Privacy Policy

Hood College Privacy Notice

Hood College is committed to respecting the privacy of information and data that may be used to identify you. This information is referred to Personally Identifiable Information or PII throughout this document. This Privacy Notice describes our policies and practices regarding the most common ways we collect, use, disclose, or otherwise process your personal information. In certain circumstances, we may provide you with supplemental disclosures regarding our data processing activities.

For Applicants and Prospective Students

Personal Information Collected

Hood College collects and uses personal information about applicants and other prospective students, including students interested in our summer programs. If you are or have been an applicant, we may collect and use the following types of personal information about you:

Information and supporting documentation that you provide in your application, including through third parties, such as The Common Application.
Related application materials.
Information that you have permitted a third party, such as The College Board, to release.
Contact information for prospective students that we receive from other institutions and from vendors who conduct advertising activities for Hood College.
Financial information, including financial information about your family members.
Survey responses (if you choose to respond to a survey sent by us or on our behalf).

How We Use Your Personal Information

Your personal information is used primarily to evaluate your application and related activities, such as evaluating requests for financial aid, communicating with you about your application, and other administrative functions related to the admissions and enrollment process.

We may also use or disclose your personal information for the following purposes:

To consider requests for special accommodations.
For research and statistical purposes.
To provide you with information about Hood College and events that you might be interested in attending on campus.
To send surveys for research purposes.
For compliance with legal obligations and to enforce our agreements.
To prevent or investigate fraud or other unlawful activity, and to protect the security of Hood College's property, website, and other information systems.
To meet the obligations of private organizations with oversight over Hood College, such as accreditation organizations.
To protect the health, safety, or rights of you, other students, faculty, staff, and visitors.

How We Share Your Information

We may share your personal information with the following individuals, departments or college-associated organizations:

Individuals who assist in the application process, such as faculty and outside consultants.
Other departments within Hood College.
Financial and banking institutions.
Other educational institutions.
Vendors who provide services to Hood College.
Governmental bodies as necessary for compliance with law, with law enforcement authorities when necessary, and other third parties to enforce our legal rights.

Legal Basis for Processing (subject to the General Data Protection Regulation)

With respect to personal information subject to the GDPR, we rely on the following lawful bases for processing:

Our legitimate interests, such as conducting our admissions activities.
To provide you with services or perform on contractual obligations, such as processing your application for admission.
For compliance with our legal obligations and to enforce our agreements.
When necessary for scientific or historical research or statistical purposes.
With your consent, when applicable.

For Students, Faculty, and Staff

Personal Information Collected

When you are a student at Hood College, or a member or prospective member of the faculty and staff, we maintain records containing your PII.

As applicable, we may collect and use the following types of PII:

Your contact information and biographical data.
Application materials and supporting documents.
Copies of identification documents and other official documents.
Employment and/or educational records.
Academic work product and related information.
Records about your other extra-curricular activities.
Financial information.
Health information. Please refer to the Hood College’s Health and Counseling Services for notice of privacy practices for additional information regarding the use and disclosure of health information.
Information about technology usage.

How We Use Your Personal Information

We may also use or disclose your personal information for the following purposes:

To provide educational, employment and/or related services.
To administer the financial aspects of the relationship.
To enable your participation at events and in other opportunities.
To protect the educational integrity of the school.
To accommodate special needs.
For research and statistical purposes related to our educational and/or other services.
To provide basic contact information in student, faculty, and/or staff directories.
For the general operations of Hood College and related administrative functions.
For compliance with legal obligations and to enforce our agreements.
To prevent or investigate fraud or other unlawful activity, and to protect the security of Hood College's property, website, and other information systems.
To meet the obligations of private organizations with oversight over Hood College, such as accreditation organizations.
To protect the health, safety, or rights of you, other students, faculty, staff, and visitors.

How We Share Your Personal Information

We may share your personal information with the following individuals, departments or college-associated organizations:

Faculty and staff at Hood College in order to fulfill their responsibilities.
Your lenders, funders, and/or other sponsors.
Providers of any external program, such as study abroad programs, internships, and other collaborations.
Your host institution and host family (in connection with study abroad or faculty or student exchange programs).
Student clubs and related organizations.
Individuals or entities inquiring about your attendance or employment history.
Vendors who provide services to Hood College.
Governmental bodies as necessary for compliance with law, with law enforcement authorities when necessary, and other third parties to enforce our legal rights.
To meet the obligations of private organizations with oversight over Hood College, such as accreditation organizations.

Legal Basis for Processing (subject to the General Data Protection Regulation)

With respect to personal information subject to the GDPR, we rely on the following lawful bases for processing:

Our legitimate interests, such as fulfilling our educational mission.
To provide you with services or perform on contractual obligations, such as providing you with educational services or managing your employment relationship.
For compliance with our legal obligations and to enforce our agreements.
When necessary for scientific or historical research or statistical purposes.
With your consent, when applicable.

For Alumnae and Other Supporters

Personal Information Collected

Hood Colleges collects and retains personal information about its alumnae and other supporters such as donors, prospective donors, volunteers, and family members of students.

If you are an alumna or other supporter, we may collect and use the following types of personal information about you:

Academic information.
Biographical information.
Contact information.
Extra-curricular activities at Hood College.
Your involvement with Hood College and other interests.
Family information.
Health information.
Financial information.
Employment information.

We collect personal information about alumnae and other supporters from various sources, including directly from the individual via our website or other online sources. We also retain personal information from your student records if you attended Hood College. We collect information from publicly available sources, such as social media, and from third parties, such as companies that conduct wealth screening or other people that might know you and your philanthropic interests.

How We Use Your Personal Information

We may also use or disclose your personal information for the following purposes:

Sending you informational publications.
Conducting surveys so that we can learn more about our alumnae and other supporters.
Providing services.
Sending you information about fundraising campaigns, events, and volunteer opportunities that may be of interest to you.
Conducting wealth analysis and research to understand your philanthropic interests and ability to give in order to ensure that our fundraising efforts are tailored to your interests.
For administrative purposes.
For research and statistical purposes.
To publicly acknowledge gifts with consent.
For compliance with legal obligations and to enforce our agreements.
To prevent or investigate fraud or other unlawful activity, and to protect the security of Hood College's property, website, and other information systems.
To meet the obligations of private organizations with oversight over Hood College, such as accreditation organizations.
To protect the health, safety, or rights of you, other students, faculty, staff, and visitors.

How We Share Your Personal Information

We may share your personal information with the following individuals, departments or college-associated organizations:

Hood College departments, clubs, and interest groups.
Other Hood College alumnae using limited contact information only.
Specific alumnae clubs and organizations and similar affiliates.
Other individuals or entities with a legitimate interest in your personal information, such as scholarship supporters.
Vendors who provide services to Hood College.
Governmental bodies as necessary for compliance with law, with law enforcement authorities when necessary, and other third parties to enforce our legal rights.
To meet the obligations of private organizations with oversight over Hood College, such as accreditation organizations.

Legal Basis for Processing (subject to the General Data Protection Regulation)

With respect to personal information subject to the GDPR, we rely on the following lawful bases for processing:

Our legitimate interests, such as maintaining alumnae relationships and conducting fundraising activities.
To provide you with services or perform on contractual obligations, such as providing certain alumnae services.
For compliance with our legal obligations and to enforce our agreements.
When necessary for scientific or historical research or statistical purposes.
With your consent, when applicable.

For Website Visitors

Personal Information Collected

The public facing website is an information system intended to present an integrated view of Hood College to prospective students, alumnae, the members of the local, state, national and international communities with an interest in Hood College.

If you visit this site to view or download information, or submit information to us, we or our third-party vendors may automatically collect the following types of personal information about you:

The name of the domain from which you accessed the Internet.
The date and time of your visit to the website.
The web page/s you visited.
Your computing platform.

Some of this information may be collected through the use of cookies, which are text files that are placed on your hard disk by a web server, or similar technologies, such as web beacons. Some of these cookies are managed by third parties that we do not control, such as Google Analytics. You have the ability to accept or decline cookies by changing your browser settings. If you choose to decline cookies, some features on this website may not work properly.

If you use our website to complete forms, use our applications, or submit information to us, we will collect the information that you provide to us, as well as related information such as your login ID.

How We Use Your Personal Information

The data collected with cookies and similar technologies are used in the aggregate for purposes of analyzing site traffic, managing the site, and providing accountability regarding the usefulness of our work.

If you provide us with information, we will use that information for the purposes described on the form or web pages.

As applicable, we may collect and use the following types of PII for the following purposes:

For compliance with legal obligations.
To prevent or investigate fraud or other unlawful activity, and to protect the security of Hood College's property, website, and other information systems.
To meet the obligations of private organizations with oversight over Hood College, such as accreditation organizations.
To protect the health, safety, or rights of you, other students, faculty, staff, and visitors.

How We Share Your Personal Information

Personal information collected automatically on this website is not disclosed to third parties unless the third party is an institutionally authorized provider of services to Hood College. Information collected through website forms is used as specified on the form or as otherwise described in this notice.

This web site contains links to many sites that are beyond the control of the college. Hood College is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of these other sites. Users of these services are subject to the privacy policies established by the third-party provider.

Legal Basis for Processing (subject to the General Data Protection Regulation)

With respect to personal information subject to the GDPR, we rely on the following lawful bases for processing:

Our legitimate interests, such as monitoring our website usage.
To provide you with services or perform on contractual obligations, such as managing our relationships with our suppliers and alumnae.
For compliance with our legal obligations and to enforce our agreements.
When necessary for scientific or historical research or statistical purposes.
With your consent, when applicable.

Personal Information Transfer

Hood College is located in the United States. Information we collect from you will be processed by Hood College in the United States. Hood College may also transfer your personal information to third parties, including our vendors, as described in this notice that may be located outside of the European Economic Area (“EEA”).

Data protection laws in the United States may not offer you the same protections as in the country in which you are residing when your personal information is collected.

With respect to transfers outside the EEA, Hood College generally relies on exemptions for specific situations. In some circumstances, Hood College may enter into standard contractual clauses governing the import or export of personal information, or rely on your consent. In all cases, Hood College endeavors to apply suitable safeguards to protect the privacy and security of your personal information, particularly sensitive data, and to use it in a manner that is consistent with our Privacy Notice.

Retention of Data

Hood College retains personal information about students and alumnae indefinitely for the purpose of alumnae relationships, academic record-keeping, and archiving purposes. Other personal information will be retained in accordance with applicable Hood College data retention policies.

Communications from Hood College

Hood College periodically sends marketing communications to alumnae, supporters, and other members of the Hood community, such as newsletters, event invitations, and fundraising information.

Individual Rights

If you are located in the European Economic Area (“EEA”), you may have the following legal rights under applicable law with respect to the personal information processed by Hood College:

To withdraw consent at any time, if we are processing your personal information on the basis of consent.
To access the information that Hood College has about you.
To request that Hood College corrects or erases your information.
To request that Hood College restricts the way it uses your information.
To object to the way Hood College uses your information.
To ask Hood College to transfer your information to someone else.
To lodge a complaint with a data protection authority in the EEA.

Hood College’s ability or obligation to comply with your requests may be limited by applicable law.

Changes to this Privacy Notice

Hood College reserves the right to amend this Privacy Notice at any time, for any reason, without notice to you. Any changes will be published on our website. This Privacy Notice was last updated on November 8th, 2019.

Contact Information

The controller of the personal information described in this Privacy Notice is:

Hood College
401 Rosemont Avenue
Frederick, MD 21701

Questions, concerns, requests, or complaints regarding this Privacy Notice and the processing of personal information by Hood College should be directed to the IT Help Desk, helpdesk@hood.edu.

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