Computing Policies
All users of the York College Computer Network have agreed to follow the York College Information Technology Policy Statement. They should also be familiar with general rules of usage and procedures. For additional information see the Policies & Practices Homepage.
Other information regarding the ethical and legal use of computer and Internet resources are listed on the Copyright Information page.
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YORK COLLEGE OF PENNSYLVANIA INFORMATION TECHNOLOGYPOLICY STATEMENT
UPDATED 06/01/2007
Appropriate use of computers and information networks includes adherence to the normal requirements of ethical and legal behaviour in a college community. The use of resources such as computers or computer networks that are shared by all members of the campus imposes certain obligations. In particular, individuals, data, hardware, software, and computing resources have value and must be treated accordingly.
Legitimate use of a computer or computer network is not limited to what we are capable of doing with it. Although some limitations are built into computer operating systems, these restrictions do not limit completely what we can do and see. We are responsible for our actions whether or not the rules are built into the system, and whether or not we can circumvent those rules.
The following specific principles of computer and network systems at York College are applicable to all students, faculty, staff, administration and guests on/off campus and apply to all York College information resources including the telephone system. Access to computer systems and networks owned or operated by York College imposes certain responsibilities and obligations and is granted subject to York College policies, and local, state, and federal laws. As users we agree to the following policies:
1. Privacy Policy
York College upholds the right of its students, staff, and faculty to privacy, confidentiality, and non-interference in their use of computer systems and network. In order to preserve these rights, the College does not engage in routine viewing of computer data. Examples of this include reading of email, tracking web sites visited or looking through user's files. However, certain parameters may be monitored on the individual level such as the level of disk utilization for example. Other activities are monitored on an aggregate level to aid in planning system capacity. Examples of aggregate parameters include the total number and size of email messages arriving at the College and network bandwidth utilization. The College may perform more detailed monitoring activities in certain cases. For example: monitoring system performance or problem resolution such as a sudden decrease in the network's throughput. Monitoring can also occur when there are reasonable grounds to believe that a law or College policy has been broken which includes but is not limited to an indication that a system has been compromised (or "hacked"). When these exceptions are invoked, the College will take care to ensure that due process is properly followed, and that the exposure of information is limited as to the extent possible.
Users must be aware that the technical aspects of electronic communications and storage require that information such as electronic mail messages be logged, stored and occasionally analysed. Where such logging is performed as part of the normal business of maintaining a well-running computer system, confidentiality of the information by computer center staff will be maintained. Users must also respect the privacy and rules governing the use of information accessible through computer systems or networks, even if that information is not securely protected. Access only information that is your own, that is publicly available or to which you have been given authorized access. York College will not sell or resell e-mail addresses to outside parties.
Students should be aware that certain aspects of their privacy relating to academic records are governed by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Details of that law are available in the print and on-line versions of the Student Handbook. Refer to the following link:
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OM/fpco/ferpa/index.html.
http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacysummary.pdf
2. Property Rights
Users must respect the ownership of proprietary software and data. While computers make it very easy to make flawless copies of information, software programs and data can be protected by one or more legal means such as copyright, patent or license agreement. Users must take care not to violate these laws or agreements by such actions as making unauthorized copies of software or data. Provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) require York College to vigorously pursue specific complaints about potential copyright infringement.
Some specific examples of property rights violations include but are not limited to:
* Making copies of College-owned software for home use
* Making copies of personally-owned software for others to use
* Sharing of copyrighted music or video files
* Using the works or ideas of others without giving credit
Detailed information on copyright may be found at the Library of Congress web site at the following link: http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/ and information about DMCA at http://www.copyright.gov/reports/studies/dmca/dmca_executive.html
3. Use of Resources
Be considerate in the use of shared computer information resources. Refrain from monopolizing systems, overloading networks with excessive data, degrading services, or wasting computer time, connect time, disk space, printer paper, manuals or other resources. The College encourages the use of electronic sharing of documents especially for draft and intermediate copies. Users are encouraged to limit printing to that which is only necessary.
In making acceptable use of information resources you must not use the College systems for commercial or partisan political purposes such as using electronic mail to circulate advertising for products, services or for political candidates. Protect your username(s), password(s), pin(s) and computer system(s) from unauthorized use. You are responsible for all activities on your username or activities that originate from your system. College computers and network resources are for instructional, administrative, research and limited personal use only. They are not for private or business use. Selected game playing is permitted as an instructional exercise. However, game playing is considered wasteful if it is dominating resources needed by other users. The only games allowed on College-owned computers are those installed and regulated by Information Technology as requested by academic departments. Respect the finite capacity of the systems and network. Limit your use so as to not interfere unreasonably with the activity of other users. While not an exhaustive list the following are examples of activities that are specifically prohibited:
* Do not mail chain letters to other people. If you receive one from off campus, delete it. If someone at York College sent the mail to you, please forward the message to abuse@ycp.edu for administrative action.
* Do not send mass e-mail or spam e-mail for College business or for any commercial business reasons. Repetitive messages relating to activities, advertisements, products or regular announcements will dilute the effectiveness of the e-mail system.
* Do not post messages to large numbers of news groups or mail lists.
* Do not post chain letters of money-making schemes to mail lists or news groups.
* Do not store large data sets on the network such as video or music files.
* Do not print excessively. The College printers are intended for academic purposes. You should limit your printing to one copy of a document.
* Do not abuse the computer or telephone systems or use them to threaten or invade the privacy of others.
Examples of strictly unacceptable activity include, but are not limited to:
* Using another individual's password
* Sharing your password with another individual
* Attempting to circumvent or analyse security features
* Engaging in any activity that might be purposefully harmful to systems or to any information stored thereon, such as creating or propagating viruses, disrupting services, damaging files or making unauthorized modifications to College data, grades or transcripts.
* Modifying or disrupting network infrastructure. Users are not permitted to connect network devices such as hubs or routers.
* Attaching servers to the network without proper authorization from Information Technology. Computers may not run servers such as telnet, http, or ftp that are available to the public Internet. All non-Information Technology computers are strictly prohibited from running critical services such as dns and dhcp.
* Connecting wireless devices or wireless networking equipment without prior College permission.
* Participating in any illegal activities using the campus computer network
* Using mail, chat or messaging services to harass or intimidate another person, for example, by broadcasting unsolicited messages, by repeatedly sending unwanted mail, or by using someone else's name or username.
4. Harassment
All users must adhere to the policies set forward in the Student, Faculty, Staff and Administrative Handbooks regarding sexual and other forms of harassment. These policies apply in any format or forum including electronic.
5. College Enforcement
The College considers any violation of the policy statement to be a serious offense and reserves the right to copy and examine any files or information residing on College systems allegedly related to unacceptable use, and to protect its network from systems and events that threaten or degrade operations. York College is not responsible in any way for non-College owned equipment. Since York College is responsible for and has access to all resources, those who violate these standards of behavior may be subject to disciplinary actions including but not limited to loss of network access at the discretion of the Information Technology Department. In the case of outside agencies requesting information or equipment during any investigation the College will comply with FERPA and HIPAA guidelines. This policy is subject to change by York College as necessary.
