Privacy notice for the Manchester School of Architecture

This notice provides information that is in addition to information contained within the Manchester Metropolitan University Student Privacy Notice and the University of Manchester Student Privacy Notice.

Please refer to these university-specific notices for information about what personal information is collected and held about you, how it is used, lawful bases for the use of that information, retention and disposal information, and for information about your data subject rights and how to exercise them.

Who we are

The Manchester School of Architecture (MSA) is an innovative collaboration between Manchester Metropolitan University (Manchester Met) and The University of Manchester (UoM). Both institutions are independent controllers working in partnership to jointly facilitate the delivery and administration of your MSA course.

Manchester Met and the UoM are both exempt charities under Schedule 2 to the Charities Act 1993 (amended by the Charities Act 2011). Each institution is registered as a Controller with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and manages your personal information in accordance with its data protection responsibilities under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018.

Information sharing between Manchester Met and the UoM

In order to: recruit students, deliver MSA teaching and education services, manage misconduct and complaints, and provide disability, counselling and wellbeing support certain personal information is exchanged between the two institutions as follows:

Recruitment and admissions information

The UoM has responsibility for managing undergraduate (UG) recruitment and Manchester Met for managing postgraduate (PG) recruitment. Your MSA applications are received and managed by the recruitment and admissions teams of each institution as per this criteria. If you are successful in your application to the MSA, your application information is shared with the other institution. Until that point only anonymous statistical information is shared between the two institutions.

Student record information

Students register and enrol at both universities. The Manchester Met Programmes Team has responsibility for managing all post admission student facing administration. For further information about what student record information is held by the MSA institutions please consult the individual student privacy notices referenced above.

Academic information

As the MSA programmes are jointly delivered by the two institutions, information about your attendance, performance, assessment and other academic information about your participation on your MSA course is held in a manner which is accessible to relevant MSA staff from both institutions. The sharing of this information is regular and routine.

Misconduct and disciplinary information

MSA students are subject to the Student Code of Conduct of both Universities.

As a general principle, MSA student misconduct (including, for example, off-campus activity, criminal convictions, suspension of a student pending an investigation or risk assessments regarding continuing presence on campus during an investigation) will be dealt with by the University to which the conduct most closely relates under its Student Code of Conduct.

If there is any uncertainty as to which University should deal with any MSA student misconduct, the matter shall be decided by the Director of Student Services at Manchester Met and the Director of Student Life at the UoM, who will notify the MSA student of their decision.

Information about the misconduct will only be shared with the institution which is not dealing with the misconduct in exceptional circumstances. Such exceptional circumstances include: where the outcome of a misconduct case has a material impact on that institution, such as expulsion, compensation, or resitting a period of study. Where this is the case the following information shall be exchanged: Name of student, name of impacted students/witnesses, nature of incident, evidence and outcome.

Complaints procedures

Both universities’ policies apply to MSA Students.

• If you wish to make a complaint regarding the programme, you should raise it with Manchester Met.
• If you have a complaint regarding facilities and services which are not specifically about the programme, that should be raised with the relevant University.
• If a complaint runs across both Universities, then the Universities will work together to resolve the complaint.

If you are not sure which University to make your complaint to, you should email complaintsappeals@mmu.ac.uk and they will advise you.

Your information shall only be shared with the institution which is not dealing with the complaint in exceptional circumstances. Such exceptional circumstances include: where the content of the complaint has a material impact on the institution, such as a requirement to change practices or resources as outlines in the outcome of the complaint. Where this is the case the following information shall be exchanged: name of student, name of impacted students/witnesses, nature of incident, evidence and outcome.

Disability information

The Inclusion and Disability Service at Manchester Met provide disability and inclusion services for the MSA. This includes the creation and review of Personal Learning Plans (PLPs) and Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs). In order for students of the MSA to be appropriately supported across sites at both institutions. These PLPs and PEEPs will be shared by Manchester Met with the UoM so that they are also accessible to your UoM tutors. For further information about the use of disability information at Manchester Met please see privacy notice information provided upon engagement with this service or email inclusion.service@mmu.ac.uk.

Counselling and mental health services information

The UoM provide mental health, counselling and wellbeing services to UG MSA students. Manchester Met provide mental health, counselling and wellbeing services to PG MSA students. As such, when MSA students’ progress from UG to PG case file information is transferred from the Counselling Team at UoM to the Counselling Team at Manchester Met.

This structured approach to the delivery of MSA mental health, counselling and wellbeing services has been agreed for the 2020/21 academic year and moving forwards. If you previously, as an UG, accessed the counselling support services at Manchester Met, your case file information will be transferred to UoM, and if you previously, as a PG, accessed the counselling services of the UoM your case file information will be transferred to Manchester Met.

If you have any concerns about the transfer of your case file information you should discuss these concerns directly with the counselling service providing your existing support.

Furthermore, there may be exceptional circumstances where there is significant and immediate concern for your wellbeing or that of another individual. In that event we may contact others who may be in a position to support you at the other institution. We will always seek to discuss this course of action with you but if our concerns are for your immediate safety, we may do so without your consent.

For further information about use of counselling, mental health and wellbeing information please see the Manchester Met Counselling, Wellbeing and Mental Health Privacy Notice and the UoM Counselling Service Privacy Notice.

Alumni information

Upon the conclusion of your MSA programme there is no further sharing of your personal information between the institutions. In order to maintain a lifelong relationship with our students upon graduation both institutions shall register you as a member of their alumni. For further information about the use of your personal information as member of Manchester Met and the UoM alumni please see the Manchester Met Alumni and Supporter Privacy Notice and the UoM Alumni Relations Privacy Notice.

Contacting us

For questions or concerns about this privacy notice, or our use of your personal information, please email PAtoHeadofManchesterSchoolofArchitecture@mmu.ac.uk in the first instance.

The Data Protection Officer at Manchester Met can be contacted by emailing dataprotection@mmu.ac.uk or by calling 0161 247 3884.

The Data Protection Officer at the UoM can be contacted by emailing dataprotection@manchester.ac.uk or by calling 0161 275 5782.

Right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority

You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) as the supervisory authority in respect of the processing of your personal data. We would encourage you to expend our internal complaints procedure through our initial contact and the University Data Protection Officer, prior to contacting the ICO. Please email casework@ico.org.uk or call 0303 123 1113. Visit the ICO wesbite for further contact information.

Updates to this privacy notice

We may update this privacy notice from time to time in response to changing legal, technical or business developments. When we update our privacy notice, we will take appropriate measures to inform you, consistent with the significance of the changes we make.