The Catholic Institute

TCI Privacy Statement

Introduction

This privacy statement explains how The Catholic Institute Aotearoa New Zealand (TCI) collects, stores, uses and shares personal information. Openness and transparency are important to us. The Privacy Act 1993 requires us to disclose certain things about the personal information we need to carry out our functions. This is where we explain our privacy practices to provide our students and staff with confidence that we handle their personal information lawfully and carefully.

Collecting personal information on students

We collect personal information to enable student enrolment in TCI courses and qualifications, to comply with government requirements on private training establishments, to assist with record keeping on professional development across the Catholic school system and to undertake follow-up research on our graduate outcomes. We also generate personal information (such as assessment grades and academic progress) as students work towards their TCI qualification.

The information we collect is itemised in the student enrolment form and comprises:

  • Full legal name
  • Previous former name (if applicable)
  • Date of birth
  • Residential and postal address
  • Invoice address (for third-party payment)
  • Email and phone contact details
  • National student number (generated by the Ministry of Education)
  • Proof of citizenship or residency to ensure eligibility to enrol with TCI
  • Ethnicity
  • Existing secondary and tertiary qualifications
  • Previous tertiary study (if any, including with TCI)
  • Occupation
  • Health status
  • Emergency contact person and phone number

Storing personal information about students

We store all personal information in the Artena student management system, which is certified for use by the Ministry of Education. Data is hosted in a third-party data centre across two sites in New Zealand. It is maintained under multi-level security and access protocols, consistent with the New Zealand Cloud Computing Code of Practice established by the Institute of IT Professionals New Zealand. Access to the Artena system by TCI staff and tutors is regulated by the Head of Student and Business Support, with permissions restricted to valid requirements.

Using and sharing personal information about students

We use the information we gather to:

  • Create and update student records
  • Contact students for course administration, quality assurance and teaching purposes
  • Verify course and qualification completions
  • Determine eligibility for fees-free study
  • Prepare and send out invoices
  • Contact employers to verify that intended graduate outcomes have been demonstrated in the workplace
  • Invite graduates to remain connected with TCI as alumni
  • Calibrate the records held in each Catholic diocese of professional development activity by religious education teachers in Catholic schools.

We draw upon personal student information to meet information sharing and reporting requirements to the Ministry of Education, New Zealand Qualifications Authority, the Tertiary Education Commission and the Ministry of Social Development (in relation to student loans and allowances).

We may also be required to release information for other purposes to government agencies such as the Police, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Social Development and the Accident Compensation Corporation.

We invite students to consent to these uses of their personal information as part of the enrolment and re-enrolment processes.

Accessing and correcting personal information

Any student may request access to their student record held by TCI and may require us to correct any error in the information we hold. TCI updates personal information about current students as needed through the re-enrolment process.

Staff personal information

We collect and store limited personal information about TCI employees, based on completion of a staff administration form at the time of appointment. The form requests information on name, physical and personal email address, phone number, date of birth and emergency contact. It also requests information on IRD number, bank account number and Kiwisaver status.

Information is taken from the form for payroll purposes. The form is held in each employee’s personal file, accessible only to the Director and Administration Manager. Any staff member has the right to request and correct personal information held about them.

Questions and complaints

Any questions or complaints about the privacy of personal information held by TCI should be sent in the first instance to the TCI Director, who is TCI’s Privacy Officer. The email address to use is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or phone (04) 819 8380.

Review and approval

This statement was approved by the HR Committee of the TCI Council in July 2019. It will be reviewed as part of the TCI Legal Protections policy in July 2021.