Transparency and Compliance

We comply with the state website Link and Privacy Policy. We encourage organizations that link to this website to comply with the provisions of this policy, especially regarding protection of the privacy rights of individuals, and to make reasonable efforts to provide accessible sites.

Disclaimer

This website provides links to other websites, both public and private, for informational purposes. TSTC makes no representations, guarantees, or warranties as to the accuracy, completeness, currency, or suitability for any purpose of the information provided via this website. TSTC specifically disclaims any and all liability and responsibility for any claims or damage that may arise as a result of TSTC providing the website or the information it contains, or that may arise in any way with respect to any websites maintained by third parties and linked to the TSTC site. TSTC makes no effort to independently verify, and does not exert editorial control over, information on pages outside tstc.edu domains. TSTC advises site visitors to read the privacy policies of any third-party sites accessed through this site.

TSTC does not endorse any of the products, vendors, consultants, or documentation referenced in this website. Any mention of vendors, products, or services is for informational purposes only.

Further, TSTC is not a “user” of these linked sites for any purpose. Only individuals who access these sites for advice or service become users.

This website is operated by Texas State Technical College (TSTC). This privacy policy (“Policy”) explains how information is collected, used, and disclosed by TSTC with respect to your use of the tstc.edu website and other TSTC sites which display this Policy (the “Sites”) so you can make an informed decision about using the Sites. This Policy also applies to information collected on other websites on our behalf by third-party vendors. We reserve the right to change this Policy at any time. We encourage you to review this Policy from time to time to make sure that you understand how any personal information you provide will be used.

Information collection and use

We collect personal information when you voluntarily provide us with information for responding to inquiries, including mail, telephone, or electronic contact. Personal and demographic information may also be collected if you leave comments on the Sites or in connection with your participation in surveys, social media, contests, games, promotions, and other activities on the Sites. As used herein, the term “personal information” means information that specifically identifies an individual (such as a name, address, telephone number, or e-mail address) and information about that individual or his or her activities that is directly linked to personal information. We use personal information collected through our Sites for the purposes described in this Policy or elsewhere on the Sites, to respond to your requests or to monitor the overall effectiveness of the Sites. We may also use information collected to make informed and targeted ad placements on other sites. We may use the personal information we collect.

When you use the website, some information is automatically recorded, such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address, your operating system, the browser type, the address of a referring website, and your activity on our Sites. If you access the Sites from a mobile device, we may also collect information about the type of mobile device you use, the type of mobile Internet browsers you use, and information about the location of your device. This information may be used to analyze trends, to identify system performance, or to create summary statistics. We treat this information as personal information if we combine it with or link it to any of the personal information mentioned above. Personal information does not include “aggregate” information, which is data we collect about the use of the Sites or about a group or category of services or users, from which individual identities or other personal information has been removed.

We may also collect certain information through the use of “cookies” or web beacons. Cookies are small data files stored on your hard drive at the request of a website. Among other things, cookies help us improve our Sites and your experience. Information obtained from cookies and linked to personally identifying information is treated as personal information. Anonymous identifiers are random strings of characters that are used for the same purposes as a cookie on platforms, including certain mobile devices, where cookie technology is not available. Web beacons are small, invisible graphic images that may be used on the Sites or in emails relating to the Sites to collect certain information about usage and effectiveness and monitor user activity on the Sites.

If you wish to block, erase, or be warned of cookies, please refer to your browser manufacturer’s information to learn about these functions.

Web analytics

You can browse our website without giving us any personal information. We use web analytics technology, including specifically Google Analytics and Google Analytics Demographics and Interest Reporting, to help us analyze traffic to the Sites in order to understand visitors’ interests and to continually update our Site to improve a user’s experience. Visit Google’s Privacy Policy to learn how Google Analytics collects and processes data. You may choose to engage Google Analytics’ currently available opt-outs for the web.

If you choose to enter a contest or giveaway, make a donation, fill out a form or subscribe to emails, you give the Foundation consent to monitor your browsing patterns in order to provide you with a better browsing experience for future visits and additional information on topics that you find of interest.

Collection and use by third-party vendors

Third-party vendors, such as Google, may use cookies or other technologies to serve ads or deliver content on other websites based on your visits to our Sites and other sites on the Internet and to provide analytics services. These third parties may automatically collect information about your visits to this and other websites, your IP address, your ISP, the browser you use to visit our Site, pages viewed, time spent on pages, links clicked, and conversion information. They do this using cookies, clear gifs, or other technologies.

Information automatically collected by third parties may be used by third parties, among other things, to analyze and track data, to solicit donations, to deliver advertising or content on other websites based on your prior activities on this or other sites or targeted to your interests, and to better understand the usage and visitation of our Sites and the other sites tracked by these third parties. To manage settings for the Google advertising cookies and to opt-out of certain features, visit their Ad Settings.

This Policy does not apply to, and we are not responsible for, cookies or clear gifs used by the third parties, and we encourage you to check the privacy policies of advertisers and/or ad services to learn about their use of cookies and other technology. If you would like to opt out of these cookies or obtain more information about this practice, visit Google Analytics opt-outs.

Information sharing with affiliates

TSTC does not sell or share information for commercial solicitation or political purposes. However, we routinely share information among affiliated organizations to advance their missions in support of TSTC. These affiliated organizations include the TSTC Foundation. In recognition of their complementary mission, TSTC Foundation maintains a joint database of former student and donor records to provide superior service in a cost-effective and efficient manner to both you and TSTC. The TSTC Foundation adheres to the TSTC Privacy Policy.

Access to information

Except for education records governed by FERPA, all information collected from this website, including the summary server log information, emails sent to the website, and information collected from web-based forms, may be subject to the Texas Public Information Act.  This means that while TSTC does not actively share information, in some cases may be compelled by law to release information gathered from its web servers.

The Texas Public Information Act, with a few exceptions, gives you the right to be informed about the information that this website collects about you. It also gives you the right to request a copy of that information and to have the university correct any of that information that is wrong. You may request to receive and review any of that information, or request corrections to it, by contacting the TSTC Records Manager, 3801 Campus Dr., Waco, Texas, 76705, at 254-867-3664.

Security

Extensive security measures consistent with the Texas Administrative Code (TAC) “Information Security Standards” and Texas State Technical College (TSTC) Statewide Operating Standards have been employed to protect against unauthorized access, disclosure, modification, or destruction of information under our control, as well as the loss, misuse, or alteration of this website and/or associated electronic information resources. The information resources that support this site undergo an annual information security risk assessment to assess the security posture of information systems and measure compliance with information security standards.

Questions

TSTC complies with the State Website Linking and Privacy Policy (PDF). If you have any questions about the practices of this site or your use of this website, please contact the webmaster or through regular mail at:

Texas State Technical College
Attention: Communication & Creative Services
3801 Campus Dr.
Waco, TX 76705

We are committed to making our websites accessible to all users and have included several features to improve accessibility for users with disabilities. Some of these features are described here.

We provide descriptive text for images and other non-text elements, aiding users who listen to the content of the site using a screen reader.

Major reports and other publications posted on the website are available in HTML or another accessible format.

We are committed to making our websites accessible according to the standards set forth by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).  We review major redesigns against these standards and test them with screen readers and other tools.

We welcome comments on how to improve the site’s accessibility. If you use assistive technology and the format of any material on our website interferes with your ability to access the information, please contact us at webmaster@systems.tstc.edu. Tell us the nature of your accessibility problem, the format in which you prefer to receive the content, the webpage URL of the requested material, and your contact information.

Additional information about accessibility programs in Texas is available from the Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities.

It is our policy to be in compliance with all federal and state statutes regulating the use and development of copyrighted materials.

The Copyright Act of 1976 lays out copyright law in the United States. Our Statewide Operating Standard on Copyright Compliance  outlines key information about copyright regulations, definitions, the delegation of authority at TSTC, the operating requirements, and performance standards.

TSTC is a member of the US government’s Copyright Clearance Center . The website contains information on copyright law and is a useful resource. If you are an employee, you will be given training on how to use it.

Please obtain legal permission to use copyrighted materials from CCC. If permission for legal use of materials is not part of the CCC coverage, the site will give you suggestions on how to obtain legal use permission.

Copyright Authority

Patrick Brady
Phone: 254-867-3664
patrick.brady@tstc.edu

Resources

The US Copyright Office  has general information on US copyright law, legislation, announcements, and international treaties.

Public Domain

Copyright protection was always meant to be for a limited time, after which materials would become available to the public for just about any use imaginable. Find out when works pass into the public domain in the US and review scholarly resources on this very interesting subject.

Explore an interesting and thoughtful discussion of the public domain.

Review a variety of opinions and topics relating to the public domain.

Here are a few entities who have an interest in copyright law and intellectual property issues:

American Library Association (ALA), American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI), Coalition for Networked Information (CNI), Motion Picture Licensing Corporation (MPLC), Music Library Association’s Copyright Information Page, North Carolina State University Copyright Use tutorial, University Of Texas crash course in copyright

FAQs

What is copyright?

Copyright gives creators and distributors of creative works an incentive to share their content by granting them the right to be compensated for some uses of their work. For more information, see the U.S. Copyright Act (Title 17, US Code).

What materials are copyrighted?

Copyrighted materials include all original works of authorship, including logos, brands, literary and dramatic works, musical scores, architecture, photographs, maps, choreographs, pantomimes, graphic artwork, sculptures, audiovisual works, song lyrics, video, film, and electronic creations, such as computer programs and software.

What is fair use, and how does it apply in an educational institution?

Copyright law makes a provision for fair use , also called educational fair use. Using copyrighted material under this provision is restricted to criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research in a nonprofit setting. Furthermore, a determination as to whether the reproduction is being used fairly must be made based upon the following factors:

1. The purpose and character of the use (whether for commercial or non-profit educational use).
2. The nature of the copyright-protected work.
3. The amount of information used in proportion to the entire work.
4. The effect of the use of the material upon the potential market value of the copyright-protected work.

Fair use is an ambiguous concept, and the law does not precisely define it.

How does the TEACH Act affect educational institutions?

According to the TEACH Act of 2002, an educational institution must:

• Be accredited and non-profit;
• Have an institutional copyright policy;
• Publicize its copyright policy and provide informative resources;
• Use legally acquired copies;
• Use technological measures that reasonably prevent recipients from retaining copyrighted works beyond the classroom session and prevent further distribution of them;
• Use the digital version if commercially available (you cannot change from analog version to digital);
• Provide notice to students that materials used in connection with the course may be subject to copyright protection; and
• Provide access to copyrighted materials only to those students currently enrolled in the course.

What are the penalties for infringement?

The penalties for infringement are very harsh: the court can award up to $100,000 for each separate act of willful infringement. Willful infringement means that someone knew they were infringing and did it anyway. However, ignorance of the law is no excuse. If one doesn’t know they are infringing, they will be liable for damages; only the amount of the award will be affected. This does not include attorney’s fees.

All employees are responsible for safeguarding the organization’s assets and resources and ensuring that they are used only for authorized purposes in accordance with applicable rules, policies, and laws. It is a violation of policy for any employee to receive or use TSTC assets or resources for non-TSTC purposes or for personal gain.

Our vision and values statement stresses integrity, accountability, and good stewardship. Our commitment to the public’s trust is demonstrated by our zero tolerance for fraud and other unlawful conduct. To this end, employees, students, and any other concerned citizen may anonymously report suspected fraud, waste, and abuse of TSTC assets and resources.

More specific information on our policy regarding fraud may be found in System Operating Standards GA.1.15 and GA.1.17.

Where to report fraud, waste, and abuse

Texas State Technical College Hotline

Ethical Advocates, a third-party vendor, monitors the TSTC hotline . All reports are anonymous. Reports are channeled to our Internal Audit Department for review and possible investigation.

State Auditor’s Office Hotline

Find out where and how to report fraud, waste, and abuse to the Texas State Auditor.

You can also call the State Auditor’s hotline at 1-800-TX-AUDIT.