Privacy Policy of the Wentcher Foundation

This policy describes the Wentcher Foundation’s treatment of personal information supplied by students who receive or apply for our scholarship. This information may be recorded in or on our website, scholarship management platform, application system, physical files, or other applications. The Wentcher Foundation takes appropriate steps to safeguard students’ personal information, while still permitting us to administer the scholarship program and meet the duties imposed on us by law or morality. We do not share information related to our students for commercial purposes.

The Foundation does collect and record information such as:

  • Your name and contact information (e.g. email, address, phone number)
  • Your personal information (e.g. date of birth, gender, ethnicity)
  • The names and email addresses of your parents and guardians
  • Your application information
  • Your financial aid information (e.g. cost of attendance, financial aid award, scholarship forms, information needed to process your scholarship check)
  • Your FAFSA Student Aid Report and EFC
  • Your student identification number
  • Your scholarship agreement and consent forms
  • Information about the secondary and postsecondary schools you have attended, including your enrollment history
  • Your academic history (e.g. transcripts, degrees, and other academic information you have provided to us)
  • Your login credentials (i.e. username and password)
  • Photograph(s) of you
  • Other information you may provide

This list is not intended to be exhaustive. Other types of information are often needed to secure orderly administration of our scholarship program. The Wentcher Foundation does not collect or use social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, passport numbers, credit card information, credit histories, banking information, or most other similar types of sensitive personally-identifiable information.


How We Collect, Share, and Use Your Information

We collect and store information in both digital and hard copy files. The primary tools we use to record this information include our application software, our scholarship management platform, our physical files, and our “cloud file” storage systems. We may collect information or communicate through emails, postal mail, text message, or web-based tools such as our scholarship management platform or application system. We make use of third-party systems to administer our programs. Although no system is foolproof, our software systems are designed to keep student information secure. The third-party systems that help administer our programs all have strong data protections systems in place.

We use the information we gather provided by our scholars for five primary purposes:

  1. To communicate with applicants and Wentcher Scholars
  2. To select Wentcher Scholars
  3. To administer our scholarships
  4. To support Wentcher Scholars in their academic journeys
  5. To monitor and evaluate our programs

We also share the information we collect with third parties when it is needed to support these purposes. For example, we do so in communicating with financial aid departments or other university offices when it is needed to administer the scholarship program. We also share information with third parties when they perform necessary services on our behalf, such as the software developers who provide our application and scholarship management platforms. We would also share it if it is necessary to comply with our legal obligations or in cases of imminent risk to health and safety. However, we do not share information to be used in advertising or other similar commercial purposes.

Applicants and Wentcher Scholars who have privacy related questions or concerns are welcome to contact the Foundation at 847.410.1990 or info@wentcherfoundation.org.