I'm wondering is it possible for a field that is not editable by a user to be set to a default value when the user submits it? I have tried using the content permissions to simply make a node reference invisible and not editable and with a default value in it paired with a workflow, and the next person in the workflow happens to have the permission to edit the value, so now its okay, but its somewhat unwiedy for lists views if you only want to list a specific value for that field, it relies too much on that person in the workflow having set it correctly.

A possibility that just crossed my mind is theming - any feedback on how well this would work?