Privacy Statement

Southwestern Michigan College recognizes that your privacy and the protection of your personal information are important to you. Protecting our users privacy is Southwestern Michigan College top concern. We have created this privacy statement in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to privacy. This statement details the type of information which is gathered and tracked, how the information is used, and with whom the information is shared.

Southwestern Michigan College is the sole owner of the information collected on the SMC external web site as well as the SMC Wired portal, hereinafter collectively called Web site. SMC collects information from our users at several different points on our Web site for various purposes.

SMC collects no personally identifying information regarding individuals except when specifically and knowingly provided by the individual member. Under no circumstances will members personal information be given to any other third-party unless otherwise stated at the time of collection.

Your profile information (including any demographic information you provide, such as age, birth date, major, graduation class, etc.) will be used to create and deliver personalized content and services within our SMC Wired portal.

Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA)

Southwestern Michigan College must comply with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) also known as "The Buckley Amendment". Employees must comply with FERPA to be allowed access to student educational records.

FERPA grants four specific rights to the adult student:

• The right to inspect and review the student’s educational record.
• The right to request the amendment of the student’s educational record.
• The right to consent to disclosure of the student’s educational record.
• The right to file a complaint concerning alleged failures by Southwestern Michigan College to comply with the requirements of FERPA to the United States Department of Education in Washington. D.C.

FERPA applies to the education records of persons who are or have been in attendance at post-secondary institutions. FERPA does not apply to records of applicants for admission who are denied acceptance or, if accepted, do not attend an institution.

A student educational record includes any form (paper, film, electronic, etc.) owned by the college and used to conduct business by school officials. The records are directly related to a student (personally identifiable) and maintained by an education agency or institution or by a party acting for the agency or institution.

Some information (directory information) is considered public. This information can be released without the student’s written permission. However, the student has the option to consider this information confidential.

Registration/Application Forms

We request information from the user on various registration/application forms for events which charge a fee (such as Steve's Run) throughout our Web site. A user must provide contact information (such as name, e-mail, and address) and financial information (such as credit card number, expiration date). This information is used for billing purposes and to register users for various events. If we have trouble processing an order, the information is used to contact the user.

In addition, a student must first complete an Application for Admission and be accepted as a student to receive credentials for SMC Wired. These credentials are also required to register for courses at SMC. Faculty and staff must complete an Employment Application prior to receiving account credentials. During registration/application all users are required to give contact information (such as name, home address, home phone number and e-mail address). We may use this information to contact the user about services on our site for which she or he has expressed interest.

Since the initial identifier required to create an account in our enterprise information system is a person's social security number, we require this information be provided by students and employees. However, after the initial account has been established, each user is given a random nine-digit identification number which is used for communications from that point forward.

Cookies

Our SMC Wired site uses cookies to keep track of your user session. A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user’s computer tied to information about the user. They enable our delivery of contents specific to a users interests and to save the users password so it does not have to be re-entered every time the user requests a new page. Cookies also allow us to be sure that your browser is the only one that can exchange information with our servers.

Log Files

Like most standard Web site servers we use log files. This includes Internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user’s movement in the aggregate, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses, etc. are not linked to personally identifiable information. We use various tracking utilities that use log files to analyze user movement including the following products:

• Websense™ . Websense integrates Web security, email security, and data security to protect essential information and enable productive, safe use of the Internet platform.
• Check Point Firewall™. SMC utilizes a Check Point Firewall to protect its systems from hackers, spyware and identity theft. This firewall is a network security device that ensures that all communications attempting to cross it meet SMC's security policy. Firewalls track and control communications, deciding whether to allow, reject or encrypt communications.
• SMC Wired. SMC has elected to integrate Google Gmail™ as the email client provided in SMC Wired. Please refer to the Gmail Privacy Notice for Google specific privacy policies.
• Google^TM Analytics. Southwestern Michigan College utilizes Google^TM Analytics to analyze Web site traffic information.

Communications from the Site

Users of the SMC Wired portal system will receive unsolicited announcements and information directed to individuals in various roles within the structure of the college. These targeted announcements may be delivered via e-mail or displayed on the pages within the SMC Wired site.

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcements. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an e-mail or distribute a targeted announcement within the SMC Wired system.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regards to issues relating to their account. We reply via e-mail or phone, in accordance with the users wishes.

Though we make every effort to preserve user privacy, we may need to disclose personal information when required by law wherein we have a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a current judicial proceeding, a court order or legal process served on our Web site.

Generally speaking, we DO NOT Share Personal Information with Third Parties, except for the following scenarios:

• We use an outside shipping company to ship orders, and a credit card processing company to bill users for goods and services.
• We partner with other third parties to provide specific services. For example:
  • An outside third-party vendor is contracted to provide miniature transponder chips as a timing device for Steve's Run. Certain information such as name and age are provided to this vendor to track participants in the various Steve's Run races.
  • Southwestern Michigan College offers FACTS e-Cashier Automatic Payment Program as a convenient monthly budget plan for its students. FACTS is a tuition management plan that provides you with a low cost option for budgeting tuition and other educational expenses. FACTS Management Co. (FACTS) acts as agent for SMC in administering our payment plans. In the course of providing payment plan services for SMC, FACTS receives personal and financial information from SMC students. It is the policy of FACTS Management Co. and its subsidiaries to protect all information provided to us by all participants in the FACTS payment plans. FACTS does not sell or share any nonpublic personal information or client lists to any third party, except as agreed to by you, or as may be necessary to complete a transaction in the ordinary course of business, or as required under an applicable law.
  • Four-year educational partner institutions such as Bethel College, Ferris State University and Western Michigan University.

Links

This Web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that Southwestern Michigan College is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every Web site that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this Web site.

Surveys, Contests and Subscriptions

From time-to-time our Web site may request information from users via surveys, contests or subscriptions. Participation in these surveys, contests and subscriptions is completely voluntary and the user therefore has a choice whether or not to disclose this information. The requested information typically includes contact information (such as name and shipping address), and demographic information (such as zip code). Contact information will be used to notify the winners and award prizes. Subscription information will be used to deliver electronic newsletters or announcements. Anonymous survey information will be used for purposes of monitoring or improving the use and satisfaction of this site. Users’ personally identifiable information is not shared with third parties unless we give prior notice and choice.

Chat Rooms, Message Boards, and Public Forums

Please keep in mind that whenever you voluntarily disclose personal information online, for example on message boards, through e-mail, or in chat areas that information can be collected and used by others. In short, by posting personal information online that is publicly accessible, you may receive unsolicited messages from other parties in return.

Security

This Web site takes every precaution to protect our users’ information. When users submit sensitive information via the Web site, their information is protected both online and off-line.

Our registration/order form asks users to enter sensitive information (such as credit card number and/or social security number), that information is encrypted and is protected with the best encryption software in the industry, SSL.While on a secure page, such as our order form, the lock icon on the bottom of Web browsers such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer becomes locked, as opposed to un-locked, or open, when users are just ‘surfing’.

While we use SSL encryption to protect sensitive information online, we also do everything in our power to protect user-information off-line.All of our users’ information, not just the sensitive information mentioned above, is restricted in our offices.Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, our billing clerk or a student advisor) are granted access to personally identifiable information. The servers that store personally identifiable information are in a secure locked facility.

Notification of Changes

If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes to this privacy statement, the homepage, and other places we deem appropriate so our users are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it.