Terms of Use

Terms & Policies

Website Terms of Use

Your use of the web sites on which these terms reside (collectively, the "Site"), and the features at this Site are subject to these Terms of Use, which we may update from time to time.  Please read these Terms of Use carefully before using this Site.  The Site is owned or controlled by College Rising Company ("College Rising").  This Site is intended for and applicable only for residents of the United States.  If you are from another jurisdiction, you may not use this Site.  By accessing this Site in any way, including, without limitation, browsing this Site, using any information, and/or submitting information to College Rising, you agree to and are bound by the terms, conditions, policies, and notices contained on this page (the "Terms"), including, but not limited to, conducting this transaction electronically, disclaimers of warranties, damage and remedy exclusions and limitations, and a choice of Illinois law. We encourage you to read the Community Guidelines and applicable Privacy Policy to understand the terms related to the use and privacy of the Platform/Service, which is generally accessible at https://www.collegerising.com/communityguide and https://www.collegerising.com/pricypolicy respectively. 

Our Sites covered by this Website Terms of Use include the affiliated online and/or mobile websites, applications, services, and software of:

From time to time, we may update this Site and these Terms.  Your use of this Site after we post any changes to these Terms constitutes your agreement to those changes.  You agree to review these Terms periodically to ensure that you are familiar with the most recent version.  College Rising may, in its sole discretion, and at any time, discontinue this Site or any part thereof, with or without notice, or may prevent your use of this Site with or without notice to you.  You agree that you do not have any rights in this Site and that College Rising will have no liability to you if this Site is discontinued or your ability to access the Site or any content you may have posted on the Site is terminated.

College Rising Content

Content on this Site that is provided by College Rising or its licensors, including certain graphics, photographs, images, screen shots, text, digitally downloadable files, trademarks, logos, product and program names, slogans, and the compilation of the foregoing ("College Rising Content") is the property of College Rising and its licensors, and is protected in the U.S. and internationally under trademark, copyright, and other intellectual property laws. 

You agree not to download, display or use any College Rising Content located on the Site for use in any publications, in public performances, on websites other than this Site for any other commercial purpose, in connection with products or services that are not those of College Rising, in any other manner that is likely to cause confusion among consumers, that disparages or discredits College Rising and/or its licensors, that dilutes the strength of College Rising's or its licensor's property, or that otherwise infringes College Rising’s or its licensors’ intellectual property rights. You further agree to in no other way misuse any College Rising Content or Third-Party Content that appears on this Site. 

If you are a trademark or copyright owner and you believe that your trademark or copyright rights have been violated, please go to our Proprietary Rights Complaint Process and follow the instructions at that area. 

Use of the Site and Posting Policy

The following requirements apply to your use the Site: (a) you will not use any electronic communication feature of the Site for any purpose that is unlawful, tortious, abusive, intrusive on another's privacy, harassing, libelous, defamatory, embarrassing, obscene, threatening, or hateful; (b) you will not upload, post, reproduce, or distribute any information, software, or other material protected by copyright or any other intellectual property right (as well as rights of publicity and privacy) without first obtaining the permission of the owner of such rights; (c) you will not collect or store personal data about other users; (d) you will not use the Site for any commercial purpose not expressly approved by College Rising in writing; (e) you will not upload, post, email, or otherwise transmit any advertising or promotional materials or any other form of solicitation or unauthorized communication; (f) you will not upload, post, email, or otherwise transmit any material that contains viruses or any other computer code, files, or programs which might interrupt, limit, or interfere with the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment. 

Terms of Service for All Users

From time to time on certain areas of our Site you may be able to submit photos, written or video requests, written posts, and certain other materials ("User Content").  By using these features, you agree that you will not post any content that is unlawful, harmful, tortious, defamatory, libelous, obscene, invasive of the privacy of another person, threatening, harassing, abusive, hateful, racist, infringing, pornographic, violent or otherwise objectionable or inappropriate as determined by College Rising; that you will not post any content that contains personal information about any individual, violates the privacy/publicity of any other individual or entity, or anything that you are under a contractual obligation to keep private or confidential; that you will not impersonate any person or organization, including without limitation, the personnel of College Rising, or misrepresent an affiliation with another person or organization; you will not post any content that contains viruses, corrupted files, or any other similar software or programs that may adversely affect the operation of the Site, or feature of the Site; that you will not post any content that violates any law, statute, ordinance, or regulation, including those that prohibit any preference, limitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin, disability, age, marital status, sexual orientation, ancestry, source of income, housing status, or military discharge status.  You further understand and agree that you have no ownership rights in materials you submit to us, to any account you may have with us, or other access to the Site or features therein.  College Rising may cancel your account and delete all User Content associated with your account at any time, and without notice, if College Rising deems that you have violated these Terms, the law, or for any other reason.  College Rising assumes no liability for any information removed from our Site and reserves the right to permanently restrict access to the Site or a user account.

By displaying, publishing, or otherwise posting any User Content on or through the Site, you hereby grant to College Rising a non-exclusive, sub-licensable, worldwide, fully-paid, royalty free license to use, modify, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce, and distribute such User Content in any and all media now known or hereinafter developed without the requirement to make payment to you or to any third party or the need to seek any third party permission. This license includes the right to host, index, cache, distribute, and tag any User Content, as well as the right to sublicense User Content to third parties, including other users, for use on other media or platforms known or hereinafter developed, such as for use on mobile phones, in video or music software computer programs. You continue to retain all ownership rights in your User Content, and you continue to have the right to use your User Content in any way you choose, subject to these Terms and the license described herein.  You represent and warrant that you own the content submitted, displayed, published or posted by you on the Site and otherwise have the right to grant the license set forth herein, and the displaying, publishing or posting of any content you submit, and our use thereof does not and will not violate the privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, trademark rights, patents, contract rights or any other intellectual property rights or other rights of any person or entity.

You agree to indemnify and hold College Rising, its parents, subsidiaries, officers, employees, and website contractors and each of their officers, employees and agents harmless from any claims, damages and expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees and costs, related to your violation of these Terms, including the Posting Policy, or any violations thereof by your dependents or which arises from the use of User Content you submitted, posted, or otherwise provided to College Rising or this Site. 

Registration

Certain areas of the Site may require registration or may otherwise ask you to provide information to participate in certain features or access certain Content or User Content. The decision to provide this information is purely optional; however, if you elect not to provide such information, you may not be able to access certain Content or User Content or participate in certain features of the Site. When you provide information to the Site you agree to provide only true, accurate, current, and complete information. It is your responsibility to maintain the currency, completeness, and accuracy of your registration data, and any loss caused by your failure to do so is your responsibility. You may not authorize any other person or entity to use your account or to access restricted or protected content or features available at the Site. Creating an account or opting in to receive notifications or offers does not guarantee the receipt of any such messages or the availability to you of any promotional offer.

If you register with the Site, you agree to accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account or password, if any, and you agree you will not sell, transfer, or assign your membership or any membership rights. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password, if any, and for restricting access to your computer so that others may not access the password protected portion of the Site using your name in whole or in part. You must notify College Rising immediately of any breach of security or unauthorized use of your account. You further agree not to email, post, or otherwise disseminate any user ID, password, or other information which provides you access to the Site. College Rising is not liable for any loss that you may incur because of someone else using your password or account, either with or without your knowledge.  You understand that you have no ownership rights in your account or other access to the Site or features therein.  College Rising reserves the right to terminate your account at this Site and/or delete all information associated with your account, including any materials you may have submitted to College Rising, or otherwise deny access to this Site (or any portion thereof) in its sole discretion without notice and without liability and reserves the right to permanently restrict access to the Site or a user account.

Promotions

The Site may contain or offer sweepstakes, contests, or other promotions, which may be governed by a separate set of rules that describe the promotion and may have eligibility requirements, such as certain age or geographic restrictions.  It is your responsibility to read those rules to determine whether or not your participation, registration or entry will be valid and to determine the sponsor’s requirements of you in connection with the applicable promotion.   

Representations and Limitations of Liability

College Rising makes no representations about the reliability of the features of this Site, the Content, User Content, or any other Site feature, and disclaims all liability in the event of any service failure. You acknowledge that any reliance on such material or systems will be at your own risk. College Rising makes no representations regarding the amount of time that any Content or User Content will be preserved. 

College Rising does not endorse, verify, evaluate, or guarantee any information provided by users and nothing shall be considered as an endorsement, verification or guarantee of any User Content. You shall not create or distribute information, including but not limited to advertisements, press releases or other marketing materials, or include links to any sites which contain or suggest an endorsement by College Rising without the prior review and written approval of College Rising. 

THIS SITE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS, AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THOSE OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ARE MADE WITH RESPECT TO THIS SITE OR ANY INFORMATION OR SOFTWARE THEREIN. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE, SHALL COLLEGE RISING BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (COLLECTIVELY, “DAMAGES”) THAT RESULT FROM THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THIS SITE, NOR SHALL COLLEGE RISING BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER THAT RESULT FROM MISTAKES, OMISSIONS, INTERRUPTIONS, DELETION OF FILES, ERRORS, DEFECTS, DELAYS IN OPERATION OR TRANSMISSION, OR ANY FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE WHETHER OR NOT CAUSED BY EVENTS BEYOND COLLEGE RISING’S REASONABLE CONTROL, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ACTS OF GOD, COMMUNICATIONS LINE FAILURE, THEFT, DESTRUCTION, OR UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO THIS SITE'S RECORDS, PROGRAMS, OR SERVICES. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO A NEGLIGENT ACT, WILL COLLEGE RISING OR ITS AFFILIATES OR AGENTS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE OF ANY KIND THAT RESULTS FROM THE USE OF, OR THE INABILITY TO USE, THE SITE, EVEN IF COLLEGE RISING HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.  SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR OTHER DAMAGES; AS A RESULT, THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU AND THE FOREGOING PARAGRAPH SHALL NOT APPLY TO A RESIDENT OF NEW JERSEY TO THE EXTENT DAMAGES TO SUCH NEW JERSEY RESIDENT ARE THE RESULT OF COMPANY’S NEGLIGENT, FRAUDULENT OR RECKLESS ACT(S) OR INTENTIONAL MISCONDUCT.  

Third Party Websites

This Site may hyperlink to sites not maintained by or related to College Rising. Hyperlinks are provided as a service to users and are not sponsored by or affiliated with this Site or College Rising, and College Rising makes no representations or warranties about the content, completeness, or accuracy of those Third-Party sites. Information you submit at a Third-Party site accessible from this Site is subject to the terms of that site's privacy policy, and College Rising has no control over how your information is collected, used, or otherwise handled. 

Miscellaneous

Both you and College Rising acknowledge and agree that no partnership is formed and neither of you nor College Rising has the power or the authority to obligate or bind the other. 

These Terms will be governed by and construed in accordance with the internal laws of Illinois without regard to conflicts of laws principles.  By using this site, you hereby agree that any and all disputes regarding these Terms will be subject to the courts located in Cook County, Illinois. YOU AGREE THAT, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, ANY AND ALL DISPUTES, CLAIMS, AND CAUSES OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR CONNECTED WITH THIS SITE AND/OR THESE TERMS, WILL BE RESOLVED INDIVIDUALLY, WITHOUT RESORT TO ANY FORM OF CLASS ACTION. These Terms operate to the fullest extent permissible by law. 

On certain areas of our Site, you may be given the ability to provide us with personally identifiable information. Please read our Privacy Policy for more information about our information collection and use practices. 

The failure of College Rising to comply with these Terms because of an act of God, war, fire, riot, terrorism, earthquake, actions of federal, state or local governmental authorities or for any other reason beyond the reasonable control of College Rising, shall not be deemed a breach of these Terms. 

If College Rising fails to act with respect to your breach or anyone else's breach on any occasion, College Rising is not waiving its right to act with respect to future or similar breaches. 

If any provision of these Terms shall be unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from these terms of use and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions. 

These Terms constitute a binding agreement between you and College Rising and is accepted by you upon your use of the Site or your account. These Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and College Rising regarding the use of the Site and your account. By using the Site, you represent that you are capable of entering into a binding agreement, and that you agree to be bound by these Terms.

 

Equal Housing Opportunity 

While College Rising Company is not a direct housing provider, our Platform supports content that may feature certain local apartment listing information and URL listings. College Rising Company complies with Federal and State fair housing laws which protect the right to equal access in housing. Any User, individuals and/or organizations must comply with all local, federal, and state fair housing laws.

 

Nondiscriminatory Policy:

College Rising Company is dedicated to providing a nondiscriminatory environment which promotes equal access for all clients and equal housing opportunities to all persons regardless of race, ethnicity, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, gender, gender preference, disability, source of income, marital, familial, military, military discharge, veteran or order of protection status. Any User, individuals and/or organizations must not create any discriminatory content.

DISCLAIMERS

Website information: While we try to ensure that information on the Website is correct, we do not promise and make no warranty whatsoever that it is accurate or complete. We may make changes to the material on the Website, or to the Service, Products and prices described on it, at any time without notice. The material on the Website may be out of date, and we make no commitment whatsoever to update such material.

 

Other Disclaimers:

We do not confirm the identity or locality of All Users and User Creators. All Users, User Creators and Members should use their best discretion and judgement when providing any communications or interactions online or offline via content, messaging or other in app features.

 

Additional Terms and Agreements for Creator Users and Users

The following terms and conditions apply to all Creator Users and All Users who access the use of this Site at no cost as individuals seeking information or providing content and/or organizations seeking to improve their free profile listing. You further agree the Terms of Service for All Users.

 

Definitions

User Creators are locals near a college community who create short public content that transforms traditional local advertisements into what we call “Views”.

 

Views: Short 30-45 second content pieces that describe an adverts essentials through the eyes of a local person who has not experienced and shares a non-biased interest in a listing of a person/product/service/space with the tools provided including third party software and our own curated View Templates.

 

Requested Views: Requested views are transformed videos that are sent to Local User Creators and Members that focus on aspects related to their request which are typically advertisement-based facts such as location, restrictions, main contact, and offered description through text and images.

 

We generate requested views based on several online public sources including web sites, advertisements, social media pages and other application platforms. We continually improve our AI to generate the most up to date information and content. Requested Views come from anonymous sources such as Users and Creator Users or from our Members.

 

View Templates: View templates may be provided to enhance quality assurance and create a systematic seamless experience for All Users. Although View templates do not direct or dictate a User Creators view, generally a template is helpful way to avoid misinformation, facilitate easy opportunities to create content and share interests.  A Typical template may include why a User Creator has an interest, how they would interact in the space, what they like about the description/images provided and what they would do to improve or other questions they have through a less than one minute video. All User Creators agree to complete views based on an approved view template and acknowledge that this shall be a public video which the user creator owns but may otherwise gift or transfer when they otherwise decide to leave the platform or change locality.

 

Sponsored Views: Sponsored Views are created when an individual/organization sponsors a User Creators view because they feel it will help their algorithmic outcome rise higher in search results, would generally like to sponsor further content in the User Creators field of interest or because they would like the User Creator to become a Creator Member to aid support for more content related to their topic of interest.

 

 

Terms related to All Users, User Creators, Requested Views, Views, View Templates and Sponsored Views

College Rising does not guarantee a User Creators view will be published on our website, platform, or applications. College Rising does not retain any rights of ownership to the View or its contained content such as Requested Views.  We do not guarantee, have ownership rights, or confirm accuracy of any content provided to User Creators from College Rising, its Users, User Creators, Members or Sponsors. To avoid any doubt, View Templates may include certain content that we also do not guarantee accuracy or ownership rights to. You agree to hold College Rising harmless from any claims or actions regarding User requests, views or otherwise copyrighted material and fully understand copyright laws and these terms and conditions.

 

Views, Requested Views, View Templates and Sponsor Views may be updated, changed, altered with or without notice to All Users and User Creators. College Rising at any time may take down Views and Sponsored Views for any reason with or without notice.

 

Requested Views shall not be automated by any bot, application or AI and requests are specifically for human individuals who have a genuine interest in a specific college community. Requested views are not guaranteed and we specifically do not authorize individuals or Organizations looking to commercialize or otherwise harm, defame or claim rights against College Risings’ staff, Users, User Creators or Members. See Our Proprietary Rights Complaint Process and follow the instructions. For more information, please read the above terms listed under College Rising Content.

 

Rules for User Creators

Locality of User Creator

User Creators using this site who create View content should either reside, work or frequently experience a college community. This is to enhance the experience of All Users, other User Creators and Members and provide an opportunity to connect and experience college communities through search. We do not guarantee that all User Creators are locals due to the amount of administrative burden and current resources.

 

Non-Biased Content

User Creators provide Views they have not experienced and have a true interest to experience. There are several benefits to interest based, non-biased content.

·      Creates a sense of belonging for people searching who share your interest.

·      Learn something new about someone who shares your interest and is local.

·      Learns something from a trusted source that is practical and applicable to them.

·      Non-biased content that is interest based will skew towards positivity which is important for our mental health.

 

Thus, it’s very important that All User Creators provide Views they have not experienced and have a true interest to. If this cannot be done due to the amount of User Creators in our community, we revert to Creator Members who share an interest of a Requested View and then to Creator Members who are available to make requested Views.

 

We believe that the more non-biased content we provide, the more trust we will have in our community. However, we do not guarantee that all content is non-biased. As College Rising grows its membership, we can continue to improve, verify and label content.

 

General Agreement to Core Values

Our Members agree to our core values of LIFE. Generally, you adhere and acknowledge our core values of LIFE. To learn more visit www.collegerising.com/life

 

Additional Terms and Agreements for Members, Users and Creator Users

The following terms and conditions apply to all Member Users which includes use of this site which feature paid products, services and may require additional authorization and log in information. This is for Members who access or use the Site as intended for individuals and/or organizations seeking to make available information regarding on their behalf or other’s behalf, including but not limited to agencies purchasing for multiple parties, or otherwise indicate their acceptance to this Agreement. You further agree the Terms of Service for All Users also apply.  For the avoidance of doubt where the Terms of Service for All Users overlap or conflict with the Terms of Service for Members, you agree that the Terms of Service for Members will govern.

 

Member and Other Content Definitions

Creator Members: Creator Members are a community of verified locals from various college communities who create content with the purpose of building a sense of community, welcoming new commers and saving students time and stress when searching for places to live, learn or work at. They become members when a View receives an initial sponsorship offer and they apply to become a Creator Member at www.collegerising.com/application.

 

Once Sponsored, their sole purpose is to help facilitate communications and aid other Members, Users and User Creators get answers to public questions and document through Q&A and other premium content.

 

Q&A Content: Short 30-45 Second Q&A Content built into each view. The next person who has the same question can get an answer within minutes instead of hours. Sponsors and Creators are incentivized to help save you time and stress on your search through algorithm results and speed of delivery. 

 

Creator Members own the sponsored content and are incentivized to facilitate the questions in support of the person asking by documenting the process through content creation.

 

Q&A Content Templates: Q&A Content Templates maybe provided to enhance quality assurance and create a systematic seamless experience for All Users, User Creators and Members. Although Q&A Content Templates do not direct or dictate Questions and Reponses in anyway, generally a template is helpful way to avoid long form questions and answers, facilitate easy, understandable incentives to create accurate and quick information and to help save all creators and editors time on production. A Typical Q&A Content Template may include Type of a direction question and response, video of the person reading their direct question and response, the value associated to the speed of delivery and the parties involved. All Users, User Creators and Members agree to complete Q&A Content based on an approved Q&A Content Template and acknowledge that this shall be a public video which requires name and likeness consent from all parties which are on screen. The sponsor ultimately owns this content and takes any liability associated to the Response and Answer which they are in charge of to receive authorization to use name, likeness and ownership.

 

Premium Views: Views naturally reach a lifecycle where they become obsolete. A Premium view is a computation of the local, experiencing an interest outcome. Premium views are short two minute, thirty second videos. Premium views are transferred to the sponsor who can gift, sell, or otherwise transfer when they become a Partner Member.  

 

Premium View Templates: View templates may be provided to enhance quality assurance and create a systematic seamless experience for All Users. Although Premium View templates do not direct or dictate a User Creators view, generally a template is helpful way to avoid misinformation, facilitate easy opportunities to create content and share interests.  A Typical template may include why a User Creator has an interest, how they would interact in the space, what they like about the description/images provided and what they would do to improve or other questions they have through a less than one minute video. All User Creators agree to complete views based on an approved view template and acknowledge that this shall be a public video which the user creator owns but may otherwise gift or transfer when they otherwise decide to leave the platform or change locality.

 

Sponsor Members: Sponsor Members are a community of verified local sponsors from various college communities who support local content for the purpose of algorithmic ownership of content because they feel answers will be generated quickly which will boost their organization, individual or application search results. 

 

Organizations and Individual license holders can become Sponsor Members when they subscribe and complete our application at www.collegerising.com/application. Sponsored Members only sponsor Views and built in Q&A Content in their own college area to enhance the experience for All Users, User Creators and Members.

 

Partner Members

Partner members are individual license holders and organizations who want College Rising to perform certain business consulting services with the goal of creating more sponsored content and building applications that improve their product offerings, staff trainings and day to day operations.

 

Terms related to All Users, User Creators, Creator Members, Q&A Content, Premium Views, Sponsor Members and Partner Members.

 

College Rising and its Partner, Sponsor and Creator Members does not guarantee to any non-paid User or other Local Members any services, products or sponsorships.

 

We do not guarantee, have ownership rights, or confirm accuracy of any content provided to User Creators from College Rising, its Users, User Creators, Members or Sponsors.

 

View Templates may include certain content that we also do not guarantee accuracy or ownership rights to. You agree to hold College Rising harmless from any claims or actions regarding User requests, views or otherwise copyrighted material and fully understand copyright laws and these terms and conditions.

 

Views, Requested Views, View Templates and Sponsor Views may be updated, changed, altered with or without notice to All Users and User Creators. College Rising at any time may take down Views and Sponsored Views for any reason with or without notice.

 

Requested Views shall not be automated by any bot, application or AI and requests are specifically for human individuals who have a genuine interest in a specific college community. Requested views are not guaranteed and we specifically do not authorize individuals or Organizations looking to commercialize or otherwise harm, defame or claim rights against College Risings’ staff, Users, User Creators or Members. See Our Proprietary Rights Complaint Process and follow the instructions. For more information please read the above terms listed under College Rising Content.

 

Additional Terms and Agreements for Sponsor Members

Definitions. See Sponsor Member Terms

 

 

Additional Terms and Agreements for Partner Members

Definitions. See Partner Member Terms