Privacy Policy

BLUE MOUNTAIN CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY 


1. About This Policy 

Blue Mountain Christian University ("BMCU," "the University," "we," "us," or "our") respects your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect from you, how we use it, when we share it, and the choices you have. 

This Policy applies to: 

  • The University's websites, including bmc.edu and its subdomains (for example, apply.bmc.edu, discover.bmc.edu, and events.bmc.edu), and any other site or online service that links to this Policy (together, the "Sites"). 
  • Online forms you complete through the Sites, such as request-for-information, application, campus visit, event registration, giving, and employment forms. 
  • Email, text messaging (SMS, MMS, and RCS), and phone communications you receive from the University or from service providers acting on our behalf. 
  • The University's text messaging program, described in Section 6. 

 

This Policy does not replace other University policies that govern specific records. In particular, education records are governed by the University's FERPA Policy, and financial aid records are protected under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. See Section 7 for details. 

By using the Sites or providing information to us, you agree to the practices described in this Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Sites or provide your information. 


Consent 

By using our website, you hereby consent to our Privacy Policy and agree to its terms. 


2. Who We Are and How to Reach Us 

Blue Mountain Christian University is a private, nonprofit Christian university located in Blue Mountain, Mississippi. 

  • Mailing address: Blue Mountain Christian University, P.O. Box 160, 201 W. Main St., Blue Mountain, MS 38610 
  • Phone: 662.685.4771 
  • Privacy questions: [PRIVACY CONTACT EMAIL, e.g., privacy@bmc.edu] 
  • Text messaging program support: admissions@bmc.edu or 662.685.4771 

 


3. Information We Collect 


3.1 Information you give us directly 

We collect information you choose to provide when you fill out a form, apply, register for an event, make a gift, apply for a job, or contact us. Depending on the form, this may include: 


  • Contact information: name, mailing address, email address, and phone number (including mobile phone number). 
  • Demographic and background information: date of birth, gender, citizenship, high school or prior college, graduation year, intended term of entry, and areas of academic or athletic interest. 
  • Application information: academic history, test scores, transcripts, essays, recommendations, activities, and other materials you submit as part of an application for admission. 
  • Financial information: information needed to process a deposit, tuition payment, or gift, such as billing address and payment details. Payment card numbers are handled by our payment processors and are not stored on our Sites. 
  • Employment information: resume, work history, references, and other details you submit when applying for a position. 
  • Faith and church information: church affiliation or faith background, if you choose to share it. 
  • Communications: the content of emails, text messages, chat messages, survey responses, and phone calls you exchange with us. 
  • Family information: parent or guardian names and contact details, if you provide them. 

 


3.2 Information collected automatically 

When you visit the Sites, we and our service providers automatically collect certain information using cookies, pixels, tags, and similar technologies. This may include: 

  • Device and browser type, operating system, and screen size. 
  • IP address and approximate location derived from it (city or region level). 
  • Pages viewed, links clicked, forms started or submitted, videos watched, time spent on pages, and the site you came from. 
  • Identifiers assigned by analytics and advertising platforms, such as a Google Analytics client ID or a Meta browser ID. 
  • Whether an email or text message was opened, and whether links inside it were clicked. 

 

Section 5 explains which technologies we use and how you can control them. 


3.3 Information we receive from other sources 

We may receive information about you from third parties, including: 

  • Student search and testing organizations, such as the College Board, ACT, and similar services, when you opt in to share your information with colleges. 
  • Application platforms and transcript services, such as high schools, colleges, and clearinghouses that send records on your behalf. 
  • Referrals, such as a counselor, pastor, coach, family member, or alumnus who suggests we contact you. 
  • Publicly available sources and social media, when you interact with University accounts on those platforms. 
  • Data and marketing service providers that help us keep contact information accurate or identify students who may be a good fit for the University. 

 


4. How We Use Information 

We use the information we collect to: 


  • Respond to your requests, such as sending information about programs, scheduling a campus visit, or answering a question. 
  • Process applications for admission, financial aid, housing, and employment, and communicate with you about their status. 
  • Send admissions, enrollment, financial aid, deadline, and event communications by mail, email, phone, and text message. 
  • Provide services to current students, alumni, donors, and employees. 
  • Process payments and gifts, and send receipts and acknowledgments. 
  • Personalize the content and communications you receive, for example by showing programs related to your stated interests. 
  • Operate, maintain, secure, and improve the Sites, and understand how visitors use them. 
  • Measure the effectiveness of our outreach and advertising. 
  • Comply with legal obligations, accreditation requirements, and University policies. 
  • Protect the safety of our community and the security of our systems. 

 

We do not use your information to make decisions about admission or financial aid based solely on automated processing. 


5. Cookies, Analytics, and Advertising 


5.1 What we use 

The Sites use the following categories of technologies: 

  • Essential cookies that make the Sites work, such as those that keep you logged in to an application portal or remember a form you started. 
  • Analytics. We use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to understand how visitors find and use the Sites. Google Analytics uses cookies and collects information such as pages visited, approximate location, and device type. Google's use of this data is described in Google's Privacy Policy at policies.google.com/privacy. You can opt out of Google Analytics using the browser add-on at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout. 
  • Advertising and retargeting tags. We use advertising tags and pixels from platforms such as [Google Ads, Meta (Facebook and Instagram), and CONFIRM ANY OTHERS, e.g., LinkedIn, TikTok, Snapchat] to measure the results of our advertising and to show University ads to people who have visited the Sites or shown interest in our programs. These platforms may set their own cookies and may combine information from the Sites with information they hold about you under their own privacy policies. 
  • Customer relationship management (CRM) tracking. Our admissions CRM, Technolutions Slate, may place a cookie that links your visits to the Sites with your inquiry or application record once you have identified yourself to us, for example by submitting a form or clicking a link in an email we sent you. 
  • Embedded content, such as YouTube or Vimeo videos, maps, and social media feeds, which may set cookies from the provider of that content. 

 


5.2 Your choices 

  • Browser settings. Most browsers let you block or delete cookies. Blocking essential cookies may prevent parts of the Sites from working. 
  • Analytics opt-out. Install the Google Analytics opt-out add-on linked above. 
  • Advertising controls. You can adjust ad preferences through Google's Ads Settings (adssettings.google.com), Meta's Ad Preferences, and the industry tools at optout.aboutads.info and optout.networkadvertising.org. Opting out limits personalized ads but does not stop all advertising. 
  • Mobile devices. Use the advertising settings on your iOS or Android device to limit ad tracking. 
  • Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control. The Sites do not currently respond to browser "Do Not Track" signals. Where required by law, we honor Global Privacy Control signals as a request to opt out of targeted advertising. 

 


6. Text Messaging (SMS, MMS, and RCS) 

Blue Mountain Christian University offers a text messaging program to communicate with students, applicants, and other constituents via SMS (text), MMS (multimedia text), and Rich Communication Services (RCS) messages, including admissions updates, financial aid reminders, enrollment deadlines, and other institutional communications. 


6.1 Opt-In 

You may consent to receive text messages by submitting an inquiry form, creating an account, or updating your communication preferences to include text messaging. Consent to receive text messages is not required as a condition of application, admission, enrollment, or participation in any Blue Mountain Christian University program or service. Message frequency varies. 


6.2 Opt-Out 

Reply STOP to any message to unsubscribe. You will receive one confirmation message and no further texts from that Blue Mountain Christian University texting number. If you receive messages from more than one University number, reply STOP to each number, or contact us to be removed from all text messaging. Reply START at any time to re-enroll. 


6.3 Help 

Reply HELP for assistance or contact us at admissions@bmc.edu or 662.685.4771. 


6.4 Rates 

Message and data rates may apply depending on your mobile carrier and plan. 


6.5 Privacy 

Blue Mountain Christian University does not sell, rent, or share your mobile phone number or text messaging consent data with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. This information may be disclosed only to third-party service providers engaged to support message delivery on our behalf (e.g., our messaging platform provider), and only to the extent necessary to provide that service. 

Mobile carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages. 


6.6 What we collect and why 

Full program terms, including the program name, message types, and how to get help and opt out, are in the University's Terms and Conditions (the "Text Messaging Program"). 

When you opt in to the Text Messaging Program, we collect your mobile phone number, your consent to receive messages (including the date, time, and method of consent), the messages you send and receive, and delivery information such as whether a message was delivered. We use this information only to send you the messages you have asked for, to respond to your replies, to keep records of your consent, and to comply with legal and carrier requirements. 


6.7 How we share text messaging information 

No mobile information will be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. All the categories of sharing described elsewhere in this Policy exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties, except the service providers described in Section 6.5 and below. 

Your mobile phone number and opt-in data are used only by the University and by the service providers that operate the Text Messaging Program on the University's behalf (such as our CRM and messaging platform vendors and contracted marketing firms), who are permitted to use it only to deliver messages for the University and are not permitted to use it for their own purposes. We do not sell, rent, or share mobile phone numbers, consent records, or opt-in data with any third party for that party's marketing, lead generation, or analytics purposes. 


6.8 Your choices 

You can opt out at any time by replying STOP to any message from the University and re-enroll at any time by replying START. You can get help by replying HELP to any message, emailing admissions@bmc.edu, or calling 662.685.4771. Consent to receive text messages is not a condition of applying to, enrolling at, giving to, or receiving any service from the University. Message and data rates may apply. Message frequency varies. 


7. Student Records, Financial Information, and Other Protected Records 


7.1 FERPA 

Education records of current and former students are protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). FERPA gives eligible students the right to inspect their education records, request corrections, and control the disclosure of personally identifiable information, subject to the exceptions in the law. The University's FERPA Policy, including what the University designates as directory information and how to restrict its release, is published at bmc.edu/academics-ferpa. Questions should be directed to the Office of the Registrar. 


7.2 Financial aid and financial information 

As a participant in federal student aid programs, the University protects financial information under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) and the Federal Trade Commission's Safeguards Rule. This includes information collected in connection with the FAFSA, student loans, tuition payment plans, and other financial services. This information is used only to administer those services and is not used for marketing. 


7.3 Health and counseling records 

Records held by campus health, counseling, disability services, or athletic training staff are maintained separately under the policies and laws that apply to those services, and are not collected through the Sites. 


7.4 Employment records 

Information submitted with an employment application is used to evaluate candidates and, for those hired, becomes part of the personnel record. It is not used for marketing. 


8. How We Share Information 

We do not sell your personal information. We share information only in the following circumstances: 


  • Service providers acting on our behalf. We work with companies that provide services to the University under contract, including our admissions and advancement CRM (Technolutions Slate), email and text messaging platforms, web hosting, analytics, payment processing, printing and mailing, survey tools, and marketing agencies and consultants that help us plan and carry out enrollment and communications work. These providers may access your information only to perform services for the University and are contractually required to protect it and not use it for their own purposes. 
  • Advertising platforms. As described in Section 5, advertising tags on the Sites share browsing information with the platforms that provide them. This does not include your mobile phone number or text messaging opt-in data. 
  • Within the University. Information is shared among University offices that need it to serve you, such as Admissions, Financial Aid, the Registrar, Student Life, Athletics, and Advancement. 
  • Affiliated organizations. The University may share limited contact information with organizations closely connected to its mission, such as the BMCU Alumni Association and the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board, for purposes consistent with your relationship with the University. This never includes mobile phone numbers or text messaging opt-in data. 
  • Accreditors, government agencies, and auditors, when required for accreditation, reporting, compliance, or audit purposes. 
  • Legal requirements and protection of rights. We may disclose information when required by law, subpoena, or court order, or when we believe disclosure is necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of the University, its students, employees, or the public. 
  • With your consent, or at your direction, for example when you ask us to send a transcript to another institution. 
  • Aggregated or de-identified information that does not identify you, such as overall enrollment statistics or website traffic totals. 

 

Text messaging information is treated differently. No mobile information will be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. See Section 6. 


9. Children's Privacy 

The Sites are intended for prospective students, families, students, alumni, employees, and friends of the University. The Sites are not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided information to us, contact us using the details in Section 2 and we will delete it. 

Many prospective students are between 13 and 17 years old. If you are under 18, you should review this Policy with a parent or guardian. Parents and guardians may contact us to review or request deletion of information provided by their minor child. 


10. Your Choices and Rights 


10.1 Communication preferences 

  • Email. Use the unsubscribe link in any marketing email, or contact us. You may still receive transactional or administrative emails, such as application status updates or receipts. 
  • Text messages. Reply STOP to any message to opt out. Reply START to re-enroll. Reply HELP for help. 
  • Phone calls. Ask the caller to remove you from call lists, or contact us. 
  • Postal mail. Contact us to be removed from mailing lists. 

 


10.2 Access, correction, and deletion 

You may ask us to tell you what personal information we hold about you, correct information that is inaccurate, or delete information we no longer need. Contact us using the details in Section 2. We will verify your identity before acting on a request. We may keep certain information where the law or a legitimate University purpose requires it, such as application records, education records, financial records, and records of your consent or opt-out. 


10.3 State privacy rights 

Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights under state privacy laws, such as the right to know what information we collect, to opt out of targeted advertising, or to appeal a decision on a request. Most state privacy laws exempt nonprofit institutions and information covered by FERPA or GLBA, but where a right applies to you, we will honor it. Submit requests using the contact details in Section 2. We will not discriminate against you for exercising a privacy right. 


10.4 International visitors 

The University is located in the United States and processes information in the United States. If you visit the Sites or apply from outside the United States, your information will be transferred to and stored in the United States, where privacy laws may differ from those in your country. If you are located in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction with data protection laws, our legal bases for processing include your consent, our legitimate interests in recruiting and serving students, and the performance of our obligations to you. You may have rights to access, correct, delete, restrict, or port your information and to withdraw consent; contact us to exercise them. 

11. How We Protect Information 

We use administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect your information, including encrypted connections (HTTPS) on the Sites, access controls that limit who can see your information, and contractual requirements for our service providers. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. Please protect any passwords you use for University portals, and contact us immediately if you believe your information has been compromised. 


12. How Long We Keep Information 

We keep information for as long as needed for the purposes described in this Policy and as required by law, accreditation standards, and the University's records retention practices. As examples, inquiry records for prospective students who do not enroll are generally retained for a limited number of recruiting cycles; application and education records are retained according to the University's records policy and FERPA; financial records are retained as required by federal and state law; and records of text messaging consent and opt-outs are retained for as long as necessary to demonstrate compliance. 


13. Third-Party Websites and Social Media 

The Sites link to websites and services the University does not control, such as application portals operated by other organizations, payment processors, social media platforms, and partner sites. Those sites have their own privacy policies, and we are not responsible for their practices. When you interact with the University on social media, the platform's privacy policy governs how it collects and uses your information. 


14. Accessibility 

The University is committed to making this Policy and the Sites accessible. If you need this Policy in an alternative format, contact us using the details in Section 2. 


15. Changes to This Policy 

We may update this Policy from time to time. When we do, we will change the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. If a change materially affects how we use information you have already provided, we will take reasonable steps to notify you, such as posting a notice on the Sites or emailing you. Your continued use of the Sites after a change takes effect means you accept the updated Policy. 


16. Contact Us 

If you have questions about this Policy or how the University handles your information, contact us: 


  • Email: [PRIVACY CONTACT EMAIL, e.g., privacy@bmc.edu] 
  • Phone: 662.685.4771 
  • Mail: Blue Mountain Christian University, Attn: Privacy, P.O. Box 160, 201 W. Main St., Blue Mountain, MS 38610 
  • Text Messaging Program support: reply HELP to any message, email admissions@bmc.edu, or call 662.685.4771