FERPA Requirements for Crosslisted Courses

Crosslisting sections in Canvas changes how student information is shared, creating a risk that students in one section can see names, interactions, schedules, and attendance of students in another section. This guide explains crosslisting requirements for compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and how instructors must manage Canvas settings and features.

Do FERPA Requirements Apply to Your Course?

Instructors must determine if further action is required when crosslisting.

No Action Needed - You do not need to adjust any Canvas settings if any of the following apply:

All sections are scheduled to meet in person at the same time and in the same physical location. For example, MWF at 10:00am in NB 204.
All sections are scheduled 100% asynchronous online with no scheduled meeting times.
Your program uses a cohort model where the same group of students take courses together and are placed in different sections for administrative reasons.

Action Required - You must obtain student consent or adjust Canvas settings to manage your course carefully if any of the following apply:

Sections meet at different times. For example, section 01 meets MW 9:00am, but section 02 meets TR 2:00pm.
Sections meet in different physical locations. For example, section 01 in ADM 210, but section 02 in ADM 214.
Sections use different modalities. For example, section 01 is on campus, section 02 is hybrid, and section 03 is online.
Sections have different instructors without a legitimate education interest for access to other sections.
Any out-of-cohort students are added to any section.

How does crosslisting impact privacy?

Under FERPA, students have the right to privacy regarding their educational records, including the fact they are enrolled in a particular course. When sections don't meet together physically, students in Section A cannot see or interact with students in Section B without explicit consent.

Federal regulation 34 CFR § 99.37(c)(1) permits students to see one another's names only when they are enrolled in the same class. This refers to a class that meets together in the same physical space, not just grouping inside the same Canvas course shell.

Consider a Scenario: You teach Section 01 on Mondays and Section 02 on Wednesdays, but those students are never in class together. Allowing them to see each other on the Canvas People page, in Discussions, or in other interactive tools would be a FERPA violation.

Instructor Action Items

Option 1: Obtain Student Consent for Cross-Section Interaction

If there is a legitimate educational reason for students from different sections to interact, such as a shared project or collaborative activity, you must obtain explicit written consent from every student before enabling cross-section interaction. You may collect consent in ways that produce a recorded, retrievable response, such as an ungraded Canvas Quiz with a consent question, or a Canvas Group sign-up activity where joining a cross-section group clearly indicates consent. Remember:

Students have the legal right to refuse consent.
You must provide an equivalent, section-specific alternative for any student who does not consent.
Students cannot be penalized, directly or indirectly, for choosing not to participate in cross-section activities.

Option 2: Restrict Cross-Section Interaction

If you do not obtain student consent, or select students refuse, you must manage appropriately to ensure privacy.

Limit users to only see fellow section users: Either edit each student's User Details individually or request the Canvas administrator bulk limit privileges for all enrollments.
Add users limited to their section only: Mark the Can interact with users in their section only option when adding people to your course.
Manage Canvas requirements: Adjust individual course settings and ways you use Canvas features to eliminate FERPA risks.

FERPA Requirements by Canvas Feature

Canvas Feature

Requirement without Student Consent

Cross-Section FERPA Risk Announcements - Comments Disable comments on announcements in the course Settings. When announcement comments are enabled, students from all sections can reply to announcements and see each other's names and comments. Assignments - Peer Review Do not use the option to Assign reviews automatically, manually assign students to review students in their own section. Peer review creates direct interaction between students and exposes their academic work. Calendar - Appointment Groups Manage groups per section before allowing group sign up through Calendar appointment groups and do not enable the option to allow students to see who has signed up. Students could see the names, availability, or appointment selections of students in other sections or attend a meeting with students from another section. Canvas Studio - Display Media Tabs Prevent comments on videos by disabling Display Media Tabs. Video comments create a discussion-like environment where student names and contributions are visible to all viewers. Chat Remove Chat from your course navigation menu in Settings. The Chat tool shows all students in the course who are currently online, regardless of section enrollment. There is no way to restrict chat visibility by section. Collaborations Remove Collaborations from your course navigation menu in Settings. Creating a collaboration displays a dropdown list with all student names from all sections. Conferences - Big Blue Button Remove Conferences from your course navigation menu in Settings and use Microsoft Teams instead. When students from all sections join the same video conference, they can see each other in the participant list. Discussions Disable student ability to create discussion topics in course Settings, create separate Assign To parameters for each section, and consider use of the full anonymous setting. Discussion posts not created anonymously show names, participation, and academic contributions to all students assigned to them. Ed Tech Integrations Do not assign EdPuzzle, Hypothesis, Padlet, or any other educational tech product without managing by section. Students may be placed into mixed-section activity spaces where their names, work, or interactions are visible to students from other sections. External Links Do not link to collaborative websites, apps, or documents. Shared links can expose student names, edits, or activity logs to users from other sections. Inbox - Messaging When sending messages to multiple students across sections, check the option to Send an individual message to each recipient. By default, Canvas shows all recipient names in the message header, allowing students to see who else received the message. Microsoft Teams Meetings Schedule separate Teams meetings for each section and ensure only select students are invited or receive the correct meeting link. When students from all sections join the same video conference, they can see each other in the participant list. Pages - Collaborative Editing When allowing students to edit Pages, create separate Pages and use Assign To for section management. Page editing history and collaborative features can expose student names across sections through revision tracking and simultaneous editing features. People - Add Users Select the option Can interact with users in their section only box when adding people to your course who should not interact or view data from other sections. TAs, graders, or other instructional assistants can view and interact with students across all sections if not restricted. People - Groups Disable students' ability to organize groups in Settings and enable requirement that group members be in the same section when creating group sets. Mixed-section groups expose student names and allow collaboration across sections. People - Roster Visibility Removing People from your course menu in Settings is recommended. Students may attempt to view or contact students in other sections, creating potential cross-section disclosure. I need detailed Canvas instructions for these requirements.

Announcement - Comments

Commenting is allowed by default and must be disabled.

Navigate to Settings > Course Details > More Options.
Check the box: Disable comments on announcements.
Scroll down and click Update Course Details.

Assignments - Peer Review

Do not use "Assign reviews automatically" when creating a peer review assignment in crosslisted courses.
Manually assign peer reviews to ensure students only review work from their own section.
When setting up the assignment, carefully select which students review which work.

Calendar - Appointment Groups

Appointment Groups settings for groups and student visibility are disabled by default.

Do not create groups from mixed sections to use for calendar meetings.
Do not enable Allow students to see who has signed up for time slots that are still available.
Leave participants allowed set to 1 for complete privacy.

Canvas Studio - Display Media Tabs

Display Media tabs is enabled when adding a Studio video in a course and must be deselected to disable comments. There is no setting to adjust after the video is added; you must remove the video and add it again with the correct option.

Alternative: Post separate video copies for each section (allowing section-specific commenting).

Chat

Chat is disabled by default but can become enabled during course copy.

Navigate to Settings > Navigation.
Find "Chat" in the list.
Drag it to the bottom section (disabled items), OR click the three dots icon and select "Disable".

Collaborations

Collaborations are disabled by default but can become enabled during course copy.

Navigate to Settings > Navigation.
Find "Collaborations" in the list.
Drag it to the bottom section (disabled items), OR click the three dots icon and select "Disable".

Conferences - Big Blue Button

Navigate to Settings > Navigation.
Find "Conferences" in the list.
Drag it to the bottom section (disabled items), OR click the three dots icon and select "Disable".

Discussions

First, prevent students from creating their own discussions:

Navigate to Settings > Course Details > More Options.
Uncheck the box: Let students create discussion topics.
Click Update Course Details.

Then, use one of these approaches for instructor-created discussions:

Option A: Section-Specific Discussions (Recommended)

When creating a discussion, scroll to the Assign to section.
Click Add to create a separate assignment for each section.
In the "Assign to" field, select only one section per discussion.
Create duplicate discussions for each section with identical content.

Option B: Group Discussions

First, create section-based groups (People > Groups tab).
Create one group set per section with all students from that section.
When creating discussions, check "This is a Group Discussion".
Assign to the appropriate section-based group set.

Option C: Anonymous Discussions

In edit mode of a Discussion, default anonymous state is Off: student names and profile pictures will be visible to other members of this course.
Select the option Full: student names and profile pictures will be hidden.

Inbox

When sending messages to multiple students from different sections:

Open Canvas Inbox.
Click "Compose".
Add recipients from multiple sections.
Check "Send an individual message to each recipient".

Microsoft Teams Meetings

If using recurring meetings, create separate recurring Teams meetings for each section with distinct links. Post or store these links in section-specific locations (e.g., section-specific Canvas pages or announcements).

Do NOT post all meeting links in a single announcement or page where all sections can see them.
Create a separate Teams meeting link for each section.
When scheduling, use clear naming: PSYC 3301 Section 01 Meeting Link.
Generate a unique meeting link for each section.
Share each meeting link only with students in that specific section such as via section-specific announcements or direct messages.

Pages - Collaborative Editing

When creating or editing a page, locate the editing permissions setting.
If set to Only teachers no action needed.
If set to Teachers and students or Anyone, manage Assign To by section.

People - Add User

When adding a TA, grader, or similar role to your course, select the appropriate role (TA, Grader, etc.).
Within the people box, check the "Can interact with users in their section only" box.
In the section assignment, add them ONLY to the specific sections they support.
Do NOT select "all sections" unless they support all sections.

People - Groups

First, prevent students from organizing their own groups:

Navigate to Settings > Course Details > More Options.
Uncheck the box: Let students organize their own groups.
Click Update Course Details.

Then, when you create groups as the instructor:

Navigate to People > Groups tab.
Click + Group Set.
Create separate group sets for each section.
When creating a group set, enable "Require group members to be in the same section".
Do NOT use "Allow self sign-up" unless you have documented consent from students.

People - Roster Visibility

People is disabled by default but can become enabled during course copy. Although Canvas limits section visibility on the People page, students may find workarounds or become confused about who is in their section.

Recommended Setting:

Navigate to Settings > Navigation.
Find "People" in the list.
Drag it to the bottom section (disabled items), OR click the three dots icon and select "Disable".

Crosslisting and FERPA FAQs

How do I crosslist my Canvas courses?

If crosslisting is right for your courses, carefully follow the steps in our guide Cross-Listing: Combine Multiple Canvas Courses before you begin editing content or publish your course. Crosslisting is not recommended after the term begins due to the process impacting student participation data and grade records if activity has started before you merge the sections together.

How do I separate courses I no longer want crosslisted?

Instructors must request assistance from the Canvas administrator to decrosslist courses.

Who do I contact about FERPA questions or courses crosslisted in Banner?

The Office of the Registrar assists with managing student academic records, course schedules, enrollment processes, transcripts, and policies related to FERPA.