The Fundamentals of FERPA

Melissa Jackson Holloway serves as Vice Chancellor and General Counsel for North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, the nation’s largest Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in Greensboro, N.C. At North Carolina A&T, Melissa provides legal counsel as the university’s senior attorney and maintains responsibility for the supervision and administration of the Division of Legal Affairs, Risk, and Compliance which consists of the Legal Affairs, Enterprise Risk Management and Compliance, Title IX, and Internal Auditing. Before joining N.C. A&T in 2019, she spent three years as Deputy General Counsel at Ball State University, six years as General Counsel at North Carolina Central University, and eight years as Chief Legal Affairs Officer at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Prior to entering the practice of higher education law, Melissa spent four years as an associate with Foley & Lardner in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Melissa is a 2022 alum of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ Millennium Leadership Initiative 2022 cohort, serves on several local non-profit boards, and is a life member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Melissa has been a NACUA member since 2001. During her 23 years as a NACUA volunteer, she has served as Chair and Chair-Elect of the NACUA Board of Directors and as a member of numerous NACUA committees with leadership roles as Vice Chair of Committee on Legal Education and Vice Chair and Chair of Committee on Membership and Member Services. Melissa is also a frequent moderator and presenter at NACUA workshops, conferences, and Lawyers New to Higher Education workshop. Additionally, she currently serves as an instructor for the Fundamentals of FERPA online course. Melissa served as an at-large member of the NACUA Board of Directors from 2016-2019 and is a 2020 recipient of NACUA’s Distinguished Service Award. Melissa holds a B.A. from Syracuse University, an M.A. from Binghamton University, and her J.D., with honors, from the University of Wisconsin School of Law. 

Steven J. McDonald was General Counsel at Rhode Island School of Design from 2002 until his retirement in 2021 and previously served as Associate Legal Counsel at The Ohio State University. He is the editor of The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act: A Legal Compendium; the author of articles on FERPA for the Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Education, and other publications; and a frequent speaker on FERPA. He began his legal career at Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue, where he represented CompuServe in Cubby v. CompuServe, the first online libel case, and he also has taught courses in Internet law at Ohio State’s College of Law and at Capital University Law School. He also is a Fellow and past member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of College and University Attorneys and a recipient of its Distinguished Service Award. He received his A.B. from Duke University and his J.D. from the Yale Law School. In State, ex rel. Thomas v. The Ohio State University, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that he really is a lawyer.