Privacy Policy

Last updated July 2026

1. Who We Are

SHPE FIU is the Florida International University (FIU) student chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, a registered student organization at FIU. In this policy, "we," "us," and "our" refer to the SHPE FIU chapter and its executive board.

This website is operated by the SHPE FIU executive board. It is hosted on Wix and is not hosted, managed, or operated by Florida International University. FIU does not administer this site and is not responsible for its content or operation.

2. Information We Collect

Information you give us when you create an account

First and last name
Panther ID (your seven-digit FIU identification number)
FIU email address
Phone number
Academic major
Year in school
Expected graduation year
LinkedIn profile URL (optional)
Student or alumni status
Whether you hold a SHPE National membership, and your SHPE National member ID if applicable
Password (stored in encrypted form by Wix; we never see or have access to it)

Information collected through chapter activities

Event attendance records, linked to your Panther ID
Points earned through attendance and involvement
Membership tier based on your points total
Event RSVPs

Information collected automatically

Wix, our hosting provider, collects standard technical data when you visit:

Pages visited and time spent on them
Device type, browser, and operating system
Approximate geographic location at the city or region level
Login and session activity

Information you submit through forms

Contact form submissions (name, email, message)
Sponsorship inquiries (company name, contact name, email, phone, message)
Résumés, if you choose to submit one to our résumé collection
Any other forms you voluntarily complete

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your information only for the following purposes:

Membership management. Maintaining an accurate record of active chapter members for the current academic year.
Points and tier tracking. Recording your event attendance, calculating your points total, and determining your membership tier.
Convention eligibility. Determining which members qualify for chapter-sponsored National Convention fee assistance based on points thresholds.
Event communications. Sending reminders for events you have RSVP'd to, and chapter announcements and newsletters.
Member resource access. Verifying your membership status so you can access members-only pages and materials.
Career and professional opportunities. Sharing internship, scholarship, and career resources with members, and (only if you choose to submit a résumé) sharing it with corporate partners.
Chapter reporting. Aggregate, non-identifying statistics may be included in reports to SHPE National, in grant applications, or in sponsorship materials. Individual member information is never included in these.

We do not use your information for advertising, and we do not use automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects.

4. What We Never Do

We never sell your personal information.
We never share your Panther ID with anyone outside the executive board members listed in Section 6.
We never publicly display your demographic information, phone number, Panther ID, or email address.
We do not process payments through this website and do not collect or store payment card or bank information.

5. What Other Members Can See

When you have an account, other logged-in members may see:

Your display name
Your profile photo, if you upload one
Your membership tier badge
Your position on the chapter points leaderboard

If you opt in to the member directory, other logged-in members may also see your major, year in school, and LinkedIn profile. The directory is opt-in only. You are not included unless you actively choose to be, and you can remove yourself at any time from your profile settings.

Other members can never see your Panther ID, phone number, email address, demographic information, or detailed attendance history.

6. Who Can Access Your Information

Access to member data is limited to the executive board members whose roles require it:

Tech Development Director: Full site administration and database access, for maintenance and technical operation
Secretary: Membership roster, attendance records, and points data, for official record-keeping
President: Membership roster and aggregate chapter data, for chapter oversight
Marketing Director: Site content and analytics; no access to individual member records
External Vice-President: Sponsor and corporate contact records; no access to individual member records

All board members with access are expected to keep member information confidential and to use it only for official chapter purposes.

7. Third-Party Services

This site is built and hosted on Wix.com. Wix processes and stores data on our behalf and collects its own technical data as described in its privacy policy at wix.com/about/privacy.

We also use or link to:

Google Forms and Google Sheets- for membership intake and points tracking. Google's privacy policy applies to information submitted there.
Instagram- our feed is embedded on this site. Meta's privacy policy applies to that content.
WhatsApp- our member announcements group. Meta's privacy policy applies.
SHPE National (shpe.org)- if you register for national membership, SHPE National's privacy policy governs that separately from ours.
LinkedIn- profile links you provide are public links to your own LinkedIn page.

Links to external websites are provided for convenience. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of sites we do not operate.

8. How Long We Keep Your Information

Active member records are maintained for the current academic year.
At the end of each academic year, records are reviewed. Members who do not re-register are marked inactive.
Event attendance and points records may be retained for up to three years for chapter historical reporting and continuity between executive boards.
You may request deletion of your account and associated records at any time.

9. Your Rights

You may:

Access the personal information we hold about you
Correct information that is inaccurate or out of date
Delete your account and associated personal information
Withdraw from the member directory at any time
Unsubscribe from chapter emails using the link in any message we send

To make a request, email shpefiu@shpe.fiu.edu with the subject line "Data Request." We will respond within thirty days.

You can also update most of your own information directly from your account settings once logged in.

10. Security

Your account is password-protected, and passwords are encrypted by Wix. We cannot see them. Access to member data in the site backend is limited to the roles described in Section 6, using role-based permissions.

We take reasonable measures to protect your information, but no website can guarantee absolute security. Please use a strong, unique password and log out when using a shared or public computer.

If we become aware of a data breach affecting member information, we will notify affected members by email as promptly as we are able.

11. Cookies

This site uses cookies, which are small files stored on your device. Essential cookies keep you logged in and allow the site to function. Analytics cookies help us understand how the site is used. You can control cookies through your browser settings, though disabling essential cookies may prevent you from logging in.

Where required, a cookie consent banner will let you choose which non-essential cookies to allow.

12. Age

This site is intended for university students and alumni. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under the age of thirteen (13). If you believe someone under thirteen (13) has submitted information through this site, contact us at shpefiu@shpe.fiu.edu and we will delete it.

Note that our chapter conducts K-12 STEM outreach programming. Any information collected in connection with those programs is handled separately, in coordination with the participating schools, and is not collected through this website.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will change the "Last updated" date above. If we make a significant change to how we handle member information, we will notify members by email or through a site announcement.