If you need help to locate and update your Canvas course settings, the Interactive eLearning team will be able to assist you.
To be FERPA compliant please follow these steps.
A. Course Settings
Note: Student comments are disabled by default on Announcements in Canvas courses. Do not modify this setting in merged courses. Re-check the settings so that they comply with FERPA restrictions.
- Go to Course Settings.
- Click on More Options.
- Unselect the three options shown below.

You can also disable student ability to create Discussion Topics in the Discussion Tool
Note: The option that allows students to create new Discussion topics must be disabled.
- Go to Discussions and click the gear icon
- Un-check the Create discussion topics option
- Save Settings

B. Course Content in your Primary Section
Faculty must Hide/Remove the People, Chat, Conferences and Collaborations course navigation tabs from their Canvas course site to restrict students’ ability to view and interact with another course section.
- Go to Course Settings
- Navigation Tab
- Disable items like People, Chat, Conferences, Collaborations
- Save the settings.

C. Sending a message to all students using the Canvas Inbox:
There are two options for sending a message in Canvas and staying FERPA compliant with combined courses.
- When composing a message, check the box that says “send an individual message to each recipient.” This will prevent students from sending a “reply all” response or seeing to whom the message was sent.
- Select the address book in the “To” box and then select “course sections.” This will allow you to send a message to students in a specific section. This is beneficial if you want students to be able to “reply all” to fellow section members.
Last Updated June 10, 2024