UCCS Application Privacy Statement

UCCS Privacy & Usage Updated Application Language 

Admissions Office / Salesforce Commitment to Protection of Individual Privacy

The University of Colorado (“CU” or the “University”) supports the protection of individual privacy and is committed to ensuring the confidentiality of personally identifiable information provided by its employees, students, and other members of the university community.  However, because the University of Colorado is a public institution, some personally identifiable information may be subject to disclosure pursuant to the Colorado Open Records Act^[1]. In addition, the University may disclose information to third parties when such disclosure is required or permitted by law.

What information will we be collecting through this application?

You may access most University of Colorado websites without providing personally identifiable information, however you may need to provide personal information to use certain services. The amount and type of personal information to use these services varies. It is the practice of the University of Colorado to collect the least amount of personally identifiable information necessary to provide services and meet any legal obligations. 

The personal data collected through the UCCS admission application consists of: name, e-mail address, mailing address, phone number,  date of birth, social security number (or other national ID), academic records, past military service/affiliation, state/country of residence, family educational history, criminal/disciplinary  history,  ethnic origin,  native language, gender, preferred name, test scores, grade point average, academic course history. 

How does Admissions Office collect this information?

You directly provide most of the personal information that the UCCS admissions office collects when you submit a “request for information form”, submit a campus visit reservation and/or an application for admission.  UCCS utilizes a third-party platform, Salesforce.com, to host certain forms and applications, Salesforce privacy and usage statement can be found at https://www.salesforce.com/company/privacy/

In other cases, the UCCS admissions office may collect information from other application sources such as the CommonApp application platform whose privacy and usage statement can be found at https://www.commonapp.org/privacy-policy, and the Education Advisory Board (“EAB”) whose privacy and usage statement can be found at https://eab.com/privacy-policy-2/.

The University may collect non-personal usage information for website administration purposes. Usage Information includes number of visitors, number of page views, IP address, website pages visited prior to visiting the site(s), browser information, technical information about your device, etc. This information may be collected using third-party services like Google Analytics and using techniques including web browser cookies.

How does the Admissions Office use this information?

The UCCS admissions office uses information collected through the above forms and applications in order to:

• Communicate aspects of the university admission and enrollment process overall, including but not limited to:
  • Campus visits and events
  • Academic offerings
  • Campus resources such as financial aid and scholarships, student life and housing
  • Admission application steps, requirements and deadlines
  • Orientation and enrollment processes
• Outreach to parents/guardians about the above aspects.
• Obtain macro-level data and analytics to measure the admission office and campus’s progress toward meeting its educational mission and goals of making UCCS accessible to students and families.
• Meet reporting obligations within the CU-System, the Colorado Dept. of Higher Education and applicable federal regulatory departments and agencies.
• Fulfill the University’s legal obligations as required by state and federal law such as responding to authorized legal requests and appropriate open records requests.

If the University collects your information based on your consent, the University will conform to the processes outlined in the applicable consent form. If you provided information based on consent, you may generally withdraw your consent at any time. However, withdrawal will not affect the processing based on such consent prior to withdrawal.

In general, information is used and stored within the United States. In some cases, third-party services may require the use and storage of information outside of the United States.

How does the Admissions Office share my information?

The UCCS admissions office may share personal information within the University for legitimate enrollment-related support and educational purposes. The admissions office restricts such access to personal information to individuals and departments who have a legitimate need to access the data in support of a prospective student or applicant’s education about the university and its enrollment-related processes.

The admissions office will only share your personal information with third parties in the following situations:

• When using the services from third party vendors, consultants and other service providers who do work for the University and need access to your information to do that work.
• To comply with applicable law and our legal obligations, such as to comply with a subpoena or similar legal process.
• To comply with an appropriate request under the Colorado Open Records Act.
• When the University believes in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect its rights, your safety, or the safety of others.
• To investigate potential crimes, fraud or to respond to a government request.  

When sharing personal information with third parties, the University has processes to assess the security and privacy protections used by the third parties and includes appropriate security and privacy language in contracts with third parties. 

The University does not sell personal information to third parties.

How does the University protect my information?

In its engagement with third party enrollment partners, UCCS ensures proper privacy and usage protocol exists at such partners:

• Educational Advisory Board (EAB) - https://eab.com/privacy-policy-2/
• The Common Application - https://www.commonapp.org/privacy-policy
• Salesforce.com - https://www.salesforce.com/company/privacy/

The University has security policies and standards regarding the protection of personal information. These standards include both administrative and technical requirements to ensure information receives appropriate protection. Each campus has an information security officer and team who assist departments in providing appropriate protection for personal information. This includes active monitoring and assessments to detect potential security issues. Additionally, the University has an internal audit team that periodically performs security related audits.

When information is handled by third parties, the University relies on a combination of contractual requirements, security reviews/assessments and third-party audits to ensure information is appropriately protected.  Some third-party websites use UCCS branding but are governed by separate privacy policies.  Users are encouraged to review all third-party privacy practices, including those linked on UCCS or UCCS-related websites.

For more information on the policies and standards used by the university in protecting data, you can visit this site: https://www.cu.edu/security/policies

How is my information retained and / or destroyed?

The University has a data retention policy and schedule that instructs departments on their obligations to keep different types of information for different periods of time. You can review this policy and the retention schedules here: https://www.cu.edu/ope/aps/2006.

What rights do I have in regard to my information and privacy?

The specifics of information and privacy rights depend on the nature of your relationship to the University.  With respect to the UCCS admissions office, individuals can request that the University discontinue communication with them and/or withdraw their application at any time. Please be aware that personal data rights under International, United States, and Colorado information and privacy laws may differ. However, in general, you may request:

• That the University correct inaccurate information about you (For example, updates to your name and contact information etc.)
• That the University delete information about you (Depending on your role at CU and the information the University stores, the University may be required to keep copies of your information.)
• To have the University limit or stop processing your information (limiting the processing of information may also limit what services are available to you.)

You should direct all requests to exercise these rights to the contact information provided in the Comments and Feedback section. 

Children’s Privacy Rights

The University of Colorado websites are intended for adults and young adults age 13 and over. If you are under the age of 13, you should not register to use any portion of the University of Colorado website, or provide any personal information through the website. It is not the University of Colorado intent to collect and store any personal information from any person under the age of 13. If the University of Colorado is made aware that it is collecting information of a child under the age of 13, it will delete this information.

Student Privacy Rights

In general, the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”) prohibits the release of students’ educational records.  For more information about FERPA contact the UCCS registrar’s office at 719.255.3361 or email registrar@uccs.edu .

Patient Rights

In general, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) prohibits the release of personal health information.  For more information about HIPAA, contact the HIPAA Privacy Officer at 719.255.3837 or email at comply@uccs.edu .

Privacy Policy Changes

University of Colorado reserves the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time. To stay informed on changes to the privacy policy, revisit this page periodically.

Comments and Feedback

Please send comments, questions, concerns or inquiries about our use of your personal data and its privacy to the Compliance Office / Privacy at https://www.uccs.edu/contact .  Please do not send attachments with the message.

Disclaimer

The information provided in this privacy statement should not be construed as business, legal or other advice, or as guaranteeing the security of information provided through the University’s websites.