Columbia College Computer Use Policy
Use of any Columbia College (hereinafter referred to as CC) computer, CC network or other CC information system constitutes full acceptance of the terms and conditions of this policy and consent to monitoring. The consequences for not complying with the conditions of this policy could result in revocation of system privileges and may result in further disciplinary actions including student dismissal and employee termination.Except as noted, this policy pertains to:
- All faculty, staff, students, alumni, and others who utilize CC computers, the CC network or other CC information systems (any provision that applies exclusively to employees is italicized).
- Access to the Internet via CC computer or network
- Personal webspace on a CC server
- Use of the CC e-mail address or any email accessed through a CC network
- Access to computer files on a CC network or stored in individual CC computers
Authentication Process
Users must be authorized through a Technology Services (TS) assigned username and password. The username and password are the responsibility of the individual to whom they are assigned and should never be shared with anyone. The user will be held responsible for unauthorized use of the username and password by other individuals and for any and all actions of those individuals. Users will have access to sensitive and confidential information and will be responsible for the security of this information. Great care should be taken in ensuring that the user is logged out prior to leaving the computer unoccupied.
An e-mail "account" is assigned to each user. Any communication sent from that account is the responsibility of the user assigned to the account. The author of a communication from an account accessible to multiple users is responsible for that communication. Users are prohibited from allowing other individuals to send e-mail from their account and may not use another individual's account to send e-mail communications for their own purposes. The user should know that e-mail communications sent through the CC system are not confidential.
Use
Access to a CC network is a privilege with concomitant responsibilities pertaining to appropriate and ethical use. Access must be approved by the Director of Technology Services (DTS). Use of the Internet, personal webspace and e-mail, etc., via the CC network, constitutes the individual's acceptance of this policy. Users accessing network resources from remote locations are held to this policy.
Users are expected to be knowledgeable of these and all policies of CC. Care must be taken by users to ensure that accessing the Internet via the CC network does no harm to College interests. Any questions should be directed to the DTS.
Employee usage - Limited personal use is allowed. Any personal use is expected to be on the user's own time and is not to interfere with the person's job responsibilities or cause distress, legal problems or morale problems for other employees.
Proper and Ethical Use of the Internet and E-mail
CC reserves the right to examine e-mail, personal file directories, web browser bookmarks, logs of web sites visited, computer system configuration, network activity, and other information stored on CC computers at any time and without prior notice. Use of the system constitutes acceptance of such monitoring.
This policy should be read and interpreted in conjunction with all other CC policies including but not limited to policies prohibiting plagiarism, harassment, discrimination, offensive conduct or inappropriate behavior. Users are prohibited from using the system for any unethical purposes, including but not limited to plagiarism, pornography, violence, gambling, racism, harassment, or any illegal activity.
Users access the Internet at their own risk while using Columbia College facilities and equipment. E-mail systems and browsers may deliver unsolicited messages that contain offensive content. Columbia College is not responsible for material viewed, downloaded, or received by users nor for content that users may encounter via the Internet. When and if users make a connection with web sites containing objectionable content, they must promptly move to another site or terminate the session. Columbia College computer users who discover that they have connected with a web site that contains sexually explicit, racist, sexist, violent or other potentially offensive materials must disconnect immediately from that site. Faculty who must access such sites for research or course content purposes must have written approval from their department chair.
Users are prohibited from using the system for profit-making activities and/or for business use other than Columbia College business.
Users must not intentionally write, compile, copy, propagate, execute, or attempt to introduce any computer code designed to self-replicate, damage, or otherwise hinder the performance of any CC computer system.
Any posting to public forums such as newsgroups must include the following disclaimer that the views are those of the user and not CC: "Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent Columbia College."
Users are prohibited from entering into any contract or agreement on behalf of CC through e-mail or on the Internet, except as expressly authorized.
Disclosure of any information classified as confidential through e-mail to any party not entitled to that information is prohibited. In general, users should exercise the same restraint and caution in drafting and transmitting messages over e-mail as they would when writing a memorandum and should assume that their message will be saved and reviewed by someone other than the intended recipient.
Mass E-Mail and distribution lists
Technology Services will create and maintain distribution lists at the request of appropriate Administrative Council members or their designee. The requesting Administrative Council member or designee will be considered the owner of the list and will authorize security privileges to individuals who send email to that list. Any mass email (one that is sent to more than 150 users at the same time) must be sent outside of regular College business hours unless specifically authorized as "time sensitive."*
E-mail and Downloading Software Through the Internet
Users may need to download software or files to and from individuals through the Internet (outside of CC's network). Users should exercise extreme caution when using the Internet in this manner. All files or software must be passed through virus protection programs prior to use. Failure to detect viruses could result in corruption or damage to files and/or unauthorized entry into CC's network. Users must comply with copyright and trademark laws when downloading materials from the Internet.
If the user finds that damage occurred as a result of downloading software or files, the incident must be reported immediately to DTS.
Unless authorized, users may not install other on-line services to access the Internet on CC owned computers (e.g. America OnLine, CompuServe, Earthlink, etc.).
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