FERPA Friday October 6th, 2023

What is FERPA Friday?

FERPA Friday will be a new installation that will cover FERPA related topics to help faculty, staff and students better understand the rules and regulations. There will also be a question-and-answer section that pertains to that week’s topic, along with a real-life example to help with context. If you have any suggestions of topics that you would like to have covered, please email ferpa@wm.edu.

Elevating Student Roles in Blackboard

Background

The process will apply to faculty who use students as course builders, graders, and teaching assistants in Blackboard academic courses. The faculty member will add the student through the Blackboard generator and the student will receive a link to acknowledge the FERPA agreement. The link and more information about the process can be found here.

Why the change?

Federal law (FERPA) specifies that only “school officials” with a “legitimate educational interest” may have access to student education records, which include grades in courses. When you designate a W&M student to be a grader or a teaching assistant in Blackboard, that person potentially gains access to the grades of other W&M students, which is forbidden unless the grader or teaching assistant is designated as a “school official.” This new process will ensure that the student has agreed to confidentiality and that an intentional and approved designation has been made.

Role Descriptions for Elevated Students

Instructor	This role has full access to the course and is assigned to the person developing, teaching, or facilitation the class.
Teaching Assistant	This role has access to most of the course including the Grade Center. Teaching Assistants cannot remove an instructor from a course.
Grader	Graders can assist an instructor in the creation, management, delivery, and grading of assignments/assessments and surveys. The grader may also assist an instructor with adding manual entries.
Course Builder	This role is appropriate for an assistant who should not have access to student grades. This role has access to most of the course and cannot remove an instructor from a course. The Course Builder cannot access the Grade Center.

FERPA Verification Process for Student Role Change in Blackboard

Step 1

The instructor of the course will go to Generator (bbhelper.wm.edu) and click on “Add User” to a course they have already created. Once the instructor has selected the user (student), the student will then receive an email notification that they need to acknowledge the FERPA Agreement before being enrolled in the class.

Example Email to Student

Student Name,

You have been requested to be enrolled in course State Building in Afghanistan (Fall 2023) with role of Course Builder.

Please go to https://bbhelper-test.wm.edu/ferpaagreement/ to acknowledge the FERPA Agreement before being enrolled.

Instructor Name

Step 2

The student will click on the link in the email notification to take them to the FERPA Acknowledgement. Once in the FERPA Acknowledgement, the student will have two objectives. First, the student will select the course they are being added to and confirm the role is correct. Second, the student will need to read the FERPA Confidentiality Statement and acknowledge each individual point by selecting the corresponding check box.

Step 3

Once the student has completed the FERPA Verification, an email of confirmation will be sent to the instructor.

Example Email to Instructor

From: Do Not Reply <noreply@wm.edu>
Date: July 17, 2023, at 7:36:23 PM GMT
To: Teacher Email
Subject: User enrolled in Blackboard Course(s)

Student Name acknowledged FERPA agreement and was enrolled in the following courses:
Course Subject Name (Fall 2023) to User Role.

*Remember to use bbhelper.wm.edu to elevate a student’s role within blackboard. *

If you have any questions regarding a FERPA related matter, or suggestions that you would like to see on a future FERPA Friday please email ferpa@wm.edu.