Information Technology Use Policy

Excerpt from the 2010-2011 Student Handbook

Jamestown College has made a commitment to making a variety of information technology resources available to everyone within the College community. At the same time, the College is committed to making sure these resources are used in the manners consis­tent with its educational mission. As a member of this community, you are expected to follow these guide­lines, policies and procedures when making use of the technology on campus and that technology which is accessible from our campus. These policies have been adopted by the College in an effort to protect the rights of any individual or group which utilizes these resourc­es or any third party who may be affected by the use of our systems or networks.

Jamestown College maintains Internet access to a vast number of local and national sites to promote the creation and dissemination of information and shar­ing of ideas. It is critical, however, that the College's systems be used in an ethical manner which fosters the goals and objectives of Jamestown College. Any information or use of these resources that would be considered unethical or unacceptable in the eyes of the College will be considered unacceptable for any user of the College's system.

Any personal computer hooked into the campus network must have current anti-virus software and be kept up to date with software and security patches. Jamestown College has an agreement with McAfee for anti-virus software. You may install this software on your personal computer.

Jamestown College uses NAT addressing for secu­rity. The College does not guarantee, nor support, the operation of on-line games.

Peer-to-peer applications, such as Morpheus or Kazaa, are not allowed on the campus network. Viola­tion of this policy can result in fines, removal of inter­net access or other disciplinary action.

Personal Wireless Access Points (WAPs) are NOT allowed since campus WAPs are available.

General Guidelines

This policy includes the following guidelines, and requires that each member of the campus community abide by the following:

1. Respect the rights of others to freedom from harassment or intimidation: Causing the work or col­lege experience of others to be disrupted by sending abusive or unwanted material is a violation of College policies and may violate the law; therefore, it is unac­ceptable.
2. Respect copyright and other intellectual-prop­erty rights: The copying of files, passwords or informa­tion that are owned by someone else without appropri­ate permission will be considered a violation of College policies, a violation of the law, and may constitute fraud, plagiarism or theft. All software licensed by the College must be used only in accordance with appli­cable license agreements.
3. Identify yourself clearly and accurately in elec­tronic communication: The use of false or unauthor­ized identifications or affiliations appears to dissociate you from responsibility for your actions and is consid­ered inappropriate.
4. Abide by security restrictions on all systems and information: The security measures and mechanisms have been established to protect individuals and infor­mation. Any attempt to disrupt or otherwise circum­vent these security provisions, or to assist others to do so, is a serious violation of College policies.
5. Use resources efficiently: All computing equip­ment, network resources and user accounts are owned by Jamestown College and are to be used exclusively for College-related activities. This includes legitimate instructional, research, administrative and other ap­proved activities. Jamestown College reserves the right to access personal storage on the College's system if an unlawful act, or a violation of College policies, is suspected.
6. Recognize limitations to privacy in electronic communications: When utilizing electronic communi­cations, it is important to remember that although you specify a specific audience for your communications, the nature of electronic communication allows for a much wider viewing audience. The security of elec­tronic information on shared systems and networks is approximately that of paper documents in an unsealed envelope - generally respected, but breachable by someone determined to do so.

On-Line Conduct

Passwords: Passwords are utilized to grant access to on-line networks to authorized members only. It is the responsibility of each and every member to hold these passwords in confidence and not disclose them to any other member or third party. You will be held responsible and will be liable for any harm resulting if you disclose or allow disclosure of passwords. Attempt­ing to bypass system security by the use of unauthor­ized passwords is a violation of Jamestown College policy and will be dealt with accordingly.

Offensive Communication: Any use of vulgar, abu­sive or offensive language (as perceived by the recipi­ent of the communication) is strictly prohibited.

Harassment: Using on-line systems or resources to target an individual or group with the intent of caus­ing distress, embarrassment, injury, unwanted atten­tion or other substantial discomfort is harassment and is prohibited. Personal attacks based on an individual's race, national origin, ethnicity, handicap, religion, gender, veteran status, sexual orientation or any other such characteristics or affiliations are prohibited.

Offensive Graphic Files / Audio Files: The trans­mission (i.e., uploading, downloading, posting, linking to) of sexually explicit images or other content the Col­lege deems offensive is prohibited. Unsolicited trans­mission of these materials may constitute harassment, and as such, is prohibited. Furthermore, such material may be deemed illegal and transmitters of such mate­rial may be subject to local, state and / or federal legal action.

Online Social Networks (i.e. Facebook, MySpace): All Jamestown College students are responsible for the content of their online social networks. The College, as a general rule, does not patrol online media for student conduct. Students should be apprised that although the Jamestown College administration has no policy to either patrol or monitor online social networks, viola­tions of college policy (e.g. harassing language, drug violations, or alcohol violations) discovered on online social networks are nevertheless subject to investiga­tion and penalty. The College reserves the right to handle incidents on online social networks expressly contrary to Jamestown College student conduct policy at the discretion of the College administration on a case-by-case basis.

Impersonation: Communicating information while utilizing a false identification or an identification that you are not authorized to use is prohibited.

Chain Letters and Pyramid Schemes: The creation, transmission and / or propagation of information re­lating to chain letters or pyramid schemes are prohib­ited. Some of these are not only illegal, but may disrupt the network services.

Improper Advertising, Solicitation: Use of any on-line network to send unsolicited advertising, promo­tional material or other forms of solicitation to others is prohibited, except when permitted by law, not pro­hibited by College policies and in those areas that are designated for such a purpose, for example, a classified ad area. Use proper e-mail lists to avoid spamming.

World Wide Web Usage: Content of personal homepages is the responsibility of the account owner. Any content on personal homepages that violate school policy will be subject to immediate removal - this in­cludes, but is not limited to, images, sounds or linking to any pages with content that violates Jamestown Col­lege policy or general community property.
 
Disruption or Degradation

Any deliberate attempt to disrupt or degrade net­work services or performance, whether local or remote, is considered unacceptable. Any equipment connected to the college network must be "clean" systems - cur­rent with all software updates and have anti-virus protection.  Extensive use of the network (i.e., intra / internet gaming, excessive downloading of MP3's or other programs not in accordance with the goals of the College) resulting in degradation of system resources is a violation of College policy. Connecting unauthorized equipment to the campus network, deliberately wast­ing / overloading computing resources (i.e., printing too many copies of a document) or the overuse of in­teractive network utilities will be considered violations of Jamestown College's acceptable use policy.