Acceptable Use Policy

Student Workstation Facilities Policies and Information:

COMPUTER INTEGRITY

Roberts Wesleyan College maintains computing facilities for the benefit of students and faculty. The efficient operation of these facilities requires cooperation between users and the staff of Information Technology Services (ITS). The hardware and software in these facilities is the property of the College; the files of users are individual property. All require respect. Use of the computing facilities is thus a privilege that can be withdrawn if users abuse the hardware or software, or violate the rights and needs of others.

Unacceptable Computer User Policy:

1. You may use and distribute copyrighted or proprietary material only with written consent of the copyright holder. Unless otherwise indicated by the author, you should assume that any software you did not create is copyrighted.
2. You may not use false identification or misleading information to gain access to computing resources nor use computing resources for which you are not authorized. You may use an account only for Roberts Wesleyan College-related activities, and not for others such as advertising for a commercial organization or endeavor, or running a business.
3. Your password should be kept private, even faculty or staff members. If a need arises for another person to use your account, you need to receive approval by the systems administrator.
4. Access to the RWC system should be available for all campus members. Please refrain from disabling or crashing the system, playing games at inappropriate times, sending mass mailings or chain letters, and creating unnecessary multiple jobs or process names.
5. The RWC system has several security mechanisms in place to protect your files. Any attempt to circumvent data-protection schemes or uncover security loopholes is prohibited. Only college software intended to be user-customized can be modified.
6. You may not harass others, or send obscene, defamatory or threatening messages at RWC. This includes messages spoken, phoned, or sent via the computer.
7. Individuals are not allowed to set up network servers, routers, or wireless access points on the college network without prior permission from the CIO and the network administrator.
8. Network drives are provided by the college for your use. You are responsible for adhering to the acceptable computer use policy in regards to how you use the network drives.
9. If you violate any of the above policy you may face one of the following penalties. Network/email account locked or disabled, dorm phone or network jack disconnected, restricted access to the computer labs/classrooms, loss of network drives, printing privileges revoked.

Also Disciplinary action falls under the category of Major Infractions. Specific Internet guidelines and an abstract from the New York State Computer Crime Statute are available in the student handbook, on the RWC Intranet homepage, or by contacting the Technology Support Center.

Information Systems Acceptable Use Policy

Updated: July 2010
Applies to: All employees, students, adjunct faculty, contract personnel or others using Roberts Wesleyan College computer facilities

I. POLICY:

To actively encourage faculty, staff and students to use the most current technology, Roberts Wesleyan College has invested substantially in the development and utilization of instructional and administrative support technology.  It is the policy of the College to encourage creativity and greater productivity among College personnel through the use of improved techniques in their activities.  The College recognizes the significant merit of improved instructional and administrative support materials as developed by College personnel and is mindful of the increased effectiveness, extension of resources and productivity they afford. 

At the same time, the College has a responsibility to ensure proper and ethical use of these common resources.  This policy establishes criteria concerning the authorized use, privacy and ownership of information generated by and residing on College owned resources.  While the College assumes that employees do not misuse these resources and, therefore, does not routinely monitor use, the College must ensure compliance with these policy criteria. 

If it is suspected that an employee has engaged in behavior that is abusive, sexually explicit, slanderous, racially subversive, harassing, demeaning, or threatening in nature and the College becomes aware of possible misuse of resources within this context, the VP for Administration or Director of Employee Relations and the relevant Cabinet Officer can approve the monitoring of resources and/or the inspection of data.  [If the VP for Administration is the relevant Cabinet Officer, then the VP for Academic Administration must also approve such activity.]  At no time will such monitoring or inspection take place without the approval of both the relevant VP and Cabinet Officer.

The inspection/monitoring could include:

• All of the information stored on the employee’s H drive. G drives are department group drives and can also be inspected if necessary.
• All the information stored on the employee’s C drive on College owned computer(s).
• All emails in the employee’s mailbox, including deleted emails.
• All of the messages stored in the employee’s voice-mail system.
• All Internet activity for the employee

II. Network Password Policy:

1. Authorized users of the Roberts Wesleyan College computer network have a valid account name and password, uniquely associating that person with particular rights and privileges. Each user's access to network resources are determined according to one's duties as an employee or one's status as a student. (Access for contract personnel is determined by the supervisor or manager with whom the work is being contracted.) Employees typically have access to email, R-Serve, RWCTV, Moodle course management system, and network drives. All of the mentioned resources require a single username and password for access. A poorly chosen password may result in the compromise of the Roberts Wesleyan College network. Regulations and laws (HIPAA, FERPA, GLBA Security, NY State Data privacy, etc) are requiring academic institution employees to have stronger network passwords. Passwords are an important aspect of computer security. They are the front line of protection for user accounts. Roberts Wesleyan College employees (including contractors and vendors with access to the Roberts Wesleyan College network) are responsible for taking the appropriate steps outlined in this policy and to select and secure their passwords.

2. All passwords are to be treated as sensitive, confidential Roberts Wesleyan College information. Each network user must log in and log out using his or her username and password. Any activity associated with a username is considered that account owner's responsibility; therefore passwords should be kept private. Employees and Students are not authorized to share their Roberts Wesleyan College passwords with faculty, staff, students, family members or friends. Likewise gaining entry into another individual's computer account is considered unauthorized access. Employees and Students should not reveal their password to anyone over the phone (Including IT Services), in an email message, on a questionnaire, websites, email or security forms. Employees and students should not use the same password for Roberts Wesleyan College accounts as for other non-Roberts Wesleyan College access (Example: External Email, banking or financial Websites, online trading or shopping websites, etc).

3. All employees and students are required to have strong passwords. Strong passwords are constructed of a sequence of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and/or special characters. Typically, longer passwords are stronger. Passwords must meet the following password complexity requirements:

• contain at least eight characters
• contain three of the following four categories:
  • English uppercase characters (A through Z)
  • English lowercase characters (a through z)
  • Base 10 digits (0 through 9)
  • Non-alphabetic characters (for example, !, $, #, %)

Passwords should not contain the name of the user, family member, friend or pet or any personal information, such as city of origin, birthdays, phone numbers, license plate numbers, etc. Also, passwords should not contain dictionary words or keyboard patterns such as QWERTY, 12345678, etc.

4. In the event a student or employee forgets their password they should contact IT Services for assistance. Students can reset their password on the following website https://acc.roberts.edu/changepw/. Employees will be required to contact IT Services help desk for password assistance. Only authorized Information Technology Services staff may reset passwords. Employees or Students must show positive photo identification (RWC/NES ID Card, Drivers License) when requesting a password change at the help desk. Employees or students cannot have another individual request a password or password reset on their behalf regardless of the position or relationship of the individual. A log of password resets will be electronically stored with Information Technology Services.

III. Privacy Statement:

All college owned data and information are confidential and proprietary.  It may not be sold or used for personal or commercial gain by any employee without express permission.  Sharing college owned data and information internally is appropriate as it applies to the instructional and administrative goals of the college.

IV. Use of Resources:

1. Electronic systems are purchased, installed and intended primarily for College purposes.  Use of these resources shall be consistent with the instructional and administrative goals of the college.  In addition, campus resources shall be used in accordance with federal, state and local laws and college policies (i.e.,FERPA, copyright laws, software licenses, Community Ethos Statement,  Sexual Harassment Policy, etc.).  Personal use of these resources should be on a limited basis.  Exceptions should be approved in advance by the employee's supervisor.  Exceptions include usage which represents incremental cost to the College or impacts the job performance of the employee.  Faculty scholarship is not considered “personal use.”
2. All software, software licenses, associated media and documentation purchased by the college are the property of the college.  These may not be installed on computers not owned by the college without express permission by Chief Information Officer.  Personal licensed software (i.e., screen savers, greeting card packages, etc.) may be installed with prior permission from Information Technology Services; however the individual is responsible for complying with the manufacturer's software license agreement.
3. The e-mail system is not to be used to solicit other employees on non work related matters.  Sending mail containing language that is abusive, sexually explicit, slanderous, racially subversive, harassing, demeaning, or threatening in nature is not permitted.
4. Do not grant other users unconditional access to RWC disk drives, including your personal computer's disk drives (e.g. C drive).  Limited data file sharing can be granted to other users within the RWC internal network.  Software applications cannot be shared.  The individual who grants data file sharing rights is responsible for potential misuse of this privilege by other users. 
5. 5. No one is allowed to set up a network server on the college network without prior written permission from the CIO and the network administrator.

V. All users placing content on the Roberts Wesleyan College Internet site in the form of web pages must comply with this policy as well as College web page guidelines.