[ARCHIVED] messaging a student using Canvas' conversations api call without having a shared course

[ThomasDomas]

Is it possible for an admin to send an email to a student's canvas inbox without being in the same course as that student? If so, what permissions do I need to request from my institution?

[greydon · Accepted solution]

Hello @ThomasDomas 

Thank you for contacting the Canvas Community. We're sorry to hear you've been experiencing issues with messaging a student in  canvas. Thanks for explaining your  question thoroughly but unfortunately, no you need to be in the same course at some level (any level)  to message a student using the canvas messenger. It does not function like your normal school email server. The conversations feature is intended to facilitate communication between users that share a course together. You can either enroll yourself as any  role within the course to message them, or you'd need to use your school provided email and send the student a message directly that way. Hopefully this helps!