COMPUTER RESOURCE USE POLICY

2005 - 2006 College of the Ozarks Catalog

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I. GENERAL POLICY

Computing resources are available to all members of the campus community for the purpose of supporting the educational mission of the College. Use of these resources is to be considered a privilege which must not be abused, and any use considered to be inappropriate, unethical, or immoral may result in revocation of privileges and further disciplinary measures. All statements of policy in this document also apply to the use of the Internet, Intranet, and other remote sites that may be accessed through computing resources.

II. CAMPUS RESOURCES

Computer Resources at the College of the Ozarks are maintained for users by the Computer Center at several facilities: Lyons Memorial Library, The Center for Writing and Thinking, Good College Center, the Computer Center, and various academic department labs and dormitory facilities, as well as other facilities which may develop. Each facility establishes and maintains a computer use policy according to its own purposes. Each facility is responsible for providing users appropriate information regarding computer uses, including constraints, guidelines, instruction, and statements of ethics pertinent to that department’s aims and purposes.

III. USERS

Computer resources exist primarily to be used by students and employees of the College. Use by others such as local schools or special groups will be subject to prior approval by the College. Users are expected to abide by all legislation, ethical practices, and established etiquette regarding the use of computer resources, including the campus network, Internet and the Intranet.

IV. EMAIL

Use of E-mail is primarily for educational and college business purposes. No one may solicit, promote or advertise any organization, product or service through use of E-mail.

Users of College E-mail must understand that there is no guarantee of personal privacy in any material created, received or sent from the E-mail system. E-mail can be read or intercepted by others including inadvertent disclosure, accidental transmission to third parties or purposeful retransmission to another employee’s internal mailing list.

Users may not use E-mail to infringe the copyright or other intellectual property rights of third parties, to distribute defamatory, fraudulent or harassing messages or otherwise engage in any illegal or wrongful conduct.

V. INTERNET

The College will monitor and filter content which is inconsistent with the values, standards and mission of the College.

Downloading from the Internet must be done with caution and kept under control because of potential viruses and space limitations. Restrictions will be placed on audio and video streaming files that use excessive bandwidth.

VI. USES

1. Computer resources at College of the Ozarks are provided to support academic programs or activities and other uses that support the mission of the College. Uses that are considered unethical, illegal,* or inconsistent with the values, standards, and mission of the College, or that attempt to damage computing resources or any person are prohibited and shall be considered a violation of this policy.
   
2. Each user of computer resources is responsible for the storage of personal files created on College network computer. Network storage disks will be routinely cleared of files. Under no circumstances will College of the Ozarks be held responsible for any files stored on or deleted from its storage disks.

A. APPROPRIATE USES

• faculty research, student research, and other scholarly activity
• support for class assignments
• instructional uses in courses
• administrative support

B. INAPPROPRIATE USES

• any use that is contrary to the mission of the College
• any use for personal or financial gain that is clearly unrelated to the mission of the College
• cheating or information theft of any kind for the purposes of plagiarism and/or unauthorized copying, sending, receiving of copyrighted software; accepting or using software that has been illegally obtained; any fraudulent or illegal use
• sending annoying, harassing, or obscene messages through E-mail
• attempting to examine another user’s files or E-mail or use another person’s E-mail account without that user’s express permission
• attempting to modify or in any way interfere with the normal operation of computers, computer networks, data communications equipment or lines, and/or any related systems files or components
• playing games while connected to the Internet
• violating the confidentiality of the college or another person by electronic means

VII. COMPLIANCE

Minor violations of the provisions of this policy may result in temporary denial of access to computing resources. In cases of major infractions, the violator will be referred to the Dean of Students, the Dean of the College, or other appropriate administrative officers for disciplinary review.

* Federal law penalizes infringements upon copyrights, intellectual property rights, and privacy rights of individuals. The Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri (569.093 -569.099) establishes penalties for tampering with or otherwise abusing intellectual property, computer equipment, or computer users. Violators can be sentenced from one to five years in jail and fined $1,000 to $5,000 in fines.

This policy is subject to review and revision by College of the Ozarks at any time.