Ulster University is committed to the principles of open and accountable government and to promoting understanding of its activities. In addition, the University has been designated as a public authority under the provisions of Schedule I, part IV of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Under the terms of the UK General Data Protection Regulations, Data Protection Act 2018, and the Freedom of Information Act 2000, individuals have rights in regard to obtaining information held by the University.
Personal data can be accessed by submitting a Subject Access Request.
Requests for Information Held by the University
Under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, you can ask the University to provide you with any information held by the University. For example, you may wish to see the minutes of a particular meeting, see the Register of Interests for Council Members or obtain standard information about student data.
The University already makes public large quantities of the information that it holds and a description of all that we publish is detailed in our Publication Scheme.
Before submitting any request, you are advised to check the above web address to determine whether the information you require is already available.
If you wish to make an enquiry about data held by the University and which does not seem to be already available, then please email your request to foi@ulster.ac.uk or submit a request in writing to Eoin Coyle, Data Protection & Information Compliance Manager, Ulster University, Cromore Road, Coleraine BT52 1SA. The Data Protection & Information Compliance Manager can also be contacted on telephone no. 028 71675525.
Under Section 36 of the Freedom of Information Act, the Vice-Chancellor is the University's Qualified Person.
When we receive your request we will start a search for the information you need. If we cannot determine exactly what information you require, we will contact you as soon as possible to clarify your request. If we already publish the information you require, we shall send you details of how to find the information.
The information you need will be located and provided to you in your preferred format. Please note, however, that some information may be exempt from disclosure: should that be the case, we will provide what information we can and also provide reasons why other information has not been released to you.
Please note that we may charge a fee under Section 9 of the FOIA to recover our communication costs, such as for photocopying, printing and postage. In such circumstances, the University is allowed more time, pending the receipt of the necessary fee. In charging such fees, the University will at all times comply with the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 and also guidelines published in respect of such fees by the Information Commissioners Office
The University will usually have 20 working days to respond to your request or longer if we have requested a fee.
Please be careful to specify clearly all the information you require. We will make all reasonable efforts to locate this information, though we may need to ask you to provide more detail if your original application does not allow us to identify exactly what you want. If you require advice on how to specify your needs, please contact the Data Protection & Information Compliance Unit on telephone no. 028 7012 4114.
The University will not provide statistical information analysed to any greater level of detail than is normally provided with the University’s standard published information.
If the University does not hold the information you have requested, then we will write to you to inform you of this. Where possible, we will suggest alternative ways in which you may be able to access the information you require. If some/all of the information you request is held by another public authority, then we will provide what information we can. We then suggest that you consider transferring the remainder of the request to the relevant authority.
If you are not satisfied with how the University has dealt with your request, you may raise the matter under the University's internal review process for FOI requests. Please submit written details of your appeal to Clare Jamison, University of Ulster, Coleraine BT52 1SA, email at universitysecretary@ulster.ac.uk. Appeals must be submitted within 40 working days from receipt of the University’s response. The University will normally undertake to issue a decision on an appeal within 20 working days of receipt.