School-level feature — managed within your school portal at
yourschool.deandesk.com. For managing institution-level staff, see Institutions & Schools.Navigate to User Creation
From the Admin Dashboard, click User Creation. You will see sections for creating instructors and students.Understanding roles
Every DeanDesk account has one or more roles that control what the user can see and do.Most users need two roles: Member plus one of Student, Teacher, or Admin. A user without the Member role cannot log in to the platform.
Create instructor accounts
1
Go to the instructor section
In User Creation, locate the instructor creation form.
2
Enter instructor details
Fill in the instructor’s first name, last name, and email address.
3
Assign roles
Select Teacher and Member. If the instructor also manages the platform, add Admin as well.
4
Customize the welcome email (optional)
Edit the welcome email message. Use
{{firstName}} anywhere in the body to automatically insert each recipient’s first name.5
Send
Click Send. Each instructor receives a welcome email with an activation link to set their password.
Create student accounts
1
Go to the student section
In User Creation, locate the student creation form.
2
Enter student details
Fill in the student’s first name, last name, and email address.
3
Assign roles
Select Student and Member.
4
Assign courses (optional)
Enroll the student in one or more courses directly from this screen. Students will have immediate access to those courses after activating their account.
5
Customize the welcome email (optional)
Personalize the welcome message with
{{firstName}} to make it feel less generic.6
Send
Click Send. The student receives a welcome email with their activation link.
Bulk creation via CSV upload
To create many users at once, use the CSV upload option available in User Creation.1
Download the CSV template
Click Download Template to get a spreadsheet with the correct column headers.
2
Fill in the template
Add one row per user. Required columns include first name, last name, and email address.
3
Upload the file
Click Upload CSV, select your file, and confirm. DeanDesk will create all accounts and send welcome emails automatically.
Separate child and parent welcome emails
When you bulk-create children alongside their parents, you can configure two distinct welcome email templates — one for the parent and one for the child. Each template supports its own subject and body, with placeholders like{{firstName}}, {{childNames}}, and {{resetUrl}}.
Parent email status check
Before sending parent welcome emails, DeanDesk can check whether each parent already has an account. The bulk import flow surfaces this parent email status so you can avoid sending activation emails to parents who already have an account.Child-to-parent email redirection
Children often don’t have their own email address. When a child record has no email or a parent-only email, DeanDesk redirects the welcome email to the linked parent — with a[For ChildName] subject prefix so the parent knows it’s for their child.
Admin User Spreadsheet
For high-volume edits, the Admin User Spreadsheet provides a familiar grid-style editor for users.1
Open the spreadsheet
Go to Admin Dashboard → User Management → Spreadsheet (or the equivalent entry in your nav).
2
Edit cells inline
Edit profile fields, roles, and metadata directly in the grid. Changed cells are highlighted.
3
Save
Submit. Only changed rows are sent to the server.
Course Distribution canvas
To enroll many students into many courses at once, use the Course Distribution canvas — a drag-and-drop workspace for bulk enrollments.1
Open Course Distribution
Go to Admin Dashboard → User Management → Course Distribution.
2
Pick courses
Select the set of courses you want to distribute students into. Each course becomes a “bucket” on the canvas.
3
Pick students
Select the pool of students you want to assign. Students appear as draggable tiles.
4
Drag to enroll
Drag students into course buckets to enroll them, and drag them out to unenroll. Use zoom, fullscreen, and search to navigate large rosters.
5
Save
Apply your changes. DeanDesk processes the enrollment/unenrollment changes in bulk.
Resend activation emails
If a user did not receive their welcome email or the activation link expired, you can resend it.1
Find the user
Go to Admin Dashboard → Role Management (or the user list) and search for the user by name or email.
2
Resend the activation email
Click the user’s name to open their profile, then click Resend Activation Email. DeanDesk sends a fresh email with a new activation link.
Manage and change roles
To check or update a user’s roles after their account is created, go to Admin Dashboard → Role Management. Search for the user, then add or remove roles as needed. Changes take effect immediately — the user does not need to log out and back in.Next steps
Create courses
Build courses and assign them to your instructors.
Configure payments
Set up Stripe and create billing plans for your students.