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Privacy for exchange/ study abroad/ outreach – Bath Spa University

How we process your data is governed by the General Data Protection Regulation and associated data protection legislation.

This Notice and the information contained with it is for students, staff and visiting students, who engage with and utilise the opportunities available via our GoGlobal and Global Academy of Liberal Arts (GALA). 

GALA: who we are and what we do

Bath Spa’s GALA team works with colleagues at Bath Spa and at other GALA partners to promote, organise, and fund a range of collaborative activities and opportunities for students and staff at Bath Spa and across the rest of the network.

Our aim is to ensure that all our activities contribute towards the advancement of GALA’s goals of developing new kinds of research and teaching collaboration, enhancing international mobility among staff and students, and to reimagining liberal arts education for the twenty-first century.

We will do this through:

  • Managing the network as a whole and the partnerships that Bath Spa has with individual GALA partners.
  • Promoting, organising, and supporting opportunities, activities, and events (e.g. conferences, workshops, summer schools, field-trips, research visits) for staff and students.
  • Running GALA workshops and conferences at Bath Spa and assisting with their organisation at other GALA partners.
  • Running GALA summer schools at Bath Spa and assisting with their organisation at other GALA partners.
  • Running academic, social, and networking events at Bath Spa.
  • Maintaining a separate GALA website and social media accounts.
  • Managing and administering Bath Spa awards for staff and students.
  • Maintaining the names and degree programmes of former Bath Spa students who have participated in GALA activities and events for audit and reporting purposes.
  • Maintaining a list of the names, degree programmes, and contact details of former Bath Spa students who have participated in GALA activities to promote GALA opportunities and seek feedback on GALA activities and events.
  • Collecting information about student and staff participation in GALA activities and events in order to help improve the network’s activities and the better management of GALA at Bath Spa.
  • Sending updates to subscribers with the latest news about the network and its activities through the GALA email list and social media posts.

GALA processing

What we collect

The GALA team at Bath Spa collects the following kinds of personal data:

  • Contact details for
    • Key contacts at GALA partners
    • Key contacts at other relevant cultural and creative partners
    • Individual staff and students at Bath Spa and elsewhere (including postal addresses, email addresses, telephone numbers, web addresses, and social media links)
  • Notes of meetings with the GALA team
  • Records of
    • Email correspondence and other communications between individuals and the GALA team
    • Attendance at GALA events
  • Photographs and audio/ video recordings from GALA activities or events
  • Information publicly shared on the GALA website as a contributor
  • Information publicly shared with GALA network (@gala_network) on Twitter and Instagram
  • Biographical information consisting of a name, email address, student number (Bath Spa students only), degree programme (students only), department (staff only), and university affiliation (non-Bath Spa students and staff). 

We may also collect support information, if disclosed to us (e.g. relating to health conditions or nutritional requirements). This will only be held if it has been provided by you for a specific purpose (e.g. to participate in a summer school activity or to attend a catered event). 

We do not collect or store:

  • Credit/ debit card details
  • "Special Category" data as defined under the terms of GDPR, such as racial/ ethnic origin, political beliefs, religious/ similar beliefs, Trade Union membership, sexual orientation/ activities, commission or alleged commission of an offence and any proceedings such as a court sentence. The only exception relates to support information relating to health conditions or nutritional requirements that may be disclosed to us for a specific purpose (see above).

How we collect information

We update our records when you contact GALA, register for GALA events or activities, subscribe to the GALA email list, apply for GALA funding, or provide us with other information in relation to GALA and its activities. As such, most of the information that we hold will have been obtained directly from you.

When do we collect data?

  • When you:
    • Contact us to enquire about GALA, a GALA activity or event, or a GALA funding opportunity
    • Register for a GALA event (e.g. a conference or summer school)
    • Apply for financial support from Bath Spa’s GALA funds
    • Complete an anonymised feedback form following a GALA activity, event, or award
    • Request to be subscribed to the GALA email list
    • Follow us on Twitter or Instagram.
  • When we:
    • Ask you as part of an application for funding whether you consent to the promotion and public notification of your award, if successful
    • Ask you after the completion of a specific GALA activity or event whether we can continue to contact you about GALA activities, events, and opportunities.

In addition, we receive student data from the Go Global team to identify Bath Spa students who have or who are about to visit GALA partners on study abroad/ exchange programmes, and to identify students visiting Bath Spa from GALA partners on study abroad/ exchange programmes.

This data allows us to monitor study abroad/ exchange programmes that involve GALA partners, to promote specific GALA opportunities to these students, and to invite these students to periodic social and networking events.

GALA partners may provide us with details about visiting staff and students so that we can make arrangements regarding accommodation, meetings, presentations, and social events.

The GALA team may also receive information about staff and students from GALA partners who may want to tell the team about the students’ activities with them
How we process the information.

We do not use your personal data for any other purpose than the ones listed below. The data we process enables the GALA team to support staff and student engagement with the GALA network and its partners.

Why we use personal data 

We use personal data for internal use to:

  • Register individuals for GALA activities and events (e.g. conferences and summer schools)
  • Assess funding applications for GALA support
  • Record submitted applications; all unsuccessful applicants’ data will be deleted once the financial year has been ended
  • Monitor the successful applications from initial award to completion of the activity
  • Book travel and accommodation on an individual’s behalf
  • Track attendance at GALA events
  • Track costs for GALA awards
  • Track numbers of staff and students participating in GALA activities and events
  • Keep staff and students at Bath Spa informed about GALA activities, events, and other opportunities (this includes information about funding opportunities, delegate information for conferences, and registrant information about summer schools)
  • Identify the successful recipients of awards in newsletters
  • Compile an annual list of staff and students receiving GALA awards and a brief description of their project/ activity/ event (e.g. research trip or summer school)
  • Compile an annual report about GALA’s impact on Bath Spa University
  • Inform future decisions about strategic priorities of GALA as a network and Bath Spa’s participation in GALA. 

With your consent, we will:

  • Publish accounts of your experience of a GALA activity or event on our website or social media feeds
  • List your name and a brief description of your project in our public annual report.

We'll communicate with you via email unless a preferred alternative communication method is requested i.e. telephone or face-to-face.

For staff and students who are successful in applying for GALA funding, their data will be shared internally with:

  • Go Global to assist with the travel and accommodation arrangements
  • Finance to provide support for expenses (if applicable)
  • Relevant staff who need to know that you'll be absent from Bath Spa for the duration of your GALA activity
  • Bath Spa University insurance, who will register you for Bath Spa insurance cover for the duration of your placement
  • Visa Compliance for Tier 4 students only

Basic contact details will also be shared with relevant individuals at the GALA partner to ensure that the visit or activity can take place safely and successfully.

Digital tools may be used to monitor and improve our communications, such as tracking when an email is opened and how many links are clicked within the message. We may use this information to personalise the way our websites and emails are presented to you and improve the content of our communications. We also track website visits and use analytical tools such as Google Analytics to use this information to improve our website.

Disclosing information to service providers

GALA with only disclose data to external organisations that are acting as agents for the University or with other GALA partners where this is directly relevant to a specific GALA event or activity (e.g. registrant information for a GALA conference held at another GALA partner or contact details for a Bath Spa student seeking to visit a specific GALA partner for a research trip).

  • We always make sure the data is exchanged in a secure manner and that it is not used for the purposes other than those agreed by the University.
  • We never sell or exchange any of your personal information to a third party.

Examples of external providers whose services we may use:

  • GALA partners
  • Bath Spa’s designated travel agents
  • Wordpress (for the GALA website)
  • Twitter and Instagram (for the GALA social media accounts)
  • Email services to send emails and newsletters
  • We may also need to disclose your information if required by law (for example, to government bodies and law enforcement agencies)
  • We will not share your details with any individuals looking to contact you, in a personal or professional capacity, without seeking your explicit consent.

Go Global: who we are and what we do

Go Global works to provide a range of opportunities to current and prospective Bath Spa students to work, study, and research, or help fund an international activity relating back to their degree subject.

Our aim is to ensure that all of our activities contribute towards the advancement of the student experience at the University and to enhance Bath Spa’s reputation by contributing to the overall student experience and lifecycle through: 

  • Partnership management
  • Promoting, recruiting, running, and supporting students through international mobility opportunities (e.g. study, work, and/ or research placements)
  • Running Bath Spa Go Global Summer Schools
  • Managing and administering some awards and scholarships
  • A range of academic, social, and networking events
  • Enabling access to mentoring partnerships and other voluntary activities
  • Collecting your information in order to inform our programmes, allowing us to provide a better service to our students, and enabling us to support the University.

Go Global processing

What we collect

Personal information may include:

  • Contact details for contracted partners such as Erasmus, International Exchange, TNE institutions or partner companies
  • Biographical information consisting of your student number, name, date of birth, title, gender, nutritional requirements, and nationality
  • Contact details including postal addresses, email addresses, telephone numbers, web addresses, and social media links
  • Education history from your time at Bath Spa University and from other institutions you have attended
  • The information you have publicly shared with Bath Spa University and Go Global on social media, including services such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
  • Records of email correspondence and other communications between you and Go Global
  • Records of your attendance at home and host university and Go Global events and classes
  • Support information, if disclosed to us (e.g. relating to physical disabilities) will only be held if it has been provided by you for a specific purpose (e.g. this could affect your mobility programme)
  • Notes of meetings that you have had with University staff.

We do not collect or store:

  • Credit/ debit card details
  • "Sensitive" information, such as racial/ ethnic origin, political beliefs, religious/ similar beliefs, Trade Union membership, physical/ mental health conditions, sexual orientation, commission or alleged commission of an offence and any proceedings such as a court sentence. We do however ask that students/ applicants disclose information about disability/ other to enable reasonable adjustments to be made for mitigation purposes.

How we collect information

Student data is provided to us by you when applying to or making an enquiry about an opportunity in the Go Global Office. This data is used to create a record monitoring sheet for that opportunity. Unsuccessful students’ data will be deleted except for certain programmes where only the pseudonymised personal statement and score sheet will be retained.

We update our records when you register for events or provide us with other information. As such, most of the information that we hold will have been obtained directly from you.

We have access to the university-wide student database (SITS), which has the following uses:

  • Monitoring enrolment to TNE programmes
  • Success and progression research
  • Academic information to determine eligibility for mobility programmes.
  • We receive student data from the Careers Team when we are running joint programmes; this data enables us to run our section of the opportunity.

Partner universities/ organisations will provide the Go Global Team with:

  • Information on incoming Study Abroad, Exchange or Erasmus students to enable us to register and support the student to study here at Bath Spa
  • Academic information on Bath Spa students studying with them i.e. transcripts, attendance
  • Prospective students’ personal data and information pertaining to the student’s academic record when partner organisations assist students in the application process and the application process is not directly done through UCAS or the Bath Spa application portal
  • Internal Student Services provide Go Global with academic data on successful applicants to mobility programmes where necessary to confirm that they have met the criteria of the mobility programme.

Administration for GALA sits within the Go Global team. As such, staff and student data relating to travel and placements for GALA is received from the participants themselves, and the GALA Director and Associate Director.

Limited personal data is received from the Finance Department. This will consist of confirmation of whether a student does or does not qualify for an award or status update on a payment or invoicing request.

Go Global may also receive information about students from external placement providers who may want to tell the team about the students’ activities with them.

How we process the information

We do not use your personal data for any other purpose than the ones listed. The data we collect is processed to enable our provision of service to you under the GALA and Go Global scheme, or is processed in order for the University to meet its legal obligation to external organisations (such as attendance and reporting data for tier 4 students to the UKVI or reporting to UK Higher Education regulatory authorities).

We use your data internally to:

  • Enroll you on the programme you have applied to
  • Deliver the programme you have applied for, including your success and progression up to, during, and following your placement
  • Track numbers taking advantage of placement opportunities
  • Keep you informed about the placement and to provide opportunities for you to continue to be involved in the life and activities of the University (this includes providing you with services you have requested, for administration purposes, and to further our educational aims, including fundraising, volunteering, event invitations, and newsletters)
  • Inform future incarnations of the programme or similar programme in development
  • Publish anonymised overarching numbers to show application and mobility rates, success, and progression for successful mobility students within the programmes.

We'll communicate with you via email unless a preferred alternative communication method is requested i.e. telephone or face to face. For students who are successful in applying to a Go Global programme, their data with be shared:

  • Internally with:
    • Student Services to register them on the Bath Spa programme
    • Accommodation to register for accommodation for those students opting to make use of semester-only accommodation contracts
    • Finance to enable confirmation to the Student Loans companies on student attendance, which enables the release of the student loan to the student
    • Relevant Academics who need to know that you will not be at Bath Spa for the duration of your placement
    • Bath Spa University Insurance, who will register you for Bath Spa insurance cover for the duration of your placement
    • Visa Compliance (for Tier 4 students only).
  • Externally with:
    • The host university or placement provider as set out in the application form or a further information request form (data provided and received from the placement or programme host may include nomination data, learning agreements, programme applications, portfolios, transcripts, and, from providers from certain countries - passport information).

Digital tools may be used to monitor and improve our communications, such as tracking when an email is opened and how many links are clicked within the message. We may use this information to personalise the way our websites and emails are presented to you and improve the content of our communications. We also track website visits and use analytical tools such as Google Analytics to use this information to improve our website.

Disclosing information to service providers

Go Global will only disclose data to external organisations that are acting as agents for the University and with whom the University has partnership agreements where this is directly relevant to the programme the student has applied to join.

  • We always make sure the data is exchanged in a secure manner and that it is not used for the purposes other than those agreed by the University.
  • We never sell or exchange any of your personal information to a third party.

Examples of external providers whose services we may use:

  • Placement providers where your mobility is taking place i.e. partner universities which need to register and support you as a student with them
  • Social media platforms
  • Email services to send emails and newsletters.
  • We may also need to disclose your information if required by law (for example, to government bodies and law enforcement agencies)

We will not share your details with any individuals looking to contact you, in a personal or professional capacity. All correspondence will be conducted through us unless you give us explicit permission to share your contact details.

Your rights

You may opt out of receiving our communications, change the way we communicate with you, or change the type of communications you receive at any time. Simply contact us via email international@bathspa.ac.uk or write to us:

Go Global
Marketing and International Dept
Bath Spa University
Newton St Loe
Bath
BA2 9BN.

You have a right to request copies of the information that we hold about you and to ask us to stop processing your personal data where this falls outside of the placement contract. We will, however, need to keep a brief record of your student ID, name, and Go Global opportunity, as this may be required for completion of your programme or the accrual of credit. Similarly, this may be needed for complaint handling.

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