Lenoir-Rhyne Campus Computing Policies

Policies for Responsible Computing

All members of the College community who use the College computing and information resources must act responsibly. Every user is responsible for the integrity of these resources.  All users of College-owned computing systems must respect the rights of other computing users, respect the integrity of the physical facilities and "security measures" and respect all pertinent license and contractual agreements.  It is the policy of Lenoir-Rhyne College that all members of its community act in accordance with these responsibilities, relevant laws and contractual obligations and the highest standard of ethics.  The College reserves the right to limit, restrict or extend computing privileges and access to its information resources.

Computer facilities operated by the College are available for the use of the College Community.  The College Community is encouraged to use College's computer facilities for research and instruction.  In order to facilitate the ethical and responsible use of computers, equipment, software, and networks, the following guidelines are established for the College Community.  Instructors, administrators, or unit heads may impose additional requirements or restrictions in connection with course or unital work.

Users and computing administrators must all guard against abuses that disrupt or threaten the viability of all systems, including those at the College and those on networks to which the College's systems are connected.

It is imperative that all users of the College's computing and information resources realize how much these resources require responsible behavior from all users.  Simply put, we are all responsible for the well-being of the computing, networks, and information resources we use.

Colleges do try to promote the open exchange of ideas; however, an open, cooperative computing network can be vulnerable to abuse or misuse.  As more and more schools, Colleges, universities, businesses, government agencies, and other enterprises become attached to the world-wide computing and information networks, it is more important than ever that this College educate its Community about proper ethical behavior, acceptable computing practices, and copyright and licensing issues.  A modern College must also educate its Community about how computer abuse can interfere with the exchange of ideas that is integral to a modern education.

Certain undesirable activities by users have been formally defined as abuse.  Computer abusers will be responsible for all damages.  In addition, they may be fined and/or may have computer privileges restricted or revoked and may be subject to further discipline by the College.  In some cases, they may be liable for civil or criminal prosecution.

These policies and rules govern the use of all of Lenoir-Rhyne's computing facilities which includes, but is not limited to, any computers, mini-computers,  mainframes, and peripherals.

It is an offense not to follow the policies and rules set by the College Technology Committee.  As with all matters of law and ethics, ignorance of the rules does not excuse violations.

The following actions are violations of Campus Computing resources:

•    Using computer equipment software, networks, and accounts for purposes other than those for which they are assigned (e.g., for commercial purposes or non-College related activities).

•    Deliberately attempting to degrade the performance of a computer system or deprive authorized personnel of resources or access to any College's computer system.

•    Using another person's account (even if you have permission) unless it is a special group account. Abusers are normally identified by their usernames. Users who reveal or allow others to use their accounts may find themselves restricted if others abuse the system in their name.

•     Attempting to discover another user's password.

•    Copying or transferring any of the computer software provided by Lenoir-Rhyne College without valid written authorization.  The use of illegally copied software is considered a criminal offense and will he dealt with as such.

•    Attempting to bypass standard procedures.  This includes, but is not limited to, unauthorized use of a password, accessing a file without permission, and reading a proprietary execute-only file.  Lack of file protection does not give you the right to do any of these things.

•    Allowing unsupervised children in the computer laboratories.

•    Using the computer to send, view, or use obscene, abusive, or threatening messages.

•    Smoking, eating or drinking at terminals, computers, or any other computer equipment. Any other rules relating to the building housing the lab must also be observed.

•    Making excessive noise that may disturb others working in the lab.

•    Using more than one computer at a time.

•    Collecting or discarding output other than your own without the owner's permission; printing out information and leaving it lying around.  (Place unwanted printouts in the recycling bins provided in the lab.)

•    Being irresponsible in the use of your accounts and failing to protect each account's password.  (In other words, do not share computer accounts.  If someone else learns your password, you must change it.)

•    Failing to report unauthorized use of your accounts to Information Technology, lab assistant, or other appropriate College authorities.

•    Not cooperating with the IT requests for information about computing activities.  Under certain unusual circumstances, IT may access your computer files.

•    Not taking reasonable and appropriate steps to see that all hardware and software license agreements are faithfully executed on any system, network, or server that you operate.

•    Playing games on the lab computers.  Lenoir-Rhyne's computing and networking resources are valuable and limited.  All users have the responsibility to use these resources in an effective, efficient, ethical, and legal manner.

Backups

Each user is ultimately responsible for his or her own computing and his or her own work using a computer.  Take this responsibility seriously. For example, users should remember to make backup copies of their data, files, programs, and diskettes, particularly those created on computers and those used on individual or unit computers.  Furthermore, users with desktop or laptop computers that they operate themselves must remember they may be acting as the “Administrator” privilege on for those computers.

Additional Policies

Student Accounts
All students at Lenoir-Rhyne will receive a College electronic mail account from IT.  Users will be required to sign a form indicating that these policies and rules are understood and will be adhered to.  Student accounts will be deactivated when the user is no longer registered at Lenoir-Rhyne.

The Information Technology Office provides only a connection to the campus network and the Internet. The IT Office does not provide maintenance or repair of student's personal computers. The College is not responsible for any virus that may be contracted through the campus network. It is the student's responsibility to purchase their own anti-virus software and to keep it updated.

Guest Accounts
At the present time no accounts will be created or maintained for anyone other than the College Community.

Global Distribution Lists 
IT develops and maintains global distribution lists of College e-mail addresses delineated into the following subgroups:  all faculty, all students, day students, evening students, graduate students, and commuter students.   To use any of these lists, students must receive written approval from VP of Student Affairs for student distribution, VP for Academic Affairs for faculty distributions, and VP for Administration & Finance for staff distribution.   Faculty and staff are to use discretion when considering a global distribution of messages.  Distributed messages take up resources, not only campus computing resources, but faculty and staff time and resources.  The messages should be professional in nature, timely, and relevant.  If there is a question on the part of the faculty or staff member of the appropriateness of the message, he/she should contact the appropriate administrator to seek advice: VP of Student Affairs for students, VP for Academic Affairs for faculty, and VP for Administration & Finance for staff. 

Restoring Files
The Computer Center does regular backups of files on its servers.   In the event of a system crash, IT will restore lost files, if possible.

General Limits on Use
There are limits on the amount of disk space available on the network server. Network users are encouraged to maintain only active, frequently used files on their accounts.

Other Limits on Use
IT technical support is available only for problems associated with College-related activities. Technical support will not be provided for technical problems associated with personal activities and non-work related projects. 

Lenoir-Rhyne College reserves the right to hold, cancel, or restart a job or program to improve system performance.  IT also reserves the right to log off any user, if possible, with proper notification, when these policies are being violated.

Policies for Computer Lab Use

•  Lab users should store their files on their own storage media.  They can temporarily store files on the network server.   The computer labs are not available for general use during the periods when the rooms are being used for teaching of classes.  (The instructor may make exceptions on a case-by-case basis.)

•  Students cannot use their own copies of extraneous software in the computer labs unless the software is licensed to the user, such use does not violate the software license agreement, and IT approves the use of the software.

•  The printers are not to be used as copy machines. Students are to use the Print Preview facility to make sure they are ready to print.  Users are to print only when necessary.

•  Course work always takes priority on the use of the printers.

•  Unsupervised children are not allowed in the computer laboratories.

Misuse of Computing and Information Resource Privileges

The College characterizes misuse of computing and information resources and privileges as unethical and unacceptable and as just cause for taking disciplinary action.  Misuse of computing and information resources and privileges includes, but is not restricted to, the following:

•  Attempting to modify or remove computer equipment, software, or peripherals without authorization

•  Accessing computers, computer software, computer data or information, or networks without proper authorization, regardless of whether the computer, software, data, information, or network in question is owned by the College (That is, if you abuse the networks to which the College belongs or the computers at other sites connected to those networks, the College will treat this matter as an abuse of your computing privileges.)

•  Circumventing or attempting to circumvent normal resource limits, logon procedures, and security regulations

•  Using computing facilities, computer accounts, or computer data for purposes other than those for which they were intended or authorized

•   Sending fraudulent computer mail, breaking into another user's electronic mailbox, or reading someone else's electronic mail without his or her permission

•   Sending any fraudulent electronic transmission including, but not limited to, fraudulent requests for confidential information, fraudulent submission of electronic purchase requisitions or journal vouchers, and fraudulent electronic authorization of purchase requisitions or journal vouchers

•   Playing games on lab machines

•   Violating any software license agreement or copyright, including copying or redistributing copyrighted computer software, data, or reports without properly recorded authorization

•   Violating the property rights of copyright holders who are in possession of computer-generated data or reports.

•   Using the College's computing resources to harass or threaten other users.

•   Taking advantage of another user's negligence to gain access to any computer account, data, software, or file that is not your own and for which you have not received explicit authorization to access.

•   Physically interfering with other users' access to the College's computing facilities.

•   Encroaching on others' use of the College's computers (e.g., disrupting computer use by sending excessive messages, either locally or off-campus [including, but not limited to, electronic chain letters]; printing excessive copies of documents, files, data, or programs; modifying system facilities, operating systems; attempting to crash or tie up a College computer; damaging or vandalizing College computer facilities, equipment, software, or computer files).

•   Disclosing or removing proprietary information, software, printed output or magnetic media without the explicit permission of the owner.

•   Reading other users' data, information, files, or programs on a display screen, as printed output, or via electronic means without the owner's explicit permission.

•   Violating intellectual property policies of the College.

Disclaimer

Lenoir-Rhyne College cannot be held liable for any losses of any kind.  In no event can the College be held liable for consequential damages even if the College has been advised of the possibility of such damages.  The College cannot be held responsible for any damages due to the loss of output, loss of data, time delay, system performance, software performance, incorrect advice from a consultant, or any other damages arising from the use of the College’s computing facilities.  Lenoir-Rhyne cannot guarantee privacy of mail and files.

User Confidentiality and System Integrity

If IT is aware of a computing abuse; notices an unusual degradation of service or other aberrant behavior on the system, network, or server for which the unit is responsible; or receives a complaint of computing abuse or degradation of service, the unit will investigate and take steps to maintain the integrity of the system.  If IT has evidence that leads to a user's computing activity that jeopardizes the system, the user relinquishes all rights to confidentiality.  IT must weigh the potential danger to the system and its users against the confidentiality of that user's information.

While investigating a suspected computing abuse, a suspected hardware failure, a disruption of service, or a suspected bug in an application program, compiler, network, operating system, or system utility, IT will ordinarily ask a user's permission before inspecting that user's files or diskettes.  Exceptions to these rules includes but are not limited to:

The action of one user poses a threat to the network or other College resources.  IT should act quickly to protect the system and its users.  In the event that IT has to inspect user files, the IT supervisor must be notified as soon as possible.  IT needs to be certain that one of the fo1lowng is also notified as soon as possible (ordinarily within one business day): the user or users whose files were inspected; the unit head, project director, administrative officer, or Dean of Students.

The user is suspected of malicious intent. In these cases, the IT supervisor is notified.  IT needs to be certain that the unit head, administrative officer, or Dean of Students is notified. In the case of suspected malicious intent, IT will refer the matter to the appropriate College judicial body.

IT may find it necessary to suspend or restrict a user's computing privileges during the investigation of a problem.  The Director of IT will make this decision.

A user may appeal such a suspension or restriction and petition for reinstatement of computing privileges through the College judicial system, through the grievance procedures outlined in the appropriate College handbook.

In general, IT should:

•   Protect the integrity of the system.

•   Respect the confidentiality of user information stored on the system.

•   Assist the unit head in referring cases of suspected abuse to the appropriate College judicial process.

Judicial Process for Cases of Alleged Misuse of Computing Resources

If there is a preponderance of evidence that intentional or malicious misuse of computing resources has occurred, and if that evidence points to the computing activities or the computer files of an individual, IT has the obligation to pursue any or all of the following steps to protect the user community:

•   Take action to protect the systems and data from damage.

•   Refer the matter for processing through the appropriate College judicial system. 

•   Suspend or restrict the alleged abuser's computing privileges during the investigation and judicial processing. A user may appeal.

•   Inspect the alleged abuser's files, diskettes, and tapes.

•   Disciplinary sanctions may include suspension, expulsion, or termination.

Academic Honesty

Faculty and students are reminded that computer-assisted plagiarism is still plagiarism.  Unless specifically authorized by a class instructor, all the following uses of a computer are violations of the College's guidelines for integrity code and are punishable as acts of plagiarism:

•  copying a computer file that contains another student's assignment and submitting it as your own work

•  copying a computer file that contains another student's assignment and using it as a model for your own assignment

•  working together on an assignment, sharing the computer files or programs involved, and then submitting individual copies of the assignment as your own individual work

•  knowingly allowing another student to copy or use one of your computer files and to submit that file, or a modification thereof, as his or her individual work

Electronic Mail

The College recognizes that principles of academic freedom, freedom of speech, and privacy of information hold important implications for electronic mail and electronic mail services. This policy reflects these firmly held principles within the context of the College’s legal and other obligations.

The College encourages the use of electronic mail and respects the privacy of users. It does not routinely inspect, monitor, or disclose electronic mail without the user’s consent. The College may deny access to its electronic mail services and may inspect, monitor, or disclose electronic mail when required by and consistent with the law and Lenoir-Rhyne Campus Computing Policies, when there is substantiated reason to believe that violations of policy or law have taken place, or, in exceptional cases, when required to meet time-dependent, critical operational needs.

Electronic Mail Policies

•   The nature of electronic mail makes it less private than users may think. For example, electronic mail intended for one person sometimes may be widely distributed because of the ease with which recipients can forward it to others. A reply to an electronic mail message posted on an electronic bulletin board or "listserv" intended only for the originator of the message may be distributed to all subscribers to the listserv.  Furthermore, even after a user deletes an electronic mail record from a computer or electronic mail account it may persist on backup facilities. 

•  The College, in general, cannot and does not wish to be the arbiter of the contents of electronic mail.  Neither can the College, in general, protect users from receiving electronic mail they may find offensive.  Members of the College community, however, are strongly encouraged to use the same personal and professional courtesies and considerations in electronic mail as they would in other forms of communication.

•  There is no guarantee, unless "authenticated" mail systems are in use, that electronic mail received was in fact sent by the purported sender, since it is relatively straightforward (although a violation of this policy) for senders to disguise their identity.  Furthermore, electronic mail that is forwarded may also be modified.  As with print documents, in case of doubt, receivers of electronic mail messages should check with the purported sender to validate authorship or authenticity.

•  Encryption technology is only to be used when approved by unit heads.

Usage Policies

1.  Purpose. Electronic mail services are to be provided by College organizational units in support of the teaching, research, and public service mission of the College, and the administrative functions that support this mission.

2.  Users. Users of College electronic mail services are to be limited primarily to the College community for purposes that conform to the requirements of this Section.

3.  Non-Competition.  College Electronic mail services shall not be provided in competition with commercial services to individuals or organizations outside the College.

4.  Restrictions.  College Electronic mail services may not be used for:  unlawful activities; commercial purposes not under the auspices of the College; personal financial gain (except as permitted under applicable academic policies); personal use inconsistent with user responsibilities; or uses that violate other College policies and guidelines regarding intellectual property, or regarding sexual or other forms of harassment.

5.  Representation.  Electronic mail users shall not give the impression that they are representing, giving opinions, or otherwise making statements on behalf of the College or any unit of the College unless appropriately authorized (explicitly or implicitly) to do so. Where appropriate, an explicit disclaimer shall be included unless it is clear from the context that the author is not representing the College.

6.  False Identity.  Electronic mail users shall not employ a false identity. Electronic mail may, however, be sent anonymously provided this does not violate any law or this or any other College policy, and does not unreasonably interfere with the administrative business of the College.

7.  Interference.  College electronic mail services shall not be used for purposes that could reasonably be expected to cause, directly or indirectly, excessive strain on any computing facilities, or unwarranted or unsolicited interference with others' use of electronic mail or electronic mail systems.

Security and Confidentiality

1.  The confidentiality of electronic mail cannot be assured. Such confidentiality may be compromised by applicability of law or policy, Lenoir-Rhyne Campus Computing Policies, by unintended redistribution, or because of inadequacy of current technologies to protect against unauthorized access. Users therefore should exercise extreme caution in using electronic mail to communicate confidential or sensitive matters.

2.  College employees cannot seek out, use or disclose without authorization "personal or confidential" information, and employees must take necessary precautions to protect the confidentiality of personal or confidential information encountered in the performance of their duties or otherwise.  This prohibition applies to electronic mail records.

3.  Notwithstanding the previous paragraph, users should be aware that on occasion network and computer operations personnel and system administrators may, during the performance of their duties, inadvertently see the contents of electronic mail messages.  Except as provided elsewhere in Lenoir-Rhyne Campus Computing Policies, they are not permitted to do so intentionally or disclose or otherwise use what they have seen.  One exception, however, is that of systems personnel (such as "postmasters") who may need to inspect electronic mail when re-routing or disposing of otherwise undeliverable electronic mail.   This exception is limited to the least invasive level of inspection required to perform such duties. Furthermore, this exception does not exempt postmasters from the prohibition against disclosure of personal and confidential information of the previous paragraph, except insofar as such disclosure equates with good faith attempts to route the otherwise undeliverable electronic mail to the intended recipient. Re-routed mail normally will be accompanied by notification to the recipient that the electronic mail has been inspected for such purposes.

4.  The College attempts to provide secure and reliable electronic mail services. Operators of College electronic mail services are expected to follow sound professional practices in providing for the security of electronic mail records, data, application programs, and system programs under their jurisdiction. Since such professional practices and protections are not foolproof, however, the security and confidentiality of electronic mail cannot be guaranteed. Furthermore, operators of electronic mail services have no control over the security of electronic mail that had been downloaded to a user's computer.

Internet Policies

The College computing resources are intended to enable the institution to carry out its responsibilities of education, research and public service.  Therefore, these functions have priority in using computing resources.

Because the College recognizes the value of the Internet as a resource for information and communication, when computing resources are available, students may use them for co-curricular or personal purposes provided they abide by the policies and procedures governing such use.

The College expects that, as technology and consumer preferences change in the future, the economics, user habits and capabilities of its information systems will change from time to time.  Therefore, privileges afforded to students and other members of the College community under this policy are subject to change in the future.

Students may use computing resources for electronic communications with faculty, staff, other students and acquaintances outside the College community and to take advantage of information resources on the Internet.  Students may also participate in the exchange of information on the Internet through newsgroups.

  Revised Fall 2002