Tennessee Wesleyan University (TWU) protects the privacy of all students, adhering to the same privacy standards for online students as it does for students studying on the campus, through strict adherence to the rules of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA). The official FERPA statement is available for student and public view on the college’s website, in the Academic Catalog and in the Student Handbook.
TWU is committed to protecting your privacy while employing technology that gives you a powerful and safe online experience. This Statement of Privacy applies to TWU’s websites and governs data collection and use at all TWU sites and services. Please read the complete Statement of Privacy to learn additional details about how some of these sites and services protect your personal information.
TWU issues a unique username and password to each student upon enrollment and each college employee upon date of employment. The username is required for both students and faculty to access the Sakai course management system for all courses, including distance learning courses, the MyPortal site for all student self-service needs, and email. Sakai is a secure environment where faculty members post course materials, assignments and exams, and provide chat and discussion forums for their courses; and where students participate in forum discussions and chat sessions, upload assignments, and take quizzes and exams. The privacy of individual students’ assessments and grades is maintained within the course management system. MyPortal is self-service site in which students can access academic, financial and other institution-related information. Student email accounts are hosted by Microsoft (office365 email service) and this account is the primary means of electronic communication between the college and student. College employees can request a college-hosted Microsoft Exchange email account.
Secure Login and Password
MyPortal, Sakai and Office 365 email (student accounts) can only be accessed with a valid username. All students enrolled in TWU’s distance learning courses receive individual secure login and passwords to these accounts. Students are responsible for keeping their student pass codes secret and confidential, and for notifying the college if they believe that their student accounts have been stolen or might otherwise be misused.
Each distance learning faculty and student enters his/her username and password into Sakai to gain access to authorized Sakai learning environment resources. This combination of user name and password identifies faculty and students to the system on each course visit. All users should understand the following:
- All parties accept responsibility for the security of their personal passwords.
- Private student information is separated from others’ within the course management system and protected from outside intruders through limited student permissions.
- Private faculty information is protected from student views within the course management system and from outside intruders through typical faculty permissions.
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Personal Information
TWU will not disclose your personal information, except as required to do so by law, or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to: (a) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on TWU; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of TWU or (c) act under exigent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of TWU, its websites, or the public.
Under Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974, a student’s personally identified information stored at TWU will not be released to any third party without the written consent of the student unless permitted under circumstances and criteria outlined within FERPA. Further information of TWU’s adherence to FERPA, including the definition of directory information, is annually published in the TWU Academic Catalog and the TWU Student Handbook.
Use of Cookies
Cookies may be used to uniquely identify a user and they may be used to track individual preferences and other information about a web user. TWU will not use cookies to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer.
Content and tools used in conjunction with Sakai, Remote Proctor Now, or other web products may install additional cookies on your computer. This third party content may include cookies from the content issuer. These third party sites have separated and independent privacy policies. TWU therefore has no responsibility or liability for the content and activities of these linked sites. For your protection, TWU suggests you review the privacy and security policies of the company websites for each link.
Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of some websites you visit.
Links to Other Websites
TWU provides links to other websites that may be useful for our students and/or customers. TWU cannot make any representation of guarantee regarding the linked sites, their content or their security. For your protection, TWU suggests that you review the privacy and security policies of the company websites for each link.
Security of your Personal Information
TWU secures your personal information from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. TWU secures the personally identifiable information you provide on computer servers in a controlled environment protected from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. These measures include Secure Socket Layer (SSL) software during the transmission of your information, which encrypts this data. However, we cannot guarantee that your submissions to our website, any content residing on our servers, or any transmissions from our server will be completely secure.
Changes to this Statement
TWU may occasionally update this Statement of Privacy, and encourages you to periodically review this Statement to remain informed of how TWU is protecting your information.
