Unless students meet at the same time in the same physical classroom, courses should generally not be cross-listed. In other words, cross-listing for instructor convenience is not recommended. To comply with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), students should not have access to student information in other sections unless all participants sign a FERPA Consent to Release Information form. This document highlights the actions that must be taken when cross-listing courses that are not scheduled to meet for class in the same physical space at the same time.
Disabling features that allow interaction between sections
Remove the People, Chat, Conferences, and Collaborations course navigation tabs from their Canvas course site. This will restrict students' ability to view and interact with students in a different course section. Additionally, student comments should be disabled when posting course Announcements for all sections in cross-listed course sites. Follow the steps below to disable these features:
- Click the Settings link on the course navigation menu.
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- Click the Course Details tab.
- Click the more options button.
- Check the Disable comments on the announcements checkbox.
- Click the Update Course Details button.
Discussion boards, synchronous meetings, and recordings
Student voices, images, or names should not be shared outside their assigned section without your students' written permission. When scheduling Zoom meetings, setting up assignments, recording classroom activities, and sharing classroom recordings adhere to the following:
- If using Canvas discussions, set them up as group discussions and do not mix students from different sections. (Before you can set up group discussions you will need to create group sets and groups.)
- Do not schedule Zoom meetings or other online meetings where students from multiple sections can see each other.
- Do not share recordings that include student information with students outside their section.
Special circumstances
If you determine that combining sections provides educational value to your students that cannot be achieved otherwise, you can ask your students to sign a FERPA Consent to Release Information form before allowing people in other sections to see their information. If you choose to do this, provide the release form in an ungraded assignment and ask your students to download it, sign it, and submit it to the assignment so the documentation stays within the course.
Need help?
If you have questions, please contact the ITS Help Desk at 608.342.1400 or helpdesk@uwplatt.edu. You may also visit the Help Desk on the first floor of the Karrmann Library.