Privacy policy

Effective Date: October 9, 2018

1. Overview

Meredith College, located in Raleigh, North Carolina, operates the www.meredith.edu website (the “Website”).

This Privacy Policy describes the personal information we collect via the Website, how we will use such personal information, who we may disclose it to, and your rights and choices in relation to your personal information.

When we use the term personal information, we use this term to describe information that may be used to identify you.

2. What Personal Information Do We Hold About You?

Information You Provide To Us

We collect personal information about you in the course of providing the Website to you.  You may provide personal information to us in a variety of ways, such as when you request information from us, schedule a campus tour, submit an application, donation or tuition payment, apply for scholarships, or participate in our blogs or discussion boards.  The categories of personal information we collect will depend on how you interact with our Website, such as whether you visit as an applicant for admission or as former student.  The types of personal information we collect are described in more detail below.

Students, Prospective Students and Applicants

If you are an applicant for admission, certain required and optional information is collected from you when you provide this information via our online application, including your name, email address, permanent address, mailing address, phone number, state of residence, birth date, social security number, gender, race/ethnicity, veteran status, country of citizenship, academic information (e.g., test scores, schools attended, academic honors, activities), and family information (e.g., parents’ names, relationship to applicant, phone number, address, education level, occupation).  We also maintain this application information for our enrolled students.

If you make a deposit for your application or make tuition payments, you will be directed to our third-party payment processors.  We do not store payment information.  The privacy policies of those processors will apply to any information you submit.

If you are a prospective student and complete a contact us form, such as to request information from us or to schedule a campus tour, we may collect certain required and optional information from you, including your name, email address, birth date, intended enrollment date, your areas of academic interest, your phone number (including mobile number), your address, gender, race/ethnicity, your interest in athletics, request for accommodations for a tour, your parents’ names and email addresses, and whether you are related to a Meredith graduate.

Alumni and Other Supporters

If you are an alumna or alumnus, we may collect and hold certain personal information about you, including contact information (e.g., name, email address, mailing address).  We also retain a copy of your student records if you studied here.  If you make a donation via our Website, you will be directed to our third-party payment processors.  We do not store payment information.  The privacy policies of those processors will apply to any information you submit.  Our service providers may share certain of your personal information with us when you make a donation.  When we receive this information, we will treat it in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Job Applicants

If you apply to a job at Meredith College through our Website, you will be required to create an account.  Certain information is optional, but you must provide your full name and email address, in addition to creating a user name and password.  You will also be required to provide us with your phone number and address in order to submit an application.  As part of the job application process, you will be asked to tell us about your employment and education history, job and salary requirements, work authorization, and certain information about criminal offenses.  You may also submit information to us that would ordinarily be contained in a resume.  If you provide us with references, you agree that you have permission from the reference to provide us with such information and for Meredith College to contact the reference.

All Website Visitors

You can generally navigate our Website without providing contact information.  If you correspond with us by Website form, email or other form of communication, we may retain such correspondence and information contained in it and use it to respond to your question, comment, or complaint.

Information We Collect About You

We, or our service providers, may also collect personal information about you through your use of the Website.  This information includes online activity information and technical information about your usage activities.

We collect technical information automatically through your electronic device, such as your IP address (i.e., your computer’s address on the internet), operating system type (Windows or Mac) and version, internet browser type and version, and the web address of the website from which you liked directly to our Website.  We also collect information about your use of our Website, such as the date and time you access the Website, time spent on pages and the pages read and images viewed, and the content you download from the Website.  We use this information to ensure that the Website functions properly and to personalize your experience.  Some of this information may be collected through the use of cookies; please also see additional information on our cookie usage in Section 3 below.

Information We Receive from Third Parties

In addition to information we collect from you, we may receive your personal information from our third-party service providers, such as our payment processors, loan processors, government entities, such as Federal Student Aid information from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) via the U.S. Department of Education, and groups such as The Common Application and The College Foundation of North Carolina who collect college applications for us.

We also may receive your information from third parties that you have permitted to release to us, such as The College Board (e.g., Advanced Placement (AP) test scores, Preliminary SAT (PSAT)/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test scores, demographic information, academic information).  We also collect information from publicly available sources, such as from social media platforms (e.g., LinkedIn).

3. Cookies

We use third-party service providers to collect usage analytics and to set and track cookies on our behalf, such as Google Analytics.  Cookies are pieces of information stored directly on the device you are using.  Cookies allow us to recognize your device and to collect information such as internet browser type, time spent using Website, and pages visited.  This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse the Website and also allows us to improve the Website.  Cookies further allow us to present to you the information that will most likely to appeal to you based on your activity and preferences.  We may also use cookies to track your responses to our advertisements and we may use cookies or other files to track your use of other websites.

You can refuse to accept the cookies we use by adjusting your browser settings.  However, if you do not accept these cookies, you may affect your use of the Website and ability to access certain features of the Website.  You can find out more about how to manage cookies here: www.allaboutcookies.org/.

4. How Do We Use the Personal Information We Collect About You?

Your personal information may be used by us for the following purposes:

  • To communicate with you, including to respond to your requests for information from us
  • To send you informational publications (e.g., our alumnae magazine or newsletters)
  • To provide our services (e.g., admissions, networking and ongoing career services)
  • To prepare for an on-site campus tour (individual or group visit)
  • To evaluate an application for enrollment in our course offerings and degree programs and to carry other administrative functions related to admissions and enrollment
  • To evaluate and award financial aid and scholarships
  • To engage with you via blogs and/or discussion boards
  • To provide you with information about Meredith College, including information about scholarships and degree programs, or information about events you might be interested in attending or volunteer opportunities
  • To process and assess your job application
  • To notify you about any changes to our Website or services.

We may use your information to audit and monitor the Website, including for security purposes, to facilitate navigation of the Website, to resolve any technical issues, to display information more effectively, and to personalize your experience while using the Website.  In addition, we may use such information to gather statistical information about the usage of the Website to understand how it is used and to continually improve the Website.

We may also use your information, including personal information, to comply with legal obligations, to prevent or investigate fraud or other unlawful activity, and to protect the security and integrity of the Website and other systems.

5. What Is Our Legal Basis for Processing? 

With respect to personal information that is subject to the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (the GDPR), our legal basis for collecting and using your personal information depends on the type of personal information and the purpose for which we collect it.

For the purposes stated in Section 4 above, we process your personal data for our legitimate business interests, and these interests include: to provide, improve, promote and monitor the Website and to conduct our activities and objectives, such as our admissions activities, providing educational services, and maintaining alumnae and donor relationships.  In certain instances we may process your personal data pursuant to a contract between you and us or to comply with our legal obligations.  Where appropriate, we may ask for your consent.

6. How Do We Share Your Personal Information?

We may share your personal information with our service providers (e.g., our payment processors, job platform provider and online store providers), our professional advisors (e.g., accountants, lawyers, and other professional advisors that assist us with carrying out activities), your financial institutions and funders (e.g., for securing loans, scholarships, and other funding), and government authorities and private organizations with oversight over Meredith College, such as accreditation organizations.

We reserve the right to disclose any personal information as needed if that information is requested by law enforcement agencies or if we are required to do so by law, treaty, regulation, subpoena, court order, or by a government entity.  We also may disclose your personal information to third parties if we have reason to believe that disclosing such information is necessary to conduct investigations of possible breaches of law, to cooperate in any legal investigation, or to identify, contact, or bring legal action against someone who may be violating any agreement with us.  We may also disclose your personal information to other third parties, for example, in connection with a sale or transfer of assets.

7. How Do We Protect Your Personal Information?

We take reasonable security precautions to protect the personal information that you choose to provide.  Although guaranteed security does not exist on the internet or offline, we make commercially reasonable efforts to handle such information consistent with this Privacy Policy and applicable laws.  Due to the design of the internet and other factors outside our control, we cannot guarantee communications between you and our servers will be free from unauthorized access by third parties.

8. For How Long Will We Keep Your Personal Information?

We will retain your personal information for as long as is necessary for purposes for which it was collected.  The precise period will depend on the reason why it was collected.  Those periods are also based on the requirements of applicable data protection laws, applicable legal and regulatory requirements and periods relating to the commencement of legal actions.

9. Where Will We Transfer Your Personal Information?

We are located in the United States and we will process your personal information in the United States. If you are located outside of the United States, your personal information will be transferred and stored in the United States.  The United States has not received an “adequacy decision” from the European Commission, which means that the data protection laws of the United States may not offer the same protections as the country in which you reside when you provide information to us.  If we transfer personal information outside the European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA), we will implement appropriate and suitable safeguards to ensure that such data will be protected as required by applicable data protection law.  Meredith College generally relies on derogations for specific situations set forth in Article 49 of the GDPR, such as consent.

10. Changes to Personal Information; Opt-out

You may contact us using the contact information provided at the end of this Privacy Policy if you have any questions, or if you wish to update, correct or amend your personal information.  (For individuals located in the EU or the EEA, please also see Section 14 below).  Please note that we may not be able to correct or update your personal information previously provided to us by third parties.

As mentioned above, we may use your personal information to contact and correspond with you and to respond to your inquiries.  We may send you email or other communications regarding our programs or to alumni, supporters and other members of the Meredith College community, such as newsletters, event invitations, and fundraising information.  We will provide you the opportunity to “opt-out” or unsubscribe from these emails (e.g., email we send you will tell you how to decline future emails from us).

11. Links to Third-Party Websites

The Website may contain links to third-party websites that are not controlled by us.  These links are made available to you as a convenience, and you agree to use these links at your own risk.  Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy policies and practices or content of such third-party websites.  If you navigate to a third-party website from the Website, we encourage you to review and become familiar with such third-party website’s privacy policy and statements.

12. Notice to California Residents

California law permits California residents who provide us with personal information to request certain information regarding our disclosure of such information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes.  We do not, at this time, disclose such information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes.  If we change this policy, we will update this provision and provide instructions on how you may make a request for details.  If any other state enacts a similar law as the California law, then this provision will also apply to such state.

13. Do-Not-Track Disclosure; Third-party Tracking

Certain mechanisms may allow you to send web browser signals, known as “Do Not Track” (“DNT”) signals, indicating your choice to disable tracking on the Website.  We do not respond to browser “Do Not Track” signals at this time.  We may not be aware of or able to honor and respond to every such mechanism.  More information about “Do Not Track” is available at www.allaboutdnt.org concerning such information.

Third parties, other than our service providers (such as our website analytics provider), do not have our permission to track which websites you visited prior to and after visiting the Website.  That said, we cannot control third-party tracking and there may be some third-party tracking that occurs without our knowledge or consent.

14. Your Rights Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

If your personal information is protected by the GDPR, you have certain data protection rights described below with respect to the personal information collected and used by Meredith College.  These rights may only apply in certain circumstances and are subject to certain exemptions.  You can exercise these rights using the contact details at the end of this Privacy Policy (see Section 16).  The rights are as follows:

  • To receive a copy of your personal information that we hold about you.
  • To ask us to correct or delete your personal information.
  • To restrict our use of your personal information.
  • To object to our use of your personal information.
  • To ask us to transfer your personal information to another organization where it is technically feasible.
  • To withdraw your consent at any time where we rely on consent to use your personal information.
  • To complain to the relevant data protection authority where you think we have not used your personal information in accordance with data protection law.

15. Changes to Our Privacy Policy

Any changes we make to this Privacy Policy in the future will be posted on the Website.  The updated Privacy Policy will take effect as soon as it has been updated or otherwise communicated to you.

Data Controller; Questions; Contact Us

Meredith College is the data controller of the personal information collected on the Website.  We dictate the purposes and manner by which your personal information is collected and used.

If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy or the way we use your personal information, you can contact us by:

Mail:
Meredith College
Attention: Marketing Department
3800 Hillsborough Street
Raleigh, North Carolina 27607

Email: dataprivacy@meredith.edu
Telephone: 919-760-8600

Contact Information
3800 Hillsborough Street
Raleigh, NC 27607-5298
Phone: (919) 760-8600
Fax: (919) 760-8330
1-800-MEREDITH