UAFS Web Privacy Policy

Purpose

The University of University of Arkansas - Fort Smith (UAFS) is committed to ensuring the privacy and accuracy of your confidential information. UAFS does not actively share personal information gathered from its Web servers. However, because UAFS is a public institution, some information collected from UAFS Web sites, including the summary server log information, e-mails sent to Web sites, and information collected from Web-based forms, may be subject to the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. This means that while UAFS does not actively share information, in some cases it may be compelled by law to release information gathered from its Web servers.

As part of its commitment to maintain the privacy of its Web users, UAFS has developed this privacy statement. The statement has two purposes:

To educate users about privacy issues
To inform users about specific privacy policies and guidelines employed at UAFS.

UAFS also complies with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which prohibits the release of education records without student permission. Although FERPA regulations apply only to UAFS students, the university is equally committed to protecting the privacy of all visitors to our Web site.

Scope

UAFS by and through its academic, research and administrative units and programs, owns, controls, operates and/or maintains Web sites under a number of domains (collectively, “UAFS Web”). This Web Privacy Policy applies to all domains within the UAFS Web.

Exceptions

The UAFS Web consists of hundreds of Web servers. Some servers hosted by UAFS may adopt different privacy statements as their specific needs require. If a UAFS department has a privacy statement that is different from this statement, the policy must be approved by the Office of University Relations, and it must be posted on this site. However, those sites cannot adopt a privacy statement that in any way supersedes federal or state regulations.

Approved Departmental Privacy Policies at UAFS:

General Web Site Privacy Policy
Email Contact Privacy Policy
Cub Camp Registration Privacy Policy
Den Day Registration Privacy Policy
APRO Workshops Registration Privacy Policy
River Valley BEST Robotics Competition Registration Privacy Policy
Greek Life Registration Privacy Policy
Intramural Sports Registration Privacy Policy
Campus Visit Registration Privacy Policy
Office of Adult and Returning Students Membership Privacy Policy
Student Orientation Registration Privacy Policy
Scholarship Hours Sign-up Privacy Policy
Job Fair Registration
Academy of the Arts Registration Form
Alumni Registration Form

The UAFS Web site contains links to hundreds of external Web sites. The university is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of the external Web sites we link to.

Information Gathered by UAFS

UAFS Web servers generate temporary logs that may contain the following information:

Internet address (IP address) of computer being used
Web pages requested
Referring Web page
Browser used
Date and Time
UIN (unique person identifier for EID-based services only)

The data is used in aggregate by IT staff to tune the Web site for its efficiency and is not ordinarily associated with specific individuals. Raw data from the Web server logs is only shared with the manager of each Web site. Summary reports produced from the logs help Web publishers determine what Web browsers and pages are most popular. For example, if the aggregate reports show a particular Web page is very popular or used more by freshmen than by seniors, publishers might use this information to customize the content of that page and make it easier to find.

Prospective Student Inquiry Forms

UAFS use web forms to allow prospective students to inquire about degree programs they may be interested in. These forms collect some or all of the following information from prospective students:

Name
Address
Phone
Email
Subject area of interest

Major or degree program of interest

Once the prospective student submits this information, they have “opted-in” to be contacted by UAFS. The data is collected by UAFS admissions who then contact the prospective student to assist them in the enrollment process. The data collected is not shared with any third parties.

Third-party content

Some pages within the uafortsmith.edu domain may contain content that is served from external third parties. For example, a uafortsmith.edu Web site might include a graphic logo or a script from a third party. Specifically, the following code within a uafortsmith.edu page would represent an example of third party content:

In this example, logo.gif would be third party content served from a Web server outside the uafortsmith.edu domain (www.other-org.com in this case). Third party content in uafortsmith.edu is not limited to graphics, but this is the most frequent use.

UAFS does not transmit any information to these third parties as part of such requests. However, when you visit uafortsmith.edu pages that contain third party content, information such as your IP address, date, browser, and requested page are transmitted from your computer to that third party. UAFS is not responsible for the privacy practices of these external third parties.

Cookies

Cookies are small pieces of data stored by the Web browser. Cookies are often used to remember information about preferences and pages you have visited. For example, when you visit some sites on the Web you might see a "Welcome Back" message. The first time you visited the site a cookie was probably set on your computer; when you return, the cookie is read again. You can configure your Web browser to refuse to accept cookies, to disable cookies, and to remove cookies from your hard drive as needed.

Some Web servers within UAFS may also use cookies to retain user preference information. It is against university policy to share this information with external third parties.

Security and Accuracy of Confidential Information

UAFS does its best to ensure that the personal information we have about you is accurate. Users with a UAFS ID can check and update personal information such as their address and e-mail address at: http://luminis.uafortsmith.edu/cp/home/loginf.

Although no computer system is 100% secure, the UAFS has deployed extensive security measures to protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of the information under our control. These security measures and our systems are audited by certified independent security specialists.

E-commerce

Several sites within UAFS enable you to pay for products or services online with a credit card. Unless otherwise noted, these transactions are encrypted. It is university policy that confidential information you enter in the transaction is used only for the purposes described in that transaction, unless an additional use is specifically stated on that site.

Sharing of Information

UAFS does, upon explicit request of users, share information with other parties and gather information from other private data providers. For example, the university receives test scores from testing agencies and will send transcripts to other schools. This is done only at the request of users (persons to whom the information applies). Unless specifically required under public information requests filed under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, it is against university policy to release confidential information gathered through the Web, such as pages visited, or personalized preferences.

Consistent with FERPA, we do not release personal student information, other than public directory information, to other parties unless we receive explicit written authorization to do so. Examples of directory information include first and last name, address, and date of birth. Enrolled students can restrict release of their directory information by contacting the Office of the Registrar.

Public Forums

UAFS may make some public chat rooms, forums, message boards, and news groups available to its users. The university does not ordinarily log public chat sessions, however, any information that is disclosed in these areas becomes public information and you should therefore exercise caution when deciding to disclose your confidential information in such places.

Academic chat sessions and discussion forums, such as those in Blackboard, may be logged. However, these educational records are protected from disclosure by FERPA.

Online Surveys

UAFS is a research institution. At any time there are numerous online surveys being conducted on the university’s Web site. It is University policy that confidential information gathered in these online surveys is used only for the research purposes indicated in the survey. Unless otherwise noted on the specified survey, your answers are confidential and individual responses will not be shared with other parties unless required by the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. Aggregate data from surveys may be shared with external third parties.

Open Records Requests

Except for educational records governed by FERPA, all information collected from the UAFS Web site, including the summary server log information, e-mails sent to the Web site, and information collected from Web-based forms, may be subject to the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.

Arkansas Freedom of Information Act

The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, with a few exceptions, gives you the right to be informed about the information that UAFS collects about you. It also gives you the right to request a copy of that information, and to have the university correct any of that information that is wrong. You may request to receive and review any of that information by contacting the university's Vice Chancellor for University Relations abreaux@uafortsmith.edu

Questions

If you have questions about this privacy statement or you believe that your personal information has been released without your consent send e-mail to info@uafortsmith.edu.

Authoritative Source

The authoritative source on this policy and responsibility for its implementation rests with the Vice Chancellor for University Relations.