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Student Data (General) – Privacy Notice

This notice provides information about the use of personal information while you are a student at the The College of New Jersey.

1. What is ‘personal information’?

‘Personal information’ means any information which relates to or identifies you as an individual.

2. Who will process my personal information?

The information published here applies to the use, sharing and disclosure of your personal information by The College of New Jersey.

3. What personal information will be processed?

The College will keep a record of the details you provided on your application form, any supporting documents requested as part of your admission and additional details provided by any references and information documented following any admissions interview process. We will also maintain records about your studies at TCNJ, and about your use of the academic and non-academic facilities and services that we offer. This personal information will include data such as your name, home address, date of birth, courses studied, fee payments, and information about your grades, examinations, assessments and results.

Your personal information is created, stored and transmitted securely in a variety of paper and electronic formats, including databases that are shared between units of the College.  Access to your personal information is limited to College faculty and staff who have a legitimate interest in it for the purpose of carrying out their employment duties, and the use of your personal information will not be excessive.

In addition to this, the College may process some information about you that is considered ‘sensitive’ personal data, and which requires additional protections. This includes information concerning your ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious beliefs or health/disability that we use for planning and monitoring purposes, or in order to provide care, help or make suitable accommodations. For certain courses of study, other sensitive information may be processed, such as information about past criminal convictions, working with children or vulnerable adults, and your fitness to practice in certain licensed professions.  Access to, and the sharing of, your ‘sensitive’ personal data are controlled very carefully.  You may be given further details about our use of any such data when we collect it from you.

4. What is the purpose and legal basis of the processing?

The College will process your personal information for a range of contractual, statutory or public interest purposes, including the following:

  • To develop and administer education programs, track academic progress (including any placements with external organizations), and determine/confirm your academic achievements (e.g. course or program completion).
  • Where relevant to monitor, evaluate and support your research activity.
  • To manage your student account and administer the financial aspects of your relationship with us and any third party finance providers.
  • To deliver services and facilities to you (e.g. IT, athletics, student health, libraries, housing and other accommodations, career services).
  • To enable your participation at events (e.g. student affairs functions, graduation).
  • To communicate effectively with you by mail, email and phone, including the distribution of relevant newsletters and circulars.
  • To operate security (including CCTV), governance, disciplinary (including academic misconduct), complaint, audit and quality assurance processes and arrangements.
  • To support your training, medical, safety, welfare and religious requirements.
  • To compile statistics and conduct research for internal and statutory reporting purposes, including maintaining the College’s accreditation.
  • To fulfil and monitor our responsibilities under equalities, immigration and public safety legislation.
  • To enable us to contact others in the event of an emergency (we will assume that you have checked with the individuals before you supply their contact details to us).

We consider the processing of your personal information for these purposes to be either necessary for the performance of our contractual obligations with you (e.g. to manage your student experience and welfare while studying at TCNJ), or necessary for compliance with a legal obligation (e.g. equal opportunities monitoring).  If we require your consent for any specific use of your personal information, we will collect it at the appropriate time and you can withdraw this at any time. We will not use your personal information to carry out any wholly automated decision-making that affects you.

5. Who will my personal information be shared with?

First and foremost, the College complies with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”), a U.S. federal law that is the touchstone of student privacy at the College.  Among other things, FERPA dictates the types of student education records the College may share, to whom the records may be shared, and under what circumstances the records may be shared, including whether consent is required from the student data subject.  For more information on the College’s compliance with FERPA, you may review the FERPA policy.  Where permitted and as described in Section 4. above, your personal information is shared with relevant staff at the College as required. In addition, it is shared as permitted or required by law, on a considered and confidential basis, with a range of external organizations, including the following:

  • Your third party finance providers and/or other sponsors.
  • The providers of any external/collaborative learning and training placements or fieldwork opportunities.
  • Relevant Government Departments or Agencies (e.g. Department for Education).
  • Any relevant professional bodies.
  • The relevant College student clubs and societies, in order to facilitate your membership of those bodies.
  • Local authorities.
  • On occasion and where necessary, the police and other law enforcement agencies.
  • On occasion and where necessary, auditors.
  • On occasion and where necessary, affiliated entities of the College (e.g. TCNJ Foundation).
  • Companies or organizations providing specific services to, or on behalf of, the College and/or one or more Colleges.

We may confirm details of your results and degrees awarded to external inquiries or organizations, and will provide references to third parties. Your name and the type of degree awarded will be published in the relevant graduation program.

Cross border transfers of your personal data usually are only necessary if it is done in order to meet our contractual obligations with you, and are carried out with appropriate safeguards in place to ensure the confidentiality and security of your personal information.

Other than as set out above, we will not normally publish or disclose any personal information about you to other external inquiries or organizations unless you have requested it or consented to it, or unless it is in your vital interests to do so (e.g. in an emergency situation).

6. How is my personal information used after I graduate?

After you graduate a core record of your studies is retained indefinitely so that the details of your academic achievements can be confirmed and for statistical or historical research. These records include disciplinary records.  Disciplinary cases which resulted in a suspension or expulsion are maintained indefinitely (cases not resulting in suspension or expulsion are destroyed five years after graduation or withdraw from the College).

Your contact and core personal details are passed to the Alumni Engagement office while you are still a student so that you can be added to the alumni database.

7. How can I access my personal information?

You may have the right to access some of the personal information that is held about you by the College. Further details are published at the College’s Privacy Office webpage.

8. How long is my information kept?

We store your personal information as part of your student record for the duration of your studies (and it may be used as part of our assessment of any future application you make for further studies at the College). Information about how long different types of information are retained by the College, as required by New Jersey, USA, state law is published at http://www.nj.gov/treasury/revenue/rms/retention.shtml.

9. Who can I contact?

If you have any questions about how your personal information is used, or wish to exercise any of your rights, please consult the College’s Privacy Office webpage at https://privacy.tcnj.edu/related-links/general-data-protection-regulation-european-union. If you need further assistance, please contact the College’s Privacy Officer at (privacy@tcnj.edu).

10. Are changes made to this webpage?

This webpage was last updated in May 2018. It is reviewed when necessary and at least annually. Any changes will be published here.