Pacific Lutheran University Statement on Privacy

PLU has an interest in ensuring that the privacy of all of its students, faculty and staff is respected, and that no activities interfere with education, research or residential life.

PLU is private property. However, some common areas of the campus typically are open to visitors. These areas include the Anderson University Center and its public eating areas, Mortvedt Library, outdoor touring areas, and locations to which the public has been invited by advertised notice (such as for public educational, cultural or athletic events). Even in these locations, media representatives must not interfere with the privacy of students, faculty and staff, or with educational, research and residential activities. The University may revoke at any time permission to be present in these, or any other, areas. Media representatives are not authorized to enter academic or residential areas unless they have been invited for appropriate business or social purposes and have the express permission of the responsible faculty member, administrator, residence hall director, or PLU’s division of Marketing & Communications. Moreover, when permission to enter student residences is secured, that permission is limited to common areas such as first-floor lounges and dining areas.

No commercial activity – including the taking of photos or similar audio or visual recordings that are sold to others or otherwise used for commercial purposes – may occur on the campus without the University’s permission. Those involved in unauthorized commercial activity will be asked to leave campus immediately. Requests for permission should be submitted to the office of Marketing & Communications or, as appropriate, to the Department of Athletics. Recognized student groups and official units of the University will be granted such permission so long as they do not violate the privacy or property interests of others; so long as any sale of their products is predominantly on campus to students, faculty and staff; and so long as they comply with applicable University policies and procedures.

Violators of this policy may be subject to criminal and/or civil liability, as well as University disciplinary action.

FERPA

Pacific Lutheran University has created this privacy statement in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to privacy. These policies and procedures conform to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974.

Photo & Video Policy

General Policy

Pacific Lutheran University is a private university. PLU’s express permission is required for any filming or photography on PLU-owned lands by:

Personal photos may be taken by students, parents, faculty, staff, alumni and other campus visitors so long as (i) they are used exclusively for personal, non-commercial purposes, (ii) the taking of such photos is consistent with this policy, including the wedding and portrait photography policy below, and (iii) they do not interfere with the ongoing operations of the university.  PLU will consider requests for use of campus photography and/or video in commercial or marketing usage from groups attending events on campus and other visitors.  Please contact PLU’s Marketing & Communications department for permission at 253-535-7436.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the university reserves the right to prohibit any filming or photography on its lands for any reason, including if the filming or photography creates the potential for: (i) disruption of academic, research, business or student activities; (ii) damage to or alteration of university property; (iii) inappropriate use of the PLU name, marks or image; (iv) disruption of traffic, parking or pedestrian pathways; (v) other safety hazards; or (vi) violations of the university’s privacy policies (see following sections).

Photo & Video Opt Out Policy

Pacific Lutheran University may at times use photographs, audio, and/or video recordings of employees and students for purposes of education, publicity, and student recruitment on behalf of the university, via the Internet, print publications, and other media.

Opt-Out Form

Should an employee or student (or the parents or guardians of such persons who are under the age of 18) NOT want to be photographed or recorded, or have their name or biographical information used in connection with any such photograph or recording, they must submit a completed Photo Opt-Out Form (see below) to the Marketing & Communications division at marcom@plu.edu.

Individuals who submit a completed Photo Opt-Out Form are also responsible for removing themselves from areas in which photography and/or recording is taking place, or notifying the camera operator of their opt-out status. Failure to do so may result in that individual’s inclusion in a photograph or recording and will be treated as consent for the university to utilize that photograph or recording accordingly.

Public Spaces & Events

Please be advised that images and videos taken in public spaces and/or at public events do not require authorization for publication. Your presence in or around college facilities and/or properties, as well as at off-campus university-sponsored events, constitutes your consent to the capture and/or use of your image and/or voice by PLU, and waives any claims or rights, whether in law or in equity.

When a completed Photo Opt-Out Form is on file, the university will make every effort to honor that individual’s Opt-Out status, even in public spaces or at public events.

News-related Filming & Photography

PLU Marketing & Communications accommodates reasonable requests for journalistic, news-related, non-commercial shooting, but reserves the right to deny permission when the request runs contrary to university policies – especially those that ensure student privacy. The subject of all news-related filming or photography must be directly related to the university.

General Rules for Journalists

  1.  Journalists must adhere to the university’s privacy policies.  No one at PLU can be filmed without his or her permission, except at public events to which the public and media have been invited.
  2. Permission to shoot news-related photography or filming in interior spaces is required in all circumstances. This includes administration and office buildings, classrooms, laboratories, residence halls, and dining facilities.
  3. Journalists are prohibited from parking satellite trucks anywhere on campus without permission from Marketing & Communications for news purposes or PLU Athletics for sporting events.
  4. Journalists are discouraged from doing “person-on-the-street” interviews at PLU without assistance from Marketing & Communications.
  5. All journalists working on PLU’s campus are expected to carry appropriate credentials.

Requesting Assistance

Marketing & Communications is available to assist news crews with shooting on campus if needed, including helping to set up locations and get access to restricted areas when permission to shoot has been granted. In many cases, especially if you are not familiar with PLU, we can save you time and effort if you call us at 253-535-7436.

Obtaining PLU Photographs

Marketing & Communications maintains a library of current photos. Click here to learn more.  For more information or to schedule photography, please contact:

John Froschauer
Campus Photographer
Phone: 253-535-7517
Email: froschjc@plu.edu

PLU Photo Policy

Photographs provided by PLU are to be used – with appropriate credit – for editorial purposes only. Altering or otherwise embellishing these photos in any way that changes the photographs’ editorial content is prohibited. Permission is for one-time use only. Supplied image files must be deleted after use.

Video B-roll

Broadcast news media requests for high-quality, downloadable campus B-roll should be directed to marcom@plu.edu.

Broadcast Facilities

PLU has broadcast studio facilities available to the news media on a prior request basis for interviewing faculty and staff. We have the capacity to transmit by ISDN for radio for live broadcast feeds. For more information contact Marketing & Communications at marcom@plu.edu or 253-535-7436.

Non-News Filming or Photography

PLU prohibits the use of its land and buildings for commercial and marketing-related photography and filming. However, PLU Marketing & Communications will consider requests involving, for instance, photography accompanying articles or the creation of television shows, movies, documentaries or educational-related projects, providing the subject matter is related to PLU.  For more information, please contact us at 253-535-7436.

Film crews requesting permissions to film on campus must be prepared to demonstrate the following insurance requirements:

  • Commercial General Liability: $3 million Occurrence/$5 million aggregate, PLU endorsed as additional insured
  • Workers’ Compensation – WA State statutory requirements
  • Volunteer Accident – $50,000 per Volunteer/$500,000 Aggregate
  • Filmmaker’s Errors and Omissions/Media Liability – $2 million Occurrence

Sports Event Photography

Requests to film or photograph sporting events on PLU’s campus should be directed to PLU’s Athletic Communications and Media Relations Department at 253-535-7356.

Wedding & Portrait Photography

People with a PLU connection—meaning, for instance, the bride or groom is an alum, student, faculty member or staff member—may request permission to conduct wedding and portrait photography and filming.  Requests for permission must be received at least five business days in advance.

  • Name of the person making the request, his or her affiliation to the university and contact information.
  • Date and time requested (Note that the university will not accommodate wedding photography during weekdays or when there are major events on campus).
  • Specific site(s) requested.
  • Number of people and amount of equipment involved.
  • Potential disruption (sound, light, physical, etc.) of university activities.
  • Photographer and videographer must be able to provide proof of adequate insurance coverage and indemnity and cannot use the resulting photographs for marketing purposes. The resulting photographs and/or video must only be for the personal, non-commercial use of the PLU affiliate.
  • University affiliate must carry proof of identity and of the university’s permission during the photography or film session and is responsible for assuring that the photographer and videographer adhere to the university’s policies.

Email requests for permission to the division of Marketing & Communications at marcom@plu.edu.

Additional Policies

  • The use of drones for filming or photography is prohibited without prior approval, proof of current FAA certification, and proof of required insurance (see Non-News Filming or Photography). Additionally, the university requires written approval from Joint Base Lewis McChord due to PLU’s location within a five-mile radius of the air base. For more information review the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Drones and Model Aircraft) Use Approval Policy
  • Use of PLU’s name, other trademarks and emblems, or images in connection with any photograph or film is prohibited without written permission by the university.
  • Indoor shooting at PLU is prohibited without permission by the university as described above and, in addition, permission by the university official or faculty member with responsibility for the space.  Indoor shooting is considered inherently disruptive of the functions of the university and requires written permission.
  • Filming or photography on PLU’s campus for academic purposes is limited only to PLU students, staff and faculty and others attending PLU academic programs, PLU-sponsored programs and other programs which occur on PLU’s campus and for which photography is part of the program. The resulting films and photographs may not be used for commercial purposes.
  • All professional filmmakers and photographers working on the PLU campus are expected to carry and provide proof of appropriate insurance.
  • Members of the university Marketing & Communications staff are not available to scout locations.

More information

For more information, contact the  & Communications division at marcom@plu.edu or at 253-535-7436.

Pacific Lutheran University Website Privacy Policy

General Policy

This online privacy statement is intended to inform you of the ways in which this website (“Site”) collects information, the uses to which that information will be put, and the ways in which we protect information you choose to provide us.

Please note that Pacific Lutheran University websites may adopt different privacy practices as their specific needs require.

Use of this Site is subject to all applicable state and federal laws, as well as general University policies.

Information Collected

This Site collects two general types of information: (a) information you voluntarily provide to us, which may include personal information (such as your name, address, e-mail address, etc.), and (b) information we collect automatically when you visit this Site through cookies, third party tracking technologies and server logs.

This Site will only collect personal information that you knowingly and voluntarily provide by, for example, responding to surveys, completing membership forms, sending e-mails, etc. It is this Site’s general practice to use personal information only for the purposes for which it was requested and any additional uses specifically stated on the Site. However, information collected through this Site may be subject to the University’s obligation to respond to subpoenas, court orders, and discovery requests. Further, the disclosure of information collected through this Site is subject to the provisions of the Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act.

Although this Site has security measures in place to protect personal information provided to us by users, users should also take steps to protect personal information by, for example, closing all web browsers after using the Site. Information disclosed in chat rooms, news groups, forums, message boards and similar contexts may become public. Users should therefore exercise caution before disclosing personal information in such contexts.

Information We Collect Automatically

If you do nothing during your visit but browse through the website or download information, our system will automatically gather and store certain information about your visit. This information does not identify you personally and is used in an aggregate way to help us improve our website and tell us the number of visitors to our site each day.

The University uses features of Google Analytics based on Display Advertising (e.g. Remarketing, Google Display Network Impression Reporting, the DoubleClick Campaign Manager integration or Google Analytics Demographics and Interest Reporting). Using the Ads Settings, visitors can opt out of Google Analytics for Display Advertising and customize Google Display Network ads.

Please also refer to Google Analytics’ currently available opt outs for the web.

Our web server automatically collects and records the following information:

  • The visitor’s domain name, but not the e-mail address
  • The visitor’s IP address
  • The name and release number of web browser software used
  • The operating system used
  • Date and time you access our site
  • The address of the website that linked to us (referrer URL)
  • Demographic information (age, gender and overview of traffic by age and gender)
  • Overview of traffic by affinity, in-Market and other categories

Cookies

“Cookies” are small text files used to collect information about website activity. No personal information is collected through our use of cookies. This Site uses cookies for two main purposes: (a) to carry information about your current session at this Site from one web page to the next, which also allows you to automatically login to Pacific Lutheran University websites, and (b) to identify you on this Site on return visits.

You have the option of disabling or not accepting cookies by changing the preferences on your browser. If you opt to disable cookies, you will still be able to use certain sections of our Site. However, you will not be able to use any parts of this Site that requires a login (e.g. accessing secured content, posting to message boards, etc).

Find out how to enable the do not track features for various browsers.

Third Party Tracking and Retargeting Technology

Pacific Lutheran University makes use of third party tracking technology such as Google Analytics, Siteimprove, Facebook and Instagram.

Google Analytics is used to obtain Site usage information such as users’ Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, Internet domain and host names, browser software, and the date and time that the Site is visited. Data obtained through Google Analytics does not include, and is not linked, to any personal information. Data from Google Analytics allows us to monitor the use of the Site, understand how users find our Site, and improve the Site’s function and content.

Site usage data collected through Google Analytics is not shared with other Google products and tools. Our use of Google Analytics is in compliance with Google’s Terms of Service.

Google provides more information about Google’s privacy practices and information on how to opt-out of Google Analytics tracking of your web browsing.

Monsido is a third party application we use to track Quality Assurance and Web Accessibility compliance for our Site. It does not track any personal information. It monitors the content and design of the Site in order to stay aware of things such as misspellings and broken links, as well as level of compliance for Web Accessibility.

This site makes use of Facebook and Instagram to collect or receive information from this website and elsewhere on the internet and uses that information to provide measurement services and targeted ads.

You can opt-out of the collection and use of information for ad targeting at http://optout.aboutads.info/.

Server Logs

Our web servers routinely generate logs that contain the following types of information each time the Site is used:

  • The date, time and length of your visit.
  • The path taken through our Site and the browser being used.
  • The list of files downloaded and the amount of time spent viewing video or audio files.
  • The IP Address of the computer accessing our Site.
  • Any errors encountered.

This information is used primarily to monitor the functioning and integrity of PLU websites.

Links

This Site may contain links to other sites. Please be aware that we do not control or claim any responsibility for the privacy practices or content of such other sites. We encourage users to read the privacy statements of each website they visit.

Disclaimer

Neither Pacific Lutheran University, nor any of its units, programs, employees, agents or individual trustees, shall be liable for any improper or incorrect use of information obtained through the use of this Site.

Consent

By using this Site you consent to the terms of this privacy statement.

Questions and feedback

If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices of this site, or your dealings with this Website, contact marcom@plu.edu.