Utah State University Office of Advancement Privacy Statement

Introduction

The Office of Advancement at Utah State University (“we”) are committed to supporting the privacy of USU Students, Alumni, and Friends of the University.   This privacy statement explains how we handle and use the personal information collected about our alumni and our past, present, and future supporters. 

What personal information we collect

While information may vary for individuals, we may collect, use, store, and transfer different types of personal information about you, which we have categorized as follows:

• Basic contact information – home and/or business address, phone numbers, email addresses, social media contact information;
• Demographic information – names, gender, birth and death dates, photograph, ethnicity (if self-disclosed to USU), citizenship, political party affiliation (if self-disclosed to USU), and religion (if self-disclosed to USU);
• Student information – degree information, clubs, awards, activities, sport participation;
• Employment information – company names, industry information, and job titles;
• Family information – spouse/partner name, children names and birth date, other family relationships, and parents of current student(s);
• USU involvement – event attendance, volunteer interest, organization affiliations, committee participation, awards and honors, guest speakers, USU license plate holder, alumni promotions participation, and USU memories;
• Donor information –information regarding any donation made, including wealth assessment information and indicators of your interest in giving, season ticket holder and ticket patrons, and USU giving societies;
• Community involvement – board/civic volunteer affiliations, memberships/clubs, awards-recognition non-USU, interests/hobbies, military service, philanthropic interests, religious service, and writings/publications; and
• Analytical information – aggregated information related to email marketing plans.

How we collect personal information about you

We collect information about you from a variety of sources.  A significant portion of the information we maintain includes the information that you have provided to us, either by updating your information online, registering for an event, communicating with us, or making a donation.  For USU alumni and students, your personal data is transferred to the USU Alumni Donor database from USU student record system when you enroll at USU. 
We may also augment the information we collect about you from targeted internet searches and may use third-party sources, including, but not limited to US Postal Service NCOA updates, LexisNexis for Development Professionals, Iwave (Pro), Wealth Engine, social media sites (such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn), Alumni Finder, Noza, Utah Press, Axiom, and Obit Registry.

How we use your personal information

We use your personal information for a number of legitimate purposes all in support of USU and its mission. -.  Specifically, we use your personal information to

• Update you with information about USU and alumni activities;
• Conduct surveys, including alumni satisfaction, communication preferences, and accreditation reports;
• Provide information about alumni affinity programs, including but not limited to insurance; programs, travel program, Aggie Rewards credit card, USU license plates, and Forever Aggie memberships;
• Fundraise for USU initiatives, programs, buildings, and endowment;
• Communicate information about USU activities and events in your area;
• Conduct philanthropic preference research in order to understand alumni and supporters, to inform our fundraising strategy, and to target our communications;
• Keep internal records;
• Create and analyze aggregated information about our students, alumni, donor, and other supporters to provide predictive models to help the advancement office work more efficiently;
• Identify potential board members, award recipients, and guest speakers; and
• Provide information about career opportunities and new USU programs.

If you have concerns about any of these purposes, or how we communicate with you, please contact us at advancement-privacy@usu.edu.  We will always respect your request to stop processing your personal information (subject to our legal obligations). 

When we share your personal information

To fulfill the above purposes, your personal information may be shared with volunteers and students.  All individuals performing functions for us are informed regarding appropriate handling of your personal information and have signed a volunteer confidentiality statement.   We may also share your personal information with third parties performing services under contract with us, including but not limited to Wealth Engine, Reeher, Abila Fundraising Online, Real Magnet, Mobile Cause and Alumni Finder.  Such third-party service providers are under contractual terms of confidentiality.  

How your information is stored and secured

USU uses risk-assessed administrative, technical, and physical security measures to protect your personal information.  Only authenticated users with specific permissions may access the data, and off-campus users must connect to a virtual private network to access the data.  Firewalls and regular network monitoring controls are implemented to evaluate attempts to access USU systems without permission.  Additionally, a security audit is conducted annually on our system. 

How long we keep your personal information

We consider our relationship with alumni, donors, and other friends to be lifelong.  As such, we maintain a record for you until such time as you tell us that you no longer wish to keep in touch.