|
|
Code of Practice for the Acceptable Use of
Information Technology Resources at Harding University
Scope
Acceptable Use
Security
Privacy
Copyright Laws
Mail Netiquette
Student Web Pages
Viruses
Violations
FAQ
Introduction
The information technology (IT) resources at Harding University support the instructional and administrative activities of the University. Users of these facilities may have access to University resources, sensitive data and external networks. Consequently, it is imperative for all users to behave in a responsible, ethical and legal manner.
Computer and information technologies have greatly expanded our ability to access and exchange information, and represent an enormously rich resource for innovation in the furtherance of HU's mission. However, the wise use of these technologies requires more vigilant efforts, and perhaps more secure safeguards to protect individuals' rights of privacy.
This document contains specific guidelines to appropriate behavior in using HU IT equipment. Its purpose is to condense and present the intent of the following HU policies in plain language:
- HU Policy for the Use of Information Technology Resources
- HU Policy for Information Technology Security Management
- HU Policy for the Use of Electronic Mail
- HU Policy for Computer Viruses
Where appropriate, Web links to supporting information are given.
Scope
These guidelines apply to all users of IT resources and IT equipment owned, leased or rented by Harding University. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Students,
- Academic staff,
- Visiting academic staff,
- Administrative staff,
- Guests of University staff and
- External individuals or organizations.
IT equipment includes, but is not limited to:
- The dialup modems,
- Terminals and microcomputers in general purpose labs,
- Minicomputers,
- Servers, and
- Networking equipment used to link these components together and to the Internet.
Harding University is not responsible for the content of any material you prepare, receive or transmit. Thus, as a condition of using the University's IT facilities, you agree that you are in compliance with all state, national and international copyright and other intellectual property laws and agreements and other laws. You also agree that in using the system you will not violate any civil or criminal laws. Furthermore, you agree to indemnify, exonerate and protect the University (and its representatives) from any claim, damage or cost related to your use of the University's IT resources.
Acceptable Use
Those who make use of the HU IT resources are required to behave in a manner consistent with HU's mission, policies and codes of conduct. As a user of these resources, you agree to the following guidelines:
- You are responsible for any computer account you have been given. You shall set a password on the account that is not easily guessed and shall not share this password with any other person. If you discover that someone has made unauthorized use of your account, you should immediately change your password and report the event to one of the individuals listed in Appendix A. You also agree not to use an account that does not belong to you.
- You agree not to intentionally seek out information about, copy or modify password files other users' files, or disks belonging to other people, whether at HU or any other facility.
- You shall not attempt to decrypt material to which you are not entitled or attempt to gain rights you have not been specifically granted by the owner. If you observe or discover a gap in system or network security, you agree to inform the Information Technology security coordinator (listed in Appendix A) and not to exploit the gap.
- You agree to refrain from any activity that intentionally interferes with a computer's operating system or its logging and security systems, or that may cause such effects.
- You shall be sensitive to the public nature of computer systems and refrain from transmitting, posting or otherwise displaying material that is threatening, obscene, discriminating, harassing, defamatory or contrary in anyway to the mission of Harding University.
- You agree not to make copies of or distribute software the University owns or uses under license, unless the owner of the software or the owner of the license has specifically granted permission to copy. If in doubt as to whether you have permission to copy software, assume you haven't!
- Messages, statements and declarations sent as electronic mail or public postings should be treated as if they were tangible documents. In a manner similar to how letterhead or a return address on a tangible document would identify the University, addressees can see that the University is the source of the message or its system is being used to transmit it, from electronic identifiers used in the transmission of messages. To make sure that no addressee can infer that your personal opinions are necessarily shared or authorized by the University, it is your obligation to clearly identify them as your opinions and not those of the University.
- You agree not to create, alter or delete any electronic information contained in any system associated with the University IT resources that is not part of your own work.
- You agree not to create, send or forward electronic chain mail letters. You agree not to attempt to alter or forge the "from" line or any other attribution of origin contained in electronic mail or postings.
- You shall not use HU IT resources as a means of obtaining unauthorized access to any other computing systems, e.g. through the use of unauthorized proxy servers.
- HU's computing disk storage is a University resource with costs attached and should be used with care and discretion. It is not meant to be used for archiving programs and data not currently being used or for storage of files publicly available elsewhere. It is meant for current class work, research and development projects, and temporary storage of other files. You shall attempt to keep your disk usage minimized and will refrain from maintaining duplicate copies of software already installed on the system.
- Network addresses such as TCP/IP addresses are assigned by Information Technology Services (ITS) and may not be altered or otherwise assigned without the explicit permission of the ITS Help Desk. In addition, no equipment may be attached to the network without the explicit permission of the ITS Help Desk.
- You agree not to use the system for non-University business such as the transmission of commercial or personal advertisements, solicitations and promotions, or for reproduction of political or commercial material.
Security
You should use any available methods to safeguard your data, including regular changes of passwords, making duplicates of files, and encrypting sensitive data. In the event that your files have been corrupted as a result of intrusion, you should notify the IT Help Desk immediately (details in Appendix A). Please note that computer systems are not completely secure. It is possible that others will be able to access files by exploiting shortcomings in the system security. For this and other reasons, HU cannot assure confidentiality of files and other transmissions.
Information Technology Services attempts to provide reasonable security against damage to files stored on HU's computing equipment by making regular backups of systems. In the event of lost or damaged files, a reasonable attempt will be made to recover the information. However, the University and Information Technology Services staff cannot guarantee recovery of the data.
Information Technology Services will make reasonable attempts to provide error-free hardware and software on University systems; however, it is not possible to guarantee this.
Privacy
Facutly, Staff, and Students (Clients) should exercise caution when storing any confidential information in electronic format, because the privacy of such information cannot be guaranteed.
University email services may be used for incdental personal purposes provided that such use does not: directly or indirectly interfere with the University operation of computer facilities or email services; interfere with the email user's work performance; or violate this policy, or any other applicable policy or law, including but not linited to use for personal gain, conflict of interest, harassment, defamation, copyright violations or illegal activities.
Information Technology Services staff are expected to treat the contents of the client files as private and confidential and shall not log into the client account or access the client files unless specifically granted permission by the client.
Exceptions to this guideline are made under certain circumstances. These include:
- Where necessary to maintain or improve the functionin of University computing resources;
- Where there is suspicion of misconduct under University policies and procedures as defined in the Student and Employee Handbooks, or suspicion of violation of Federal or State laws; or
- Where it is necessary to comply with or verify compliance with Federal or State law.
In the event that your files need to be copied or viewed for reasons other than security, diagnostic, system backup or in compliance with law enforcement, Information Technology Services staff may attempt to inform the client of this access.
Student staff should avoid situations where helping another student or a faculty member would give them access to data relevant to a course that the student staff person is currently taking.
Copyright Laws
Copyright is intended to provide protection for the "intellectual property" of those people who have created something original.
If you use an image, sound or video in a presentation; copy material produced by another person; use copyrighted text in a document; or make an extra copy of a computer program, you may be infringing copyright.
Two terms that you may come across with regard to software copyright are shareware and public domain.
Shareware
Shareware is usually software that is written and provided for evaluation purposes and can be copied and distributed. You must pay a fee to the author of the software if you intend to continue to use that piece of shareware. The software will usually contain a message that indicates where you send your fee or "registration". The author retains copyright of the software. Most shareware authors will send you updated or enhanced versions of the product once you are registered.
Public domain
Public domain software is available free of charge and can be copied and distributed freely. However, copyright still applies to public domain software. Therefore, if you modify and redistribute public domain software, you must obtain permission and acknowledge the original authors.
The copyright laws provide strong legal protection against unauthorized copying or use of computer software with heavy penalties that apply to individuals and organizations who breach these laws.
In brief, it is illegal:
- To copy or distribute software or any accompanying material without the permission or license from the copyright owner;
- To run a copyrighted software program on more than one computer simultaneously unless the license agreement specifically allows this;
- For a staff member or any section of the HU to consciously encourage or request any staff member to make, use or distribute illegal software copies;
- To infringe the laws against unauthorized software copying because a superior, colleague or friend requests or compels it;
- To loan software so that a copy can be made, or to copy software while it is on loan.
Mail"Netiquette"
- Check your mail daily. Ignoring a mail message is discourteous.
- Keep messages remaining in your electronic mailbox to a minimum.
- Include your correct e-mail address on your mail signature, business card, fax and letterhead.
- Try to keep e-mail messages fairly brief, a maximum of one or two full screens.
- Make sure that the "subject" field of your e-mail message is used and is meaningful.
- Always reply quickly, even if a brief acknowledgement is all you can manage. At least the sender knows you have received the mail.
- Develop an orderly filing system for those e-mail messages you wish to keep.
- Try to restrict yourself to one subject per message.
- Make arrangements for your e-mail to be forwarded to someone to handle when you go away.
- Also, remember that sending e-mail from your HU account is similar to sending a letter on HU letterhead, so don't say anything that might bring discredit or embarrassment.
- Don't extract and use text from someone else's message without acknowledgement. This is plagiarism.
- Don't make changes to someone else's message and pass it on without making it clear where you have made the changes.
- Don't reproduce an e-mail message in full when responding. Be selective in the parts that you reproduce in order to respond.
- Don't pretend you are someone else when sending mail.
- Don't send frivolous, foul, abusive or defamatory messages.
- Don't send chain letters.
- Don't send unsolicited messages to multiple registrants on the University's mail register for purposes other than genuine university business.
- Don't use global electronic mail for advertising or promotional purposes.
- Don't attach excessively large files as this will result in an overflow of the disk drive of the network services provider.
Caution:
It is advisable not to send confidential information that you would mind becoming public knowledge. Due to the nature of the communication medium, it is quite feasible that Internet communications may be intercepted by external entities and agencies. Also, any electronic mail that is incorrectly addressed may be received by a third person or may be bounced to a "Postmaster" in an external organization for redirection.
Viruses
Also see the Virus Policy.
Clients need to consider all of the possible points of entry (Internet, e-mail, floppy disks, personal computers, gateways, servers, staff computers connected by modems) when addressing the potential risks and implement appropriate actions to counter the risks. The success of any actions implemented depends on the detection products used and the regular use of these products by clients. As a consequence, it is imperative that you adopt a virus protection strategy and rigorously adhere to it.
Guidelines
The following guidelines are provided to assist you in implementing a successful virus protection and detection strategy. Remember that the ease with which computer viruses can be introduced onto your computer will depend on your ability to implement these simple steps.
- Scan your computer hard disk regularly for viruses to ensure that your computer is not infected. This check should be performed at least every week.
- Identify any possible virus intrusion points where viruses are more likely to enter your computers. Implement more stringent virus scanning measures in these areas.
- Scan any floppy disks prior to using them or copying any program files contained on a floppy disk to your hard disk
- Electronic mail messages and Internet file transfers may contain files that could potentially carry viruses. Scan these files prior to using them on your computer.
If your computer is infected or you suspect that your computer may be infected by a computer virus, contact the ITS help desk (see Appendix A for details) immediately so that measures can be taken to remove the virus and identify any other affected computers and diskettes.
Virus Hoaxes
From time to time, e-mail messages circulate warning of the potential virus threats. In the majority of cases, these messages are hoaxes. There is no danger associated with opening a mail message. Your computer cannot be infected in this manner. The potential danger exists only in the files and attachments that the mail message contains.
Remember, always save attachments to disk and scan before executing them or opening them.
If in any doubt, contact the ITS help desk for assistance. See Appendix A below.
Violations
You should report violations immediately to any one of the individuals listed in Appendix A below.
Depending on the nature of the events, violations may be dealt with as described in the HU handbook, any relevant contracts, and possibly by the law.
In most cases, the first action that Information Technology Services staff will take to confirm you have violated University policy will be to close your account. To have your account reinstated, you will be required to contact Information Technology Services through the student IT desk or the ITS help desk, to arrange an interview with the Chief Information Officer and the relevant Dean of Students.
A senior person, such as your Dean or Head of Department, in your Department or School/College will be informed of the circumstances of your case and any additional information arising during your interview. It is the responsibility of Schools/Colleges or Departments to impose appropriate disciplinary penalties, including any extension of closure of your account.
Information Technology Services will report staff/faculty violations to the Office of Human Resources.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you have any questions concerning the use of computer systems at HU you should contact:
- ITS staff at the ITS Help Desk if you are a staff member or
- ITS staff at the Student IT Desk if you are a student (see Appendix A below for details).
Appendix A
Information Technology Services:
Student IT Desk
501-279-4545
studhelp@harding.edu
ITS Help Desk
Information Technology Services
501-279-4440
itshelp@harding.edu
|
