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Public Information | Christopher Newport University
Public Information | Christopher Newport University
Public Information
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University Statements
Privacy Statement
Christopher Newport University is committed to providing access to services and information online in a manner that respects and protects your privacy. This statement describes our information collection practices and explains how we use and protect your personal information.
Scope
This statement applies to information collected by this website operated by Christopher Newport. Web application and/or services used by Christopher Newport University, but not owned by Christopher Newport (e.g. Google Workspace for Education, Microsoft Azure/Office 365) have their own privacy policies and are not subject to this privacy statement.
Auto-collected information (web logs)
The following information is automatically collected:
Internet domain and public IP address from which you accessed our website, the date and time of your visit, and the pages you visited on our sites. This information is used to help us understand aggregate uses of our site, track usage trends and improve our services. We analyze this data with industry-standard web analytics software to make decisions about content and usability on our website.
If you login to any Christopher Newport-affiliated website, your authentication attempt is logged, and any previously collected information in Christopher Newport’s possession may be used to enhance your experience.
Cookies are files that many websites transfer to users’ devices to enable the site to deliver personalized services or to provide persistent authentication. The information contained in a cookie typically includes information collected automatically by the web server and/or information provided voluntarily by the user. Our websites use persistent cookies in conjunction with third-party technology partners to analyze search engine usage, web traffic patterns and personalize website experiences. Cookie data is used in the aggregate to monitor and enhance Christopher Newport University’s web pages.
Security
Christopher Newport University is committed to ensuring the security of your information. We have put in place reasonable physical, technical, and administrative safeguards designed to prevent unauthorized access to, or use of, the information collected online, inline with Christopher Newport policy and standards, and Commonwealth of Virginia laws and regulations.
We contract with third parties to act on our behalf to accept credit card payments and donations. These third-party providers comply with Christopher Newport and Commonwealth of Virginia security guidelines and regulations to ensure the integrity and security of your information. We do not retain or store credit card information required to complete the transaction. We do not share, beyond Christopher Newport University, the list of payee/contributors but may use this list to communicate news about Christopher Newport University.
We contract with a third party to act on our behalf to manage the applicant communication processes. Data is submitted directly to this third party and at no time is personal information stored on Christopher Newport public web servers. Application information is transferred to the Student Information System for further review and processing. The vendor complies with all applicable privacy laws to ensure the security of private information and does not sell or share personal information beyond Christopher Newport University.
Marketing materials
Visitors who submit information to Christopher Newport University web pages consent to the university’s use of that information for the purpose of sending promotional materials. This information includes name, mailing address and email address.
Sharing your information
We will not share your information with third parties except:
As required by law
As necessary to protect Christopher Newport University interests
With service providers acting on our behalf who have agreed to protect the confidentiality of the data
Removal from lists
Upon request, we will remove your name from all communications lists.
Please note – subscription to some email lists is required as part of enrollment, employment or participation in our Christopher Newport programs
Links to other websites
This website contains links to other websites not affiliated with Christopher Newport University. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of linked other sites. We encourage you to read the privacy statements and policies of other sites for assurance that their practices safeguard your privacy.
Changes to Statement
We reserve the right to modify this privacy statement at any time in accordance with Christopher Newport policy, and the laws and policies of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Accessibility Statement
In keeping with Christopher Newport's promise to provide access and opportunity to a diverse community, we are committed to ensuring that our web content, web applications and digital resources are accessible to everyone, including those with disabilities.
If you discover a webpage, web application or other digital resource that is not accessible, please contact the digital accessibility program manager at
accessibility@cnu.edu
or (757) 594-8873. Please include the web address or URL of the webpage or application and what barriers to access you are encountering.
University Statement on Free Speech and Expression
Christopher Newport University educates students to be responsible citizens living lives of significance. An essential element of this education is the development of independent judgment. The acquisition of independent judgment requires that students be both required – and encouraged – to inquire deeply into old and new ideas alike. Students must learn how to subject ideas to the crucible of rigorous discussion and debate, and have their own ideas confronted with the same rigorous examination.
Free inquiry is at the core of liberal learning. It can only flourish where the freedom of expression is not only respected, but valued. As has been observed by others, “without a vibrant commitment to free and open inquiry, a university ceases to be a university.”
Consequently, Christopher Newport University is committed to free and open inquiry in all matters, and offers to its students, faculty and staff the broadest possible latitude to speak, write, listen, challenge and learn. Of course, the ideas of different members of the University community will often and quite naturally conflict. But it is not the proper role of the University to attempt to shield individuals from ideas and opinions they find unwelcome, disagreeable or even deeply offensive.
Although the University greatly values civility, and although all members of the University community share in the responsibility for maintaining a climate of mutual respect, concerns about civility and mutual respect can never be used as a justification for closing off discussion of ideas, however offensive or disagreeable those ideas may be to some members of our community.
Christopher Newport will not limit speech or discussion because the ideas put forth are thought by some – or even all – members of the community to be offensive, upsetting, unwise, immoral or wrong-headed. It is for the individual members of the University community, not for the University as an institution, to make those judgments for themselves, and to act on those judgments not by seeking to suppress speech, but by openly and vigorously contesting the ideas that they oppose.
No freedom is absolute and every freedom carries with it personal responsibility. Therefore, as a corollary to the University’s commitment to protect and promote free expression, members of the University community must also act in conformity with these principles. The University has a solemn responsibility not only to promote a lively and fearless freedom of debate and deliberation, but also to protect that freedom when others attempt to restrict it.
Although faculty, students and staff are free to criticize, challenge, and condemn views expressed on campus by exercising their own right to speak, they may not obstruct, disrupt or otherwise interfere with the expression of the views of others, though they may reject or even loathe them.
Equally important, members of the CNU community shall always exercise their freedom of expression in a manner that does not interfere with or disrupt the operation of the University or the activities of other members of the community. To ensure this, the University will reasonably regulate the time, place and manner of expression. But these are narrow exceptions to the general principle of freedom of expression, and it is vitally important that these exceptions never be used in a manner that is inconsistent with the University’s commitment to a completely free and open discussion of ideas. Speech which violates the law – including speech or conduct intended to threaten, harass or intimidate – will not be tolerated.
History teaches that life as a responsible citizen, in a free representative republic, is likely to require contesting offensive, unwarranted or dangerous ideas. However, obstruction or suppression of such ideas is neither appropriate nor, in the long run, effective. Instead, one must be prepared to engage in robust counter-speech that challenges the merits of ideas we disagree with, exposes them for what they are, dismantles specious arguments, and identifies fear mongering and fallacy.
It is the responsibility and commitment of Christopher Newport University to educate our students in a culture that embraces individual freedom and the personal responsibility that comes with it.
For questions, comments, or concerns, please email
cco@cnu.edu
Freedom of Information Act
The Freedom of Information Act and Christopher Newport University
It is the purpose of Virginia's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to promote an increased awareness by all persons of governmental activities. In order to advance its purpose, FOIA provisions are interpreted liberally, in favor of access, and any exemption from FOIA's access requirements must be interpreted narrowly.
The Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), located at 2.2-3700 et Seq. of the Code of Virginia, guarantees citizens of the commonwealth and representatives of the media access to public records held by public bodies, public officials and public employees. This summary is provided for use by individual citizens or media outlets seeking access to public records from Christopher Newport.
A public record is any writing or recording – whether it is a paper record, electronic file, audio or video recording, or in any other format – that is prepared by, owned by or in the possession of a public body or its officers, employees or agents, in the transaction of public business.
Rights of Requestors
You may request to inspect or receive copies of public records by mail, by fax, by email, in person or over the phone:
A request for records does not have to be made in writing
A request for records does not need to refer to FOIA
A request must be for existing records; FOIA does not require creation of the requested record
A request should be as specific as possible (the law requires "reasonable specificity") in order to facilitate identification and location of the records requested. In this regard, and as a practical matter, it is always helpful if a request is made in writing even though it is not required. A written request promotes a mutual understanding of the request and a point of reference for all should discussions be necessary in the course of providing a response.
Virginia's FOIA provides exceptions that permit the university to withhold certain public records from disclosure. In addition, there are state and federal laws that forbid disclosure of certain public records. If you are denied access to records or documents you have requested, you have the right to know what law or exemption requires or permits the record or document to be withheld.
If a request is large or difficult to respond to, the university may charge you the actual cost of its response. If a decision is made to charge for the response, you have the right to have the charges estimated in advance, so that you have the opportunity to modify your request to reduce the cost, or to withdraw your request.
To request documents or records from Christopher Newport, please email
foia@cnu.edu
If your request is large or complex or if the records are difficult to access, please cooperate with the university's FOIA officers' efforts to clarify your request, or to attempt to reach a reasonable agreement about a response.
If you believe your FOIA rights have been violated, you have the right to file a petition in district or circuit court to compel compliance with the law.
If you request public documents or records, the university is required to respond to your request within five workdays:
The five-day period does not include weekends or holidays
Day one is the first day after your request is received
The university is permitted to ask you to provide your name and address.
The university must respond to your request, within five days, in one of three ways:
By providing the records requested
With a written response explaining that the requested records will not be disclosed and identifying the specific provision of law that requires or allows the records to be withheld
By providing some records, but not others (as above, exemptions allowing or requiring records to be withheld must be identified and, if only a portion of a record is subject to an exemption, that portion may be redacted, but the entire record may not be withheld on that basis)
If it is – as a practical matter – impossible for the university to provide one of the above responses in five working days, we will provide a written response explaining the conditions that make it impossible. In this circumstance, the university has an additional seven working days to respond in one of the three ways set out above.
If you request a large volume of records, and the university believes it cannot provide the records to you within 12 working days without disrupting other organizational responsibilities, we may petition the court for additional time. However, prior to doing that, the law requires the university to make a reasonable effort to reach an agreement with you concerning providing the records.
You may have to pay for the records that you request.
A public body may make reasonable charges not to exceed its actual cost incurred in accessing, duplicating, supplying, or searching for the requested records. No public body shall impose any extraneous, intermediary, or surplus fees or expenses to recoup the general costs associated with creating or maintaining records or transacting the general business of the public body. Any duplicating fee charged by a public body shall not exceed the actual cost of duplication. All charges for the supplying of requested records shall be estimated in advance at the request of the citizen as set form in subsection §2.2-3704 of the Code of Virginia.
FOIA permits CNU to charge for the actual cost of responding to a request for records:
Actual costs include staff time spent searching for the requested records, copying costs, or any other costs directly related to supplying the requested records (it can not include general overhead costs);
If we estimate it will cost more than $200 to respond, we may require you to pay a deposit, not to exceed the amount of the estimate, before we proceed;
The time we have to respond does not include any time after we request a deposit until you respond;
You may request that we estimate the charges in advance so that you have the opportunity to modify your request to reduce the estimated cost;
If you owe payment for a previous request and response, that has remained unpaid for more than 30 days, CNU may require payment of the past-due bill before it will respond to your new FOIA request.
In general, CNU maintains the following categories of records:
Business records
Financial records
Personnel (faculty and staff) records
Student records
Accreditation records
Athletics records
Board of Visitors records
Student organization and services records
This list is intended as a summary and is not intended to be exhaustive.
CNU commonly withholds records subject to the following exemptions:
Personnel records ( - 3705.1(1))
Records related to the negotiation and award of a contract, prior to the contract being awarded (-3705.1(12))
Scholastic records (- 3705.3)
Records subject to the attorney client privilege (-3705.1(2)) or attorney work product (-3705.1(3))
Vendor proprietary information (-3705.1(6))
This list is not intended to limit CNU's application of other available exemptions to withhold requested records as deemed necessary.
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