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Acceptable Use of Technology Resources Policy

Purpose

To establish procedures and guidelines concerning the acceptable use of Information Technology (IT) resources throughout all Pensacola Junior College (PJC) campuses and centers.

Introduction

Pensacola Junior College provides a wide variety of IT resources, including computers, networks, software, and access accounts, for use by students, faculty and staff. These resources are administered by Computer Services/Telecommunications, Distributed Learning, Microcomputer Resources (MCR), and Management Information Systems (MIS) and are intended for the legitimate business of the college.

Since the IT resources at PJC are not unlimited, the college may give priority for resources to certain users or certain groups of users in support of its mission. Consistent with the College’s anti-discrimination policy, the use of IT resources should not be denied or abridged because of race, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, or marital status.

The College’s general policies for academic freedom, and for responsible, considerate, legal, and ethical behavior must extend to use of IT resources. Use of the PJC network and the Internet is a privilege, not a right. To maintain this privilege, users of the College’s IT resources are responsible for following both the letter and the spirit of this acceptable use policy.

Access Control

Access to sensitive or valuable information must be provided only after express management authorization has been obtained.

Management reserves the right to revoke the privileges of any user at any time.  Conduct that interferes with the normal and proper operation of Pensacola Junior College information systems, which adversely affects the ability of others to use these information systems, or which is harmful or offensive to others will not be permitted.

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Privacy of Customer Information

Pensacola Junior College information must be used only for the business purposes expressly authorized by management.  Personally identifiable information on customers, students, and/or employees that is not declared public by law is to be held in confidence, and its uses narrowly tailored by specific management directive. 

Technology users are required to abide by the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) regarding the release of student information. Student educational records are considered confidential and may not be released without the written consent of the student, except by provisions outlined in law.

Pensacola Junior College uses access controls and other security measures to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the information handled by computers and communications systems.  In keeping with these objectives, management maintains the authority to:

1. Restrict or revoke any user’s privileges.
2. Inspect, copy, remove or otherwise alter any data, program or other system resource that may undermine these objectives.
3. Take any other steps deemed necessary to manage and protect its information systems.

This authority may be exercised with or without notice to the involved users.  Pensacola Junior College disclaims any responsibility for loss or damage to data or software that results from its efforts to meet these security objectives.

At any time and without prior notice, management reserves the right to examine email, personal file directories, hard disk drive files, and other information stored on Pensacola Junior College information systems.  This examination is performed to assure compliance with internal policies, support the performance of internal investigations, and assist with the management of the Pensacola Junior College information systems.

By making use of the Pensacola Junior College systems, users consent to allow all information they store on those systems to be divulged to law enforcement at the discretion of management.

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General Use

The IT resources at Pensacola Junior College are property of the college, and as such are subject to the policies outlined for general use of facilities, services and equipment. In addition, the following guidelines should be observed:

Each authorized user will be responsible for his/her use of the IT resources.

• Users must not attempt to undermine the security or the integrity of computing systems or networks and must not attempt to gain unauthorized access. Users may not use any computer program or device to intercept or decode passwords or similar access control information. If security gaps are observed, they should be reported to the MCR or MIS department immediately.
• The IT resources of the College may not be used to impersonate another person or misrepresent authorization to act on behalf of others or the College.
• The IT resources of the College may not be used to harass another person. Users should not transmit to others or display images, sounds, or messages that might be perceived by a reasonable person as, or have been identified as harassing. (See the College policies on sexual harassment and the student conduct codes.)
• IT resources may not be used to invade the privacy of others or make unauthorized use of their work. Users should not attempt to read or copy files belonging to others, or decrypt or translate encrypted material, unless the files have deliberately been made accessible by the owner(s) or authorization has been obtained to do so.
• Users should not intentionally damage or disable computer systems, networks, or software without authorization for any purpose.
• The College will take reasonable steps to ensure its IT resources are free of deliberately destructive software, such as viruses. Individuals must share responsibility for protecting college computers, and should ensure the integrity of any electronic media they introduce.
• Computer users must observe and comply with Federal, State, and local laws governing computer and information technology, and all college rules and regulations.
• The IT resources of the College may not be used for personal financial gain or commercial purposes.
• The College reserves the right to approve all software prior to installation on any College computer and the right to remove any software determined to be detrimental to productivity.
• The College reserves the right to approve any personal IT equipment before connection to the PJC network and to remove any equipment determined to be detrimental to the network.

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Internet Use

The College recognizes the importance of the Internet as a communications medium and encourages its use by students, faculty and staff as a means of supporting and fulfilling the mission of the College.

Users shall not:

• Engage in unlawful activity using the computers and/or the internet access provided by the college.
• Upload, download or otherwise transmit commercial software or any copyrighted materials except as explicitly permitted under licensing and copyright agreements; transmit material in violation of any United States or state regulation, including but not limited to copyrighted material, threatening or obscene material, or material protected by trade secret.
• Visit Internet sites that contain illegal, obscene, or harmful content, which is objectionable and inappropriate for the workplace. Neither shall users send or receive material that is obscene or defamatory nor which is intended to annoy, harass or intimidate another person.
• Disable Virus Scan. PCs are configured to automatically scan any material downloaded from an internet web site.

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Email Etiquette Guidelines

Email is now becoming the de-facto communication method for both internal and external communications. Most people give careful thought to the contents of anything written down on paper, however most emails are composed with much less consideration. The day-to-day emails that cause the most problems are the offhand remarks and unguarded comments, thoughtless turns of phrase and careless wording. Care must be taken both when you send email, and when you interpret it.

These guidelines should help you avoid some of the pitfalls:

• Think about the message content and relevance before you send it out because nobody likes to receive junk email. Make sure that you have a relevant " Subject" line.
• Send only relevant, appropriate, and suitable messages especially to mailing lists.
• Be polite. Terseness can be misinterpreted.
• Don't reply to an email message when angry, as you may regret it later.
• Don't conduct arguments in public.
• Remember that facial expressions, voice inflections and other cues that help recipients to interpret a message are absent from email.
• Don't make personal remarks about third parties. Email messages can come back to haunt you.
• Don't type in CAPITALS as this is considered to be SHOUTING.
• Be professional and careful about what you say regarding others. E-mail is easily forwarded.
• Be concise. Delete anything that isn't needed or is trivial. Trim any quoted message down as much as possible. Try to quote from the original message where relevant but break the quoted message down into paragraphs and comment on them individually to make it clearer.
• Use humor and irony sparingly. You can use “smiles” such as :-) or :-( to indicate facial expressions, but make sure that the recipient understands what they mean.
• Include a brief signature on your email messages to help the recipient understand who is the author. Never use an over-elaborate signature on your email message like scanned images in a signature as these tend to be very large.
• Be careful when replying to mailing list messages, or to messages sent to many recipients. Are you sure you want to reply to the whole list?
• Remember to tell people the format of any attachments you send if they're anything other than basic Microsoft Office file types.
• In order to maintain an efficient and responsive e-mail system, clean out your messages (in-box, sent mail and trash bin) on a regular basis. Never keep mail on your server longer than necessary, especially large attachments.
• If you have a large number of emails that you need to keep, use the archiving capability of the email system to copy them to your computer hard disk.
• Your user ID and password should not be given to another person unless it is the system administrator at your site. This is a direct breach of the security policy of the college.
• Be sure to spell check and proof-read all correspondence before emailing.

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Privacy and Incidental Disclosure

The College will make reasonable efforts to maintain the integrity and effective operation of its electronic messaging systems, but users are advised that those systems should in no way be regarded as a secure medium for the communication of sensitive or confidential information. Because of the nature and technology of electronic communication, the College can assure neither the privacy of an individual user's use of the College's electronic messaging resources nor the confidentiality of particular messages that may be created, transmitted, received, or stored thereby.

Users should be aware that data (including email) may, due to software or hardware failure, be accessible to those who are not explicitly authorized. Systems management personnel may also on occasion have access to such data while performing routine operations or during the course of problem resolution. Information obtained from electronic messaging resources or computer files in the course of systems maintenance shall be treated as confidential. However, systems personnel are required to report any apparent improper or illegal activities so discovered. No guarantee of complete privacy is made.

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Violations

Users who violate this policy may be denied access to College IT resources and may be subject to other penalties and disciplinary action, both within and outside the College. Violations may be handled through the College disciplinary procedures applicable to the relevant user. Additionally, the College may temporarily suspend, block or restrict access to an account, independent of such procedures, when it reasonably appears necessary to do so in order to protect the integrity, security, or functionality of the IT resources or to protect the College from liability. The College may also refer suspected violations of applicable law to appropriate law enforcement agencies.

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