Computer Network and Usage Policy

General Principles

Access to computer systems and networks owned or operated by the Community College of Rhode Island comes with certain responsibilities and obligations and is granted subject to college policies and local, state and federal laws. Acceptable use is always ethical, reflects academic honesty and shows restraint in the consumption of shared resources. It demonstrates respect for intellectual property, ownership of data, system security mechanisms and individual rights to privacy.

Policy on Computer Crime

Any persons who directly or indirectly access any computer system for any fraudulent purpose or who alter, damage or destroy any computer or parts of its systems without authorization shall be charged with a felony according to the General Laws of the State of Rhode Island (Chapter 52 of Title 11).This crime also may result in suspension or expulsion from the college.

Theft of a computer or any parts of its systems is a felony. In addition to disciplinary action taken by the college, the individual will be subject to prosecution by the state of Rhode Island.

Responsible Use of Information Technology

The Community College of Rhode Island is an educational institution that encourages continuous learning, experimentation and the development of the complete person. The college is committed to respecting individual privacy and freedom while expecting each individual to act in a responsible, legal, ethical and efficient manner when using the college’s information technology systems. These systems are designed to encourage high-quality educational, professional, career development and self-discovery activities.

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to define responsible and ethical behavior that guides faculty, student and staff use of information technology resources at CCRI. Information technology includes but is not limited to desktop computers, workstations, network servers, mainframe computers, software, digital information, and voice, video and data networks. This policy is supplemented by all other college policies and by the policies of those networks to which CCRI is interconnected, including but not limited to Oshean. Applicable local, state and federal laws also apply to information technology users at CCRI.

Audience and Understanding

This policy applies to all students, faculty and staff of the Community College of Rhode Island and to all other users who are authorized to access information technology resources at CCRI. These users are responsible for reading, understanding and complying with this policy.

Policy

CCRI provides access to information technology resources for faculty, staff, students and certain other users to support our mission of access to learning and to conduct business. Every authorized user of information technology resources at CCRI is responsible for utilizing these resources in an efficient, ethical and legal manner and in ways consistent with overall college policy.

The following principles serve to guide the responsible use of information technology for all CCRI users.

• Respect the rights of others by complying with all college policies regarding sexual, racial and other forms of harassment, and by preserving the privacy of other individuals. For example, you should not send harassing messages via email or transmit or reveal personal or private information about individuals unless you have authorization from those individuals.
• Use computing facilities, accounts and data only when you have appropriate authorization and use them for approved purposes. For example, you should not use CCRI information technology resources to run a business or to access another individual’s computer account.
• Respect all pertinent licenses, contractual agreements and copyrights. Use only legal versions of copyrighted software in compliance with vendor license requirements. For example, you should not post another individual’s copyrighted material on your webpage or install software with a single-user license on multiple computers.
• Preserve the integrity of computing systems, electronic data and communications networks. For example, you should not modify settings on a desktop computer to make it unusable to others or excessively utilize networked resources, such as music videos, that overload CCRI’s network bandwidth.
• Respect and adhere to all applicable local, state and federal laws. For example, you should not use CCRI’s information technology resources to attack computers on another network by launching viruses, worms or other forms of attack.

Privacy

Electronic resources, including but not limited to programs, files, data and email belonging to an information technology user at CCRI are private. CCRI reserves the right to have authorized college personnel examine computing resources, communication systems, files, electronic mail and printer listings. Reasons for examination include, but are not limited to, performing system maintenance, preventing or investigating unauthorized access

and system misuse, assuring compliance with software copyright and distribution policies, and complying with legal and regulatory requests for information. Every effort will be made to ensure the privacy of a user’s files. However, if policy violations are discovered, they will be reported accordingly.

Guidelines

In making acceptable use of resources, students must:

1. 1. Access only files and data that are their own, that are publicly available or to which they have authorized access.
   2. Be sensitive to concerns of the taxpayers who support the college. Obscene sites are off limits; college resources may not be used to access them.
   3. Use only legal versions of copyrighted software in compliance with vendor license requirements.
   4. Be considerate in their use of shared resources. Students must refrain from monopolizing systems, overloading networks with excessive data or wasting computer time, disk space, printer paper, manuals or other resources.

In making acceptable use of resources, students must NOT:

1. 1. Use another person’s system, ID card, password, files or data without permission.
   2. Use computer programs to decode passwords or access controlled information.
   3. Use any information technology resource to access or transmit the files or communications of other students, faculty or staff without authorization, or to provide information about, or lists of, students, faculty or staff to persons, groups or organizations outside the college without authorization.
   4. Download or display obscene material.
   5. Circumvent or subvert or attempt to circumvent or subvert system or network security measures.
   6. Engage in any activity that might be harmful to systems or to any information stored thereon, such as creating or propagating viruses, disrupting services or damaging files.
   7. Use college systems for commercial or partisan political purposes, such as using electronic mail to circulate advertising for products, for political candidates or for any profit-making company or enterprise.
   8. Make or use illegal copies of copyrighted software, store such copies on college systems or transmit them over college networks.
   9. Deploy an individual wireless network. Any unauthorized wireless access point connected to the campus will be considered a security risk and disabled.
   10. Use the network for purposes that place a heavy load on scarce resources.
   11. Waste computing resources, for example, by intentionally placing a program in an endless loop or by printing excessive amounts of paper.
   12. Use the college’s systems or networks in a manner that subjects the college to civil or criminal liability.
   13. Use the college’s systems or networks for personal gain such as selling a product or item without receiving authorization from the college.
   14. Use the college’s systems or networks to transmit any material in violation of United States or Rhode Island laws or regulations.
   15. Engage in any other activity that does not comply with the general principles presented above.
   16. Engage in computer harassment. Computer harassment may be defined as:
       1. Intentionally using the computer to annoy, harass, terrify, intimidate, threaten, offend or bother another person by conveying obscene language, pictures or other materials or threats of bodily harm to the recipient or the recipient’s immediate family;
       2. Intentionally using the computer to contact another person repeatedly with the intent to annoy, harass or bother, whether any actual message is communicated, and/or where no purpose of legitimate communication exists and when the recipient has expressed a desire for the communication to cease;
       3. Intentionally using the computer to contact another person repeatedly regarding a matter for which one does not have a legal right to communicate, once the recipient has provided reasonable notice

that he or she desires such communication to cease (such as debt collection);

1. Intentionally using the computer to disrupt or damage the academic research, administrative work or related pursuits of another;
2. Intentionally using the computer to invade the privacy, academic or otherwise, of another or to threaten to invade the privacy of another.

Enforcement

The Dean of Students Office will review alleged student violations of acceptable use policies as referred through the student disciplinary system and in accordance with the Student Conduct Code procedures. Users who breach this code of practice may, after due process, be refused access to the college’s computer and communications networks and may be subject to further disciplinary action. In an emergency, to prevent further possible unauthorized activity, the college may temporarily disconnect that user from the network. If this is deemed necessary by college staff, every effort will be made to inform the user prior to the disconnection and every effort will be made to re-establish the connection as soon as the college determines it is appropriate.

The college considers any violation of acceptable use of principles or guidelines to be a serious offense and reserves the right to copy and examine any files or information resident on college systems allegedly relating to unacceptable use. Offenders also may be prosecuted under all applicable local, state and federal laws.

Members of the CCRI community who believe they have been a victim of a violation of this policy or believe they have witnessed a student violation of this policy should file a complaint with the Dean of Students Office. Faculty members should report suspected violations to the vice president for Academic Affairs. Staff members should report suspected violations to their department head, who may report the problem to the director of Human Resources.

Reports of suspected unauthorized use or misuse of CCRI information technology resources will be investigated pursuant to standard college procedures.

Information technology users who are found in violation of this policy will be subject to CCRI disciplinary processes and procedures including, but not limited to, those outlined in this Student Handbook, the CCRI Employee Handbook and any applicable bargaining unit contracts. Privileges to use CCRI information technology resources may be revoked. Illegal acts also may subject users to prosecution by local, state and/or federal authorities.

Questions Relating to This Policy

The examples of unauthorized use of CCRI information technology resources given above are not meant to be exhaustive. Questions regarding this policy or the application of this policy to a specific situation should be referred to the director of Information Technology. Whenever you are in doubt regarding an issue of questionable use, it is in your best interest to resolve the issue before pursing any questionable use of information technology resources.

*This Computer Usage Policy has been adapted from Middlesex Community College