FERPA: Navigate Challenging Privacy Questions While Remaining in Compliance – November 4, 2026

Wednesday, November 4, 2026 2:00 – 3:30 pm ET Today’s students are challenging many traditional norms in higher education, from requesting access to admissions files and exploring unionization to relying heavily on online and hybrid instruction and emerging educational technologies. These evolving issues often raise nuanced and complex questions about student privacy, making a strong, current understanding of FERPA more important than ever. Join us on November 4, 2026 for this online training session, when our expert presenter will use realistic, hypothetical student scenarios to examine how FERPA applies in today’s higher education environment. Participants will learn how to navigate challenging privacy questions while balancing FERPA requirements with competing priorities such as student autonomy, transparency, access to information and administrative efficiency. Through practical, up-to-date examples and interactive discussion, attendees will refresh their understanding of FERPA, strengthen their decision-making skills, and gain greater confidence in handling complex student privacy issues before they become compliance concerns. Topics Covered Leave the webinar prepared with strategies to confidently: Evaluate FERPA’s restrictions and permitted exceptions to enhance compliance and increase student confidence in the institution. Learn how to build effective consent processes. Prepare staff to respond to parents who demand access to educational records. Balance the nuanced and complex privacy disclosure exceptions through effective consent processes and record retention guidelines in compliance with FERPA. Consider revising contracting provisions to ensure the institution can share necessary information with vendors. Develop clear record retention guidelines in compliance with FERPA. Apply practical solutions and guidance through realistic case studies to make it easily understandable and applicable to all levels of campus staff that have contact with student records and information. Identify current FERPA compliance standards and learn about impending developments to adapt on your campus. Presenter Hannah Ross currently serves as the General Counsel, Chief Risk Officer, and Secretary to the Corporation at Middlebury College in Vermont. Click here for full bio.