diff --git a/cms/static/js/views/baseview.js b/cms/static/js/views/baseview.js
index a0b1975e04..a7813cc7dd 100644
--- a/cms/static/js/views/baseview.js
+++ b/cms/static/js/views/baseview.js
@@ -26,6 +26,14 @@ define(["jquery", "underscore", "backbone", "gettext", "js/utils/handle_iframe_b
             //override the constructor function
             constructor: function(options) {
                 _.bindAll(this, 'beforeRender', 'render', 'afterRender');
+
+                // Merge passed options and view's options property and
+                // attach to the view's options property
+                if (this.options) {
+                    options = _.extend({}, _.result(this, 'options'), options);
+                }
+                this.options = options;
+
                 var _this = this;
                 this.render = _.wrap(this.render, function (render, options) {
                     _this.beforeRender();
diff --git a/cms/static/js/views/manage_users_and_roles.js b/cms/static/js/views/manage_users_and_roles.js
index f9d154696e..e2b065ffab 100644
--- a/cms/static/js/views/manage_users_and_roles.js
+++ b/cms/static/js/views/manage_users_and_roles.js
@@ -100,8 +100,8 @@ define(['jquery', 'underscore', 'gettext', "js/views/baseview",
                 };
                 var roleEvents = {};
                 var self = this;
-                for (var i = 0; i < self.roles.length; i++) {
-                    var role_name = self.roles[i].key;
+                for (var i = 0; i < self.options.roles.length; i++) {
+                    var role_name = self.options.roles[i].key;
                     var role_selector = 'click .user-actions .make-' + role_name;
 
                     (function (role) {