Responsible Use of Information Technology

Newberry College Students

          Newberry College provides computing, information, and communications resources for its students to support their learning and research.  Access to these Information Technology resources is a privilege and requires adherence to this Information Technology policy as well as to other College policies, including in the Newberry College Student Handbook. Users of the College’s Information Technology resources are also bound not only by those laws, policies, and regulations that are specific to computing, telecommunications, and networks, but also by all other international, federal, state, and local regulations and statutes that apply. This policy applies to all use of the College’s computing, information, and communications, resources, whether administered by the Office of Information Technology, by departments, or by off-campus units that connect remotely to the College’s network and operate under the auspices of Newberry College.  Privately owned machines, while attached to the College network, are subject to the same policies as College owned computer systems. Responsibility for the use of the College’s computing, information, and communications resources by minors, (persons under 18 years of age) rests with their parents or legal guardians.

 REGULATIONS FOR RESPONSIBLE USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

1.                  Students must abide by the terms of copyright laws, software licensing agreements, and contracts that pertain to the College’s computing, information, and communications resources.  Reproduction or distribution of copyrighted works, including, but not limited to, images, video, text, audio or software, without permission of the owner may be an infringement of the U.S. Copyright Law.

2.                  The College’s Information Technology resources are intended to be used to fulfill the College’s mission.  Use of any of the College’s Information Technology resources for personal profit or gain or for commercial purposes is prohibited.

3.                  Students must be considerate in the use of shared resources and not perform acts that are wasteful of computing resources or that unfairly monopolize resources.  Examples include but are not limited to junk mail, chain letters, games, creating unnecessary network traffic, or printing an excessive number of copies of any documents such as resumes, theses, and dissertations.

4.                  Students may not access, send or store any messages and/or material that is found to be fraudulent, harassing, or in violation of any local, state, federal, international law.

5.                  Students are responsible for the security of their computer accounts, including the changing of passwords on a regular basis.  Students are also responsible for all activities that originate from their accounts.  Computer accounts are College property and are deactivated according to Newberry College policies and procedures.

6.                  Allowing another individual to use one’s computer account and/or password is strictly prohibited.

7.                  Students may not attempt to access another user’s electronic communications, nor may they read, copy, change or delete another user’s files and software.

8.                  Use of the campus network to gain unauthorized access to any computer account of the computer system, to attempt to bypass data protection schemes, to uncover a security loophole, or to mask the identity of a computer account or machine is prohibited. 

9.                  Although the College respects the privacy of an individual’s electronic communications, students should be aware that files and mail messages are not guaranteed to be private or secure.  Files and messages may be viewed in the course of routine management of computing, telecommunications, and network services.  In the event of a security breach, suspected illegal activity, or suspected violation of College policy, files and/or mail may be accessed by authorized personnel.

10.                Students may not deliberately perform an act that will interfere with the normal operations of computers, terminals, peripherals, or network.  This includes but is not limited to, tampering with any component of a local area network (LAN), Intranet, or wide area network (WAN), blocking communication lines or interfering with the operational readiness of a computer.

11.                Students may not install, run, or give to another user a program that is intended to or is likely to damage a file or computer system and/or reproduce itself on College computer systems.  This includes but is not limited to programs known as Trojan horses, viruses, root kits, or worms.

12.                Software and/or information that infringes upon the rights of another or that gives unauthorized access to another computer account or system must not be placed on any College-owned computer system or computer connected to the College’s network.

ENFORCEMENT OF POLICY: