Privacy Statement


This Privacy Statement was last updated in February 2025.

The University of Iowa Center for Advancement is committed to being a responsible steward of your personal information and ensuring it is collected, used, and secured appropriately. This Privacy Statement summarizes our policy and practices as it relates to your personal information.

This Privacy Statement does not apply to information processed by the University of Iowa ("UI" or "University").

If you have any questions or comments about our privacy practices or compliance efforts, please contact Rebekah Tilley, Assistant Vice President, Communication and Marketing, at 1-800-982-4295 or email privacy@foriowa.org.

PERSONAL INFORMATION AND HOW WE COLLECT IT

The UI Center for Advancement collects personal information to fulfill our organizational mission of advancing the University of Iowa through engagement and philanthropy and to provide you with the best experience with our websites, services, and programs. Personal information is collected as provided voluntarily by you (e.g., when you send an address update or make a gift online), through your interactions with us, the UI or use of our services (e.g., how you interact with our websites and emails), provided to us by the UI or affiliate organizations, and from our use of third-party sources (e.g., publicly available sources or by searching the Internet).

This website and our online services are not intended for children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect, use, or disclose personal information from children under 13 years of age.

Information You Provide. We collect personal information directly from you via forms, surveys, subscriptions, constituent portals, event registrations, or donation forms. You can choose whether to provide this information; however, providing personal information on a voluntary basis may be necessary for certain services (e.g., making a gift, registering for an event, or joining a mailing list).

The type of personal information that we may collect includes, but is not limited to, the following:

  • Name and contact details including full name, mailing addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses
  • Title, gender, ethnicity, nationality, and date of birth
  • Names of spouse/partner and family members
  • Campus history, including attendance, awards, honors, and student activities
  • Recreational activities and interests you participated in while at the University
  • Education history/degree and graduation information
  • Employment information and title
  • Engagement, interactions, and volunteer activities with or on behalf of the University or its affiliated organizations in meetings, events, groups, or networks
  • Information related to your charitable donations to the UI Center for Advancement
  • Membership in groups or organizations
  • Social media handles
  • Other information you provide about yourself voluntarily via online forms or otherwise (e.g., current interests, volunteering activities and expression of interest in volunteering, etc.)

Information Collected Through Your Use of Our Services. We manage several websites to maintain contact with alumni, donors, and friends of the UI. In general, when you visit our websites and access information, you remain anonymous. We track web usage to evaluate how well our web pages are reaching and serving the needs of visitors. There are occasions when we will ask for additional information from you. We do this to better understand and respond to your needs and to provide you with services that may be valuable to you. We also use cookies, pixel tags, and/or other similar technologies to collect visitor information (e.g., third-party tracking tools and server logs).

Cookies. Cookies are small text files that collect information about website activity. The UI Center for Advancement sites use cookies for two primary purposes—to carry info about your current site visit from one page to the next and to recognize you and remember your preferences on any subsequent visits. You can disable cookies by changing preference settings in your web browser. You can use most of our websites with cookies disabled but may find that some functions require cookies.

Pixel tags. Also called web beacons, web bugs, or clear GIFs, pixel tags are tiny image files that may be used to monitor website use. Disabling cookies in your web browser preferences will prevent pixel tags from collecting any unique information. Pixel tags also may be used to track whether you open email messages we send. You can disable some pixel tags by turning off HTML display or images in your email software.

Third-party tracking tools. Some of our websites use third-party tracking tools to monitor and improve sites or to provide ads and other information that may be of interest to users. These tools may collect the following information:

  • Internet protocol (IP) address for your computer/device
  • Internet service provider
  • Website from which you arrived
  • Operating system and web browser software
  • Date and time of your visit
  • Pages you visit on this site
  • Terms you use in our site’s search engines

Third-party tools like Google Analytics help website administrators track site usage, understand how users find sites, and improve website function and content. Other third-party tools show UI Center for Advancement advertisements on sites across the web. Using cookies and related technologies, these tools show ads to people who have previously visited our websites or might be interested in our sites based on other sites visited. You can opt out of these services through Google advertising opt out and Network Advertising Initiative opt out.

Server logs. Like third-party tracking tools, our web servers routinely generate logs that include basic information helpful in monitoring website usage and performance:

  • Internet Protocol (IP) address
  • Web browser software and plugins
  • Date and time of your visit
  • Path taken through our sites
  • Files downloaded and time spent accessing video or audio files
  • Any errors you encounter

Information Collected from Third-Party Sources. We may gather information about you from publicly available sources (e.g., government databases), Internet searches, and other third-party sources (e.g., data brokers from which we purchase data to supplement our alumni and donor records). We also obtain information from the UI, campus partners, alumni chapters and clubs, and select individuals and entities for alumni relations and development purposes. We may combine this information with the personal and other information we have collected about you. This helps us understand more about you and your interests in supporting the UI, including financially, and to understand the preferences of our alumni, donors, and friends about attendance at events, communications, and services.

HOW WE USE THE PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

The UI Center for Advancement is committed to reaching everyone who has an affinity with, passion to support, or desire to advance the UI through programming, events, and opportunities to give back. The personal information you provide, or we collect, allows us to operate our business, connect/communicate with you on a more personal level, and offer you the most appropriate and meaningful experience, services, and connection with the UI.

Operating Our Business. The UI Center for Advancement was formed to better serve alumni, donors, and friends of the UI. We are a separately incorporated [Iowa nonprofit], 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, recognized by the UI as the preferred channel to (1) raise, receive, and manage charitable funds exclusively for its benefit, and (2) strengthen ties between the UI and its alumni, students, friends, fans, and current and future donors by offering engagement programming, events, and opportunities to give back. For these reasons, the UI Center for Advancement stores and maintains contact and personal information of alumni, donors, and friends to the UI.

Communicating with You. The UI Center for Advancement uses personal information it collects to communicate with you on its own behalf or on behalf of the UI and its colleges, departments, units, affiliated organizations, volunteer clubs, student organizations, etc. We will use your information to stay connected with you about UI-related activities and developments, events on campus and within your geographic region, alumni services and involvement opportunities, publications and campus information, as well as to request and process donations. We may contact you by phone, mail, email, or other means. If you want to update your contact preferences or opt-out of future communications, please visit our preferences page at https://www.foriowa.org/emailpref/index.php?source=websiteor contact us at 1-800-982-4295.

Processing Donations. The UI Center for Advancement collects personal information to process your donations or payments. We do not store any credit/debit card details within our database.

Personalizing Your Experience. The UI Center for Advancement uses your personal information and what we know about you to deliver services and content customized to you and your preferences. For example, if we know that you are a graduate of a particular college at the UI and have indicated attendance at theater or performing arts events, we may customize content sent or communicated to you or viewable by you on our website or social media based on these interests.

Improving our Products and Services. The UI Center for Advancement manages several websites and tracks web usage to evaluate how well our web pages are reaching and serving the needs of visitors and to make improvements, as needed. We also perform analytics concerning your use of our online services, including your responses to our emails and the pages and advertisements you view. There are occasions when we will ask for additional information from you. We do this to better understand and respond to your needs, and to develop new products and services that may be valuable to you.

Remarketing. The UI Center for Advancement may use the information we collect from you or through third-party sources to select and deliver some of the ads you see from us. We remarket for the purpose of extending our message to you and delivering a more personalized experience.

WHAT WE DISCLOSE TO OTHERS AND WHY

We may share the personal information we collect from and about you within our organization and with certain third parties. Provided, however, sharing excludes text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties.

For example, we may share your information with:

  • The UI, including, but not limited to, certain representatives in its hospitals/health clinics, colleges, departments, units, affiliated organizations, volunteer clubs, and student organizations for alumni relations and development purposes;
  • Third parties to comply with legal requirements such as the demands of applicable subpoenas and court orders; to verify or enforce our rights, or other applicable policies; to address fraud, security, or technical issues; to respond to an emergency; or otherwise to protect the rights, property, or security of our employees or users; and
  • Service providers we engage to assist us in providing services, research, products, or programs we determine would provide a benefit to you or our business operations. Examples of when we might utilize service providers include, but not limited to, payment/donation processors; contact information maintenance; market segmentation, which may include asset screening and predictive modeling; and marketing services.

YOUR CHOICES

We value your trust and want to assure you that we will always strive to be responsible in our management of your personal information. You have a choice about whether you want to receive information about the UI, including engagement activities or fundraising initiatives, and which methods of communication we use to contact you. If you want to update your contact preferences or opt-out of future communications, please visit our preferences page at https://www.foriowa.org/emailpref/index.php?source=website or contact us at 1-800-982-4295.

Furthermore, if you wish to access, correct, update, or remove your personal information (such as your address) from our constituent database, please contact 1-800-982-4295 or email privacy@foriowa.org. The UI Center for Advancement will consider all requests from individuals regarding their personal information. If required by law, we will grant a request to delete personal information, but you should note that in many situations we must keep your personal information to comply with our legal obligations, enforce our agreements, or for another one of our business purposes. If you are an individual residing within the European Union, please see our Notice of GDPR rights for more information on your rights with respect to our processing and use your personal information.

HOW WE SAFEGUARD THE INFORMATION

While we use reasonable efforts to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure, we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information as no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is fully secure. In the event we are required by law to inform you of a breach to your personal information, we will notify you electronically, in writing, or by telephone, if legally permitted.

RETENTION PRACTICES

We believe a connection with the UI is not a one-time event and continues over a lifetime of an alumni, friend, fan, donor, and potential donor. As a result, our retention practice reflects our continued mission to keep those with an affinity to the UI connected so we retain your information in accordance with our data retention policies or until you seek removal of your personal information from our constituent database.

CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY STATEMENT

We may change this Privacy Statement from time to time. Any material changes to this Privacy Statement will be posted on this page and will take effect as soon as it has been updated.

This Privacy Statement was last updated as of December 2024.

CONTACT US

If you have any questions or comments about our privacy practices or compliance efforts, please contact Rebekah Tilley, Assistant Vice President, Communication and Marketing, at 800-648-6973 or mail privacy@foriowa.org.

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Before they could make one giant leap for mankind, Apollo 11's astronauts had to fly through the radiation belts discovered by James Van Allen. PHOTO: F.W. Kent Collection of Photographs, University Archives A journalism student interviews professor James Van Allen in the early 1960s. Editor's note: In Old Gold, University archivist David McCartney looks back at the UI's history and tradition through materials housed in University Archives, Department of Special Collections, University of Iowa Libraries. Old Gold is no mathematician. This of course comes as no surprise to his friends. The fact was established early on, at age 9, when he was unable to "get" long division in fourth grade. Eventually, he learned the protocol. Let's just say, though, that Old Gold was never destined to appreciate the intricacies of differential equations and leave it at that, shall we? PHOTO: F.W. Kent Collection of Photographs, University Archives. A graduate student in the Department of Physics reviews data from Explorer IV in 1959 in the basement of what is now MacLean Hall While clueless with complex variables, Old Gold has been a bit of a science nerd for most of his life. Such interest blossomed 50 years ago this summer thanks to the highly anticipated Apollo 11 lunar landing. At age 13, Old Gold was?as we say in Iowa?just dang giddy about the historic manned space mission. So many elements of it fascinated him: Crossing a new frontier, waiting about two seconds for a usually instant radio transmission to be completed, and a dose of bragging rights and Cold War-era patriotism?"We got there first!" Old Gold still has his tape recordings of CBS television's coverage of that momentous event of July 20, 1969, including news anchor Walter Cronkite's pronouncement of "whew, boy!" when the Eagle landed. Nervous NASA employees and millions of viewers were suddenly both thrilled and relieved by the occasion. While Old Gold was thrilled, he admittedly didn't sense relief, as he failed to appreciate the possibility of real danger to the astronauts at the time. Indeed, the danger was revealed about a decade before, when State University of Iowa professor James A. Van Allen (36MS, 39PhD) of the Department of Physics released data gathered from the unmanned Explorer I mission confirming the presence of radiation belts encircling the earth at various altitudes but less than 25,000 miles from the earth's surface. Physicists determined the radiation contained in these belts could be a barrier to manned and unmanned space exploration unless proper precautions were taken: protective shielding for the spacecraft, protective suits for the astronauts. They also determined that, to keep exposure to radiation at a minimum, any spacecraft traveling through the Van Allen belts would need to attain a certain velocity. Imagine jumping through a fiery hoop, as though such a daring feat could be done safely. Despite this barrier, the goal to send a man to the moon?regrettably, women were not considered for admission at the time?was stated by President John F. Kennedy on May 25, 1961: "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space program in this period will be more impressive to mankind." Within the scientific community, there was considerable disagreement over whether NASA should devote resources to manned space flights. Many, including Van Allen, advocated for unmanned missions which could, in their view, gather data from new sources more efficiently. According to Abigail Foerstner's fascinating book, "James Van Allen: The First Eight Billion Miles" (University of Iowa Press, 2007), Van Allen hailed the accomplishments of the first generation of astronauts, but also expressed doubts on JFK's goal as early as October 1961. Such "blunt goals," he said, could undermine scientific competence in the quest for more meaningful data harvesting and research. The Mercury and, later, Apollo missions nonetheless moved forward. They did so, ironically, thanks to Van Allen's significant findings. The radiation belt data culled from Explorer I and subsequent unmanned missions supervised by Van Allen allowed NASA to plan its missions accordingly. NASA determined that an astronaut's exposure to radiation would be less than five percent of the level considered allowable by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The front page of the Daily Iowan on July 19, 1969, in anticipation of the Apollo 11 landing to occur the next day. The mathematical breakdown: OSHA's standard for radiation safety allows exposure of up to 300 rads (the unit of measurement for absorbed doses of ionizing radiation) in an hour. NASA determined that a spacecraft could travel through the radiation belts in 52 minutes with exposure of only 13 rads, based upon Van Allen's findings. This was determined to be well below the OSHA threshold and considered to be completely harmless. Until 1969, however, it was untested. James Van Allen led research that made possible one of science's greatest accomplishments. Old Gold appreciates the milestone?not to mention the many NASA scientists who have done the math. Read more University of Iowa history stories in our Old Gold archive.

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