| |
Southwestern Community
College (referred to herein as “SCC”
and “college”) provides a variety of
computing resources to faculty, staff, students,
and (in limited cases) community residents. The
appropriate use of these resources, including personal
computers, servers, networks, data sets, printers,
Internet and Intranet access, course management
systems, and software are the subject of this policy.
Restrictions or limits placed on use of college
computing resources are intended to protect the
resources as well as the integrity of the networks,
and to comply with appropriate policies, laws, and
regulations. Individual users of college computing
resources must acknowledge consent to abide by this
policy in order to use the college’s computing
resources.
The College’s Rights
The college owns or leases the computers
and owns the internal computer networks used on
campus. The college has rights to the software
and information residing on, developed on, or
licensed for these computers and networks. The
college exercises its rights to and does continuously
administer, protect, support, and monitor this
collection of computers, software, and networks.
The college also exercises its rights to and does
continuously establish and uphold rigorous standards
for ensuring the security, privacy, bandwidth
integrity, and data integrity on its computing
systems as it deems appropriate. Furthermore,
the college reserves its rights as well as exercises
its rights to determine the nature and extent
of access to computer resources; deny access to
computer systems and networks; limit access to
certain sites, materials, and programs; and determine
who may connect a device to college computer systems
as well as designate the specifications for such
a device.
User Responsibilities
College computing resources are to be used for
instruction, research, learning, and administrative
purposes only.
SCC’s computers and networks are for uses
consistent with the college’s mission. They
may not be used for outside business projects
or personal activities. This policy also expressly
prohibits the use of college computing resources
for the intentional accessing, viewing, browsing,
downloading, posting, or sending of pornographic
or sexually explicit material or images.
| 1. |
Licensed Software and Copyright
Laws
All software installed on or used on SCC computers
must be legally licensed for use on the college
premises. Copyrighted software should not
be copied from computers on campus or installed
on campus computers not legally licensed for
their use. Licenses for college-purchased
software will be kept on file in the Information
Services Department. This includes licenses
for all software including but not limited
to freeware, shareware, and complimentary
software provided to college employees. Students
are not allowed to load software on college
computers unless they are under the direction
of a faculty or staff member.
|
| 2. |
Password Security
Account passwords must not be shared with
anyone, unless directed by faculty for instructional
needs. Employees and students should use valid
passwords that include at least one non-letter
character and should change passwords at least
every four months.
|
| 3. |
Computer Security
Users must abide by all federal and state
laws governing computer use. Users must not
attempt to evade, disable, or “crack”
passwords or other security provisions. Also,
users must not knowingly install any virus
or destructive computer program onto campus
computers.
|
| 4. |
Acceptable Use
SCC computing resources must not be used for
any purpose which is not consistent with the
mission of the college, which is illegal,
dishonest, or potentially damaging to the
reputation of the college, or which may subject
the college to liability.
|
| 5. |
Unacceptable Use
Unacceptable uses of college computing
resources include, but are not limited to,
the following:
| a. |
Destruction of or damage to equipment,
software, or data belonging to SCC or
to other individuals or entities; |
| b. |
Disruption or unauthorized monitoring
of electronic communications and electronically
stored information; |
| c. |
Disabling, causing a denial of service,
or overloading (or attempting to disable
or overload) any system or network;
|
| d. |
Infringement of copyright or trademark
laws or rights of others (e.g. downloading
or distributing pirated software, video,
music, or data); |
| e. |
Violation of computer system security,
including but not limited to the unauthorized
use of computer accounts, access codes,
or network identification numbers and
email addresses assigned to others;
|
| f. |
Unauthorized access to SCC’s
information systems, Intranet, or networked
computers; |
| g. |
Installing unauthorized network equipment
such as Wireless Access Points and network
file sharing devices; |
| h. |
Use of computer communications facilities
in ways that unnecessarily impede or
disrupt the computing activities of
other college users; |
| i. |
Intentional downloading or propagating
the distribution of computer viruses,
trojan horses, timebombs, worms, or
other forms of destructive rogue programs;
|
| j. |
Posting, sending, storing, or intentionally
accessing pornographic, obscene, or
sexually explicit material or images;
|
| k. |
Posting personal messages or sending
mass electronic messages for such purposes
as selling, making solicitations to
sell, communicating about partisan political
activities, or distributing “junk”
email such as chain letters or spam;
|
| l. |
Academic or intellectual dishonesty;
|
| m. |
Violation of software license agreements
or copyright laws; |
| n. |
Recreational use such as peer to peer
file sharing (e.g. music or video downloads); |
| o. |
Violation of network usage policies
and regulations; |
| p. |
Posting, sending, or intentionally
accessing material that is inconsistent
or inappropriate to the mission of the
college; |
| q. |
Violation of privacy; |
| r. |
Harassment, libel or slander; |
| s. |
Fraud or misrepresentation; |
| t. |
Use of SCC’s logo without prior
approval. |
| u. |
Using another person’s password
or sharing of one’s own password;
users who choose to share their passwords
are responsible for the outcomes resulting
from the use of their account login
and password information. |
| v. |
Committing any form of vandalism on
computers, network or telecommunications
equipment, software, or attempting to
defeat or circumvent any security measures
or controls. |
| w. |
Connecting unsanctioned products (software
or hardware) to the College network,
or installing products for personal
use – other than laptop computers
using wireless connections or network
connections intended specifically for
public access. |
| x. |
Sending hate or threatening email,
chain letters, and anonymous or pseudonymous
messages – note: email policies
are specified in College
policy 3.37 |
| y. |
Using College computer resources for
political campaigns or the distribution
of political material. |
| z. |
Using College computer resources for
fraud, financial gain, or for any commercial
or illegal activity |
|
| 6. |
Limitations and Warnings
Various limits may be imposed on college computing
resources and systems. Users must abide by
any limits set. Privacy when using computing
resources and systems is not guaranteed.
While technical and administrative policies
are in place for the protection of computer
information, computer data security is never
perfect. Please be aware of the following:
| a. |
Unauthorized computer users may be
able to breach security restrictions
and gain access to your files. |
| b. |
Misdirected email is not uncommon.
E-mail messages may be seen by unintended
recipients at SCC or elsewhere on the
Internet. If email is considered confidential,
the information should be communicated
by other means or encrypted. |
| c. |
Systems administrators and other college
employees may require access to files
on any SCC computers to perform audits
or resolve technical problems. |
| d. |
The college reserves the right to
monitor email transmission over its
internal computer network. Legal mandates
regarding confidentiality will be observed
by computer staff when accessing data
files. |
|
| 7. |
Sanctions
Anyone violating this appropriate use policy
is subject to the college’s Standards
of Student Conduct, the employees’ Disciplinary
Action, Suspension and Dismissal policy and
procedure, and criminal complaint or civil
action for damages. More specifically, any
student, employee, or individual willfully
engaging in any activity with intent to interfere
with, degrade, monopolize, or compromise the
campus network, network security, or any of
its components shall be subject to disciplinary
action to include suspension, expulsion, termination
from employment, and/or prosecution.
|
| 8. |
Compliance Agreement
All users of SCC’s computing resources
will be required to certify that they have
read and agree to comply with the college’s
policy on Appropriate Use of Computing Resources.
|
|
|
