy has one student portal role called ‘Standard Student’, which grants access to the Timetable, Marks, and Attendance modules. The administrator sets the Default Role for Student Accounts to ‘Standard Student’.

From that point on, every new student account – whether created by staff or through student self-registration – automatically receives the ‘Standard Student’ role. All students see the same portal content on first login, with no additional configuration steps required.

 

Example 2 – Multiple Roles for Different Student Groups

Westbridge University has two student portal roles:

• ‘UG Standard’ – for undergraduate students: curriculum overview, timetable, and marks.
• ‘PG Enhanced’ – for postgraduate students: adds a research project tracker and a supervisor messaging feature.

The Default Role for Student Accounts is set to ‘UG Standard’, as the majority of new accounts are undergraduates.

When a postgraduate student is admitted, their account is initially created with the ‘UG Standard’ role. A coordinator then opens that student’s account record, selects Change Role, and switches them to ‘PG Enhanced’. This individual change does not affect the institution-wide default – all future new accounts will still receive ‘UG Standard’.

 

Example 3 – New Academic Year Setup

At the end of the academic year, Northvale College creates a new period for the coming year and uses the configuration copy function to carry settings forward. The Default Role for Student Accounts is automatically transferred, pointing to the equivalent student role in the new period.

The new year starts correctly without any manual reconfiguration of this setting. Administrators only need to review whether the copied role still matches their needs for the new year.

 

Example 4 – Student Transfer Between Institutions

A student originally enrolled at Southgate Institute transfers to Lakeview Academy. Both institutions are part of the same Classter installation. The student has no prior role assignment at Lakeview Academy.

Lakeview Academy has the Default Role for Student Accounts set to ‘General Student’. When the transfer is processed, Classter automatically assigns the ‘General Student’ role to the student at Lakeview Academy. The student logs in the following day and immediately sees the standard Lakeview Academy student portal, with no manual intervention required.

 

 

Notes

 

Prerequisites

Before configuring this setting, ensure the following are in place:

• At least one dashboard role of type Student must be created and fully configured in the Roles section of Classter. The dropdown will remain empty until such a role exists.
• The selected role should have menus, modules, and dashboard items configured. A role with no content will result in a blank portal for all new students.

 

Important Behavioral Notes

• This setting is not retroactive. Students whose accounts already exist keep their currently assigned role. Only accounts created after the setting is saved will receive the new default.
• This setting must be configured for each academic period. If a new period is started from scratch – without copying configuration from a previous one – the field will be empty and must be set manually before student accounts are created.
• Deleting the role currently set as default automatically clears this field. It must be reconfigured after the deletion.
• In a multi-institution installation, each institution maintains its own value for this setting. Transferring a student between institutions does not copy the role from the origin institution – the destination’s own default setting is used as the fallback.
• This setting is part of the Core module’s Security Settings and is only visible and editable by users with the appropriate administrative access.

 

K-12 Mode and Higher Education Mode

The behavior of this setting is identical in both K-12 mode and Higher Education mode. The mode does not change how the default role is assigned – it affects the features available within the roles themselves.

In K-12 mode, student roles are typically configured to provide access to the Timetable, Attendance, Term Marks, and similar features relevant to primary and secondary education.

In Higher Education mode (when the ‘Enable Configuration for Higher Education’ setting is active), student roles are typically configured to include curriculum management, credit tracking, degree program overviews, course enrollment, and other features specific to tertiary education. In Higher Education mode, implementing curriculum plans for all educational programs is mandatory, and student dashboards commonly reflect this with dedicated curriculum-related sections.

Recommendation: When setting up an institution for the first time, or when switching between modes, review the Student dashboard roles available in the dropdown to ensure the chosen default role provides the correct experience for that mode. A role designed for K-12 will likely be missing curriculum features when used in Higher Education mode, and vice versa.