Notice of Collection & Use of Personal Information
Revised July 2015
In accordance with Section 39 (2) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 1990 (FIPPA) personal information collected by The Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning (Sheridan) under the legal authority of the Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology Act, 2002 may be used and/or disclosed for various administrative, information technology, law enforcement, statistical and/or research purposes of Sheridan and/or ministries and agencies of the Government of Ontario and the Government of Canada as discussed in details below. Please read below for further details about how Sheridan may collect and use your personal information.
PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS AND APPLICANTS
Sheridan collects information in various manners, including but not limited to:
OCAS enrolment forms, application forms, financial aid applications and declarations, surveys, transcripts, request cards, websites and telephone or in-person advising.
Sheridan also collects data through documentation including, but not limited to, essays, letters of reference, report cards, transcripts, portfolios and collections of work for the purposes of recruitment, admissions, enrolment and other fundamental activities related to being a member of the Sheridan community and attending a postsecondary institution in the Province of Ontario.
These include but are not limited to determining scholarships, entrance award decisions, facilitating housing accommodations, college advancement purposes and providing applicants with mentoring and other student services prior to applicants’ enrolment at Sheridan, and other purposes consistent with Sheridan’s educational mission.
The Office of the Registrar works closely with Sheridan’s program department administrators in the determination of admissions decisions and many programs will require and access non-academic criteria of prospective students as part of the competitive selection process. Subject to applicable laws, applicants are advised that documentation pertaining to the scoring, competitive ranking, or the opinions of assessing program departments, faculty, and staff may not be released to the applicant. Reference letters from teachers, counsellors, principals, employers and other referees will not be shared with an applicant without the written permission of the referee.
Documents and other submissions that are provided by applicants become the property of Sheridan and will not be returned. Material submitted by students who are admitted and then may enrol in a Sheridan program will either be retained for a minimum period of one year or will form part of their permanent student record. Material submitted by students who are not admitted will be retained for a minimum period of one year following the application and then such material will be destroyed.
If you are admitted to and/or subsequently enroll in a Sheridan program, Sheridan may send mail to the address(es) you provided in an open manner that confirms your admission and/or enrollment status, as applicable. If you are admitted to and subsequently enroll in a Sheridan program, the information you submitted in connection with your application, no matter how received by Sheridan, will form part of your permanent student record at Sheridan. The notice of collection for current students, which follows, will then apply to you.
CURRENT STUDENTS
The information submitted in connection with your application is used for the purpose of creating and/or maintaining your academic record. The information may be used to support decisions relating to course and/or certificate enrolment, transfer credit (including Letters of permission and Challenge Credits), tuition fees assessment, determining eligibility for and access to financial aid programs, scholarships, bursaries, awards, including but not limited to monetary and non-monetary student recognition awards and other forms of student support.
In choosing to pursue a postsecondary education, students accept Sheridan’s right to collect and evaluate records of their academic performance. At the same time, the student’s right to privacy requires that such information be used and stored in a manner consistent with the confidential nature of the information involved.
Sheridan will confirm whether a student has graduated, the date of graduation and the name of certificate, diploma or degree obtained. Convocation programs, containing students’ names, program, degree earned and year of graduation, and webcasts of the ceremonies, including individuals’ images, are considered public information. Students are provided with additional information about the publication of their personal information at the time of graduation. Upon graduation, students’ personal information is shared with Sheridan’s Advancement and Alumni Relations departments and related third parties by written agreement.
Sheridan may exercise its discretion to share students’ contact information with collection agencies in the event of overdue financial accounts, including outstanding parking violations. All such collection agencies are under contract with Sheridan and are aware of their legal obligations to protect students’ personal information.
Students’ contact information is shared with their respective student union to enable them to, for example, obtain health and dental insurance on students’ behalf, to create voters’ lists for student elections and to provide other services as they see fit.
Sheridan may use and share students’ contact information (mailing and email addresses) to communicate educational opportunities and advancement initiatives. If shared with third parties, such third parties are under contract with Sheridan and are aware of their legal obligations to protect students’ personal information.
Students should be aware that aggregated student academic data (grades and academic standings, for example) are occasionally used for statistical, audit and research purposes, and for development purposes intended to improve postsecondary education. Other kinds of disclosures, including, but not limited to, law enforcement agencies, in compassionate circumstances, in compelling circumstances affecting the health or safety of an individual, and upon graduation to Advancement, are in compliance with Section 42 of FIPPA. In other circumstances not covered by this notice, no personally identifiable data, except that which is provided for by law, is released without the express written consent of the student.
STUDENT CONFIDENTIALITY
Sheridan policies as well as FIPPA permit communication pertaining to an applicant’s record/application only with the individual student, unless Sheridan has received written permission from the student to discuss their application with an identified third party (not previously identified above). Please contact the Office of the Registrar to authorize specific third parties to access your personal information.
NOTIFICATION TO CURRENT STUDENTS OF DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION TO THE MINISTRY OF TRAINING, COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES AND TO STATISTICS CANADA
Sheridan is required to disclose personal information such as Ontario Education Numbers, student characteristics and educational outcomes to the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development under s. 15 of the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act, R.S.O. 1990, Chapter M. 19, as amended. The ministry collects this data for purposes such as planning, allocating and administering public funding to colleges, universities and other post-secondary educational and training institutions and to conduct research and analysis, including longitudinal studies, and statistical activities conducted by or on behalf of the ministry for purposes that relate to post-secondary education and training. Further information on how the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development, Colleges and Universities uses this personal information is available on the ministry's website: https://www.ontario.ca/page/ministry-advanced-education-and-skills-development (English) or https://www.ontario.ca/fr/page/ministere-de-lenseignement-superieur-et-de-la-formation-professionnelle (French).
Statistics Canada is the national statistical agency, which carries out hundreds of surveys each year on a wide range of matters, including education. It is essential to be able to follow students across time and institutions to understand, for example, the factors affecting enrolment demand at postsecondary institutions. The increased emphasis on accountability for public investment means that it is also important to understand outcomes.
In order to carry out such studies, Statistics Canada requires all colleges and universities to provide data on students and graduates. Institutions collect and provide to Statistics Canada student identification information (student’s name, student ID number), student contact information (address and telephone number), student demographic characteristics, enrolment information, previous education, and labour activity.
Canada’s Statistics Act provides the legal authority for Statistics Canada to obtain access to personal information held by educational institutions. The information may be used only for statistical purposes and the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act prevent the information from being released in any way that would identify a student.
Students who do not wish to have their information used may ask Statistics Canada to remove their identification and contact information from the national database.
Further information on the use of this information can be obtained from Statistics Canada’s web site www.statcan.ca or by writing to the Postsecondary Section, Centre for Education Statistics, 17th floor, R.H. Coats Building, Holland Avenue, Ottawa, ON K1A 0T6.
Questions about the collection, use and disclosure of student information by Sheridan should be directed to the Office of General Counsel/Information and Privacy Officer, 1430 Trafalgar Road, Oakville, ON, L6H 2L1; email: privacy@sheridancollege.ca.
Sheridan has a Privacy and Legal Statement on privacy and protection of personal information and an access procedure and Privacy Policy.