diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/django_comment_client/tests/test_utils.py b/lms/djangoapps/django_comment_client/tests/test_utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2e24cbd837
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/django_comment_client/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+import string
+import random
+import collections
+
+from django.test import TestCase                         
+
+import factory
+from django.contrib.auth.models import User
+from student.models import UserProfile, CourseEnrollment
+from django_comment_client.models import Role, Permission
+
+import django_comment_client.models as models
+import django_comment_client.utils as utils
+
+import xmodule.modulestore.django as django
+
+class UserFactory(factory.Factory):
+    FACTORY_FOR = User
+    username = 'robot'
+    password = '123456'
+    email = 'robot@edx.org'
+    is_active = True
+    is_staff = False
+
+class CourseEnrollmentFactory(factory.Factory):
+    FACTORY_FOR = CourseEnrollment  
+    user = factory.SubFactory(UserFactory)
+    course_id = 'edX/toy/2012_Fall'
+
+class RoleFactory(factory.Factory):
+    FACTORY_FOR = Role
+    name = 'Student'
+    course_id = 'edX/toy/2012_Fall'
+
+class PermissionFactory(factory.Factory):
+    FACTORY_FOR = Permission  
+    name = 'create_comment'
+
+class DictionaryTestCase(TestCase):
+    def test_extract(self):
+        d = {'cats': 'meow', 'dogs': 'woof'}
+        k = ['cats', 'dogs', 'hamsters']
+        expected = {'cats': 'meow', 'dogs': 'woof', 'hamsters': None}
+        self.assertEqual(utils.extract(d, k), expected)
+
+    def test_strip_none(self):
+        d = {'cats': 'meow', 'dogs': 'woof', 'hamsters': None}
+        expected = {'cats': 'meow', 'dogs': 'woof'}
+        self.assertEqual(utils.strip_none(d), expected)
+
+    def test_strip_blank(self):
+        d = {'cats': 'meow', 'dogs': 'woof', 'hamsters': ' ', 'yetis': ''}
+        expected = {'cats': 'meow', 'dogs': 'woof'}
+        self.assertEqual(utils.strip_blank(d), expected)
+
+    def test_merge_dict(self):
+        d1 ={'cats': 'meow', 'dogs': 'woof'}
+        d2 ={'lions': 'roar','ducks': 'quack'}
+        expected ={'cats': 'meow', 'dogs': 'woof','lions': 'roar','ducks': 'quack'}
+        self.assertEqual(utils.merge_dict(d1, d2), expected)
+
+class AccessUtilsTestCase(TestCase):
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.course_id = 'edX/toy/2012_Fall'
+        self.student_role = RoleFactory(name='Student', course_id=self.course_id)
+        self.moderator_role = RoleFactory(name='Moderator', course_id=self.course_id)
+        self.student1 = UserFactory(username='student', email='student@edx.org')
+        self.student1_enrollment = CourseEnrollmentFactory(user=self.student1)
+        self.student_role.users.add(self.student1)
+        self.student2 = UserFactory(username='student2', email='student2@edx.org')
+        self.student2_enrollment = CourseEnrollmentFactory(user=self.student2)
+        self.moderator = UserFactory(username='moderator', email='staff@edx.org', is_staff=True)
+        self.moderator_enrollment = CourseEnrollmentFactory(user=self.moderator)
+        self.moderator_role.users.add(self.moderator)
+
+    def test_get_role_ids(self):
+        ret = utils.get_role_ids(self.course_id)
+        expected = {u'Moderator': [3], u'Student': [1, 2], 'Staff': [3]}
+        self.assertEqual(ret, expected)
+
+    def test_has_forum_access(self):
+        ret = utils.has_forum_access('student', self.course_id, 'Student')
+        self.assertTrue(ret)
+
+        ret = utils.has_forum_access('not_a_student', self.course_id, 'Student')
+        self.assertFalse(ret)
+
+        ret = utils.has_forum_access('student', self.course_id, 'NotARole')
+        self.assertFalse(ret)
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/django_comment_client/utils.py b/lms/djangoapps/django_comment_client/utils.py
index 3c9669ac37..b58e3b30e6 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/django_comment_client/utils.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/django_comment_client/utils.py
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ def strip_blank(dic):
         return isinstance(v, str) and len(v.strip()) == 0
     return dict([(k, v) for k, v in dic.iteritems() if not _is_blank(v)])
 
+# TODO should we be checking if d1 and d2 have the same keys with different values?
 def merge_dict(dic1, dic2):
     return dict(dic1.items() + dic2.items())