Definition Information resources are defined to include: data, records, software, facilities, equipment, storage media, network services, electronic mail, and multimedia communications. Policy Information resources are provided to allow faculty, staff, and students to pursue the mission of Roxbury Community College, and are to be used to the extent that they promote that mission either directly in teaching and research or indirectly in supporting the offices and agencies that maintain college operations. Information resources are to be accessed and utilized in an ethical manner. All users of information resources are expected to observe high moral, legal, and professional standards, and are expected to support the mission, and act in the best interests of Roxbury Community College. All users of information resources are responsible for the protection of college assets and for the accuracy, integrity, and confidentiality of the information to which they have access. Resources are not to be abused or employed in such a way as to interfere with, or cause harm or damage to, another person, institution, or company within or outside the Roxbury Community College community. While the college encourages the exploration of educational and scholarly opportunities through the use of its technological resources, respect for the rights and privacy of others must be observed. Roxbury Community College supports accessibility to technological resources and strives to provide state-of-the-art, environmentally sound facilities for all members of the college community. The college acknowledges its responsibility to all faculty, staff, and students to provide a safe and healthful technical environment for work and study. All members of the college community must comply with the following policies, procedures, and security controls. Access Many of the technological and information resources of Roxbury Community College may be accessed by all members of the community and by the public as well. However, access to some resources is restricted to specific positions or organizational units as determined by the appropriate unit head. Organizational unit heads should determine and authorize the appropriate degree of access for each member of their units, and should provide unit members with adequate orientation and training regarding the ethical use of all technological and information resources. Individuals should take precautions to prevent unauthorized use of their access codes (User ID/passwords). Active sessions should not be left unattended. Access codes may not be shared with others, and their confidentiality is to be strictly maintained. In choosing access codes, individuals should avoid the use of common words, proper names, readily associated nicknames or initials, and any other letter and/or number sequences that might easily be guessed. Individuals will be held accountable for all actions performed under their access codes, including those performed by other individuals as a result of negligence in protecting the codes. Individuals are responsible for monitoring access on their accounts and for changing access codes on a regular basis. If an individual’s access code(s) become compromised, it (they) must be changed immediately. The following activities are strictly prohibited: a. Attempts to access, search, or copy technological and information resources without proper authorization; b. Use of accounts other than one’s own individual or group account(s); c. The provision of false or misleading information in order to gain access to technological and information resources; d. Attempting to compromise internal controls, even for purposes of systems improvement; (such actions require the advance, written approval of the authorized organizational unit head, or must be included among the security evaluation responsibilities of one’s position function). Suspected activities such as those listed above should be promptly reported to the Chief Information Officer at the Department of Information Technology Services so that timely preventative measures can be taken to safeguard the integrity of data or facilities. Protecting Confidentiality. Disclosure of confidential information is prohibited, unless disclosure is a normal and authorized requirement of one’s position function. Individuals with access to confidential data must safeguard the accuracy, integrity, and confidentiality of that data by taking appropriate precautions and following appropriate procedures necessary to ensure that no unauthorized disclosure of confidential data occurs. Such precautions and procedures include the secure storage of data backups and the protection of sensitive data with access codes (passwords). Privacy For purposes of this policy, privacy is defined as the right of an individual or an organization to create, maintain, send and receive electronic data, software, and communications files that are safe from examination and disclosure by others. RCC recognizes that individuals have a substantial interest in, and reasonable expectation of, privacy. Accordingly, RCC respects the privacy rights of all members of the RCC community. The college will not monitor an individual’s private electronic data, software, and communications files as a routine matter. Users should note that some electronic files are copied to backups and stored for indefinite periods in specific locations. In such instances, deletion of an electronic file, such as an e-mail message, will not necessarily delete a previously archived copy of that file. It is a violation of college policy for any member of the RCC community to engage in electronic “snooping,” or to employ technological resources for the purpose of “prying into” the affairs of others, i.e., to access or attempt to access electronic files without proper authorization to do so for genuine business purposes of the college. The college reserves the right to access and to disclose the contents of an individual’s electronic data, software, and communications files, but will do so after obtaining the proper approvals, only when a legitimate need exists and the urgency of the need is sufficiently strong to offset the university’s commitment to honor the individual’s privacy. Such grounds might include: maintaining system integrity (e.g., tracking viruses and other potentially destructive software agents); protecting system security; investigating indications of impropriety; protecting the university’s property rights; and meeting legal obligations (e.g., subpoenas). Viruses It is the responsibility of the individual to ensure that any imported or exported executable software code or data is free of destructive codes, such as a “virus.” College Property Technological and information resources that are the property of the college may not be copied, altered, manipulated, transferred, retained for personal use, or removed from campus. Appropriate Personal Use of College Technological Resources Authorization for the personal use of college technological resources by employees is to be determined on an individual basis by, and at the discretion of, the responsible unit head. The use of university technological resources, including data/voice/video networks, for revenue generating activity that benefits an individual employee is strictly prohibited. Personal telephones and data connections in student residence halls are considered to be part of the private residence. However, use of these and other university technological resources in the residence halls that is deleterious to the general university community, or that consumes excessively disproportionate resources, is prohibited. Individuals may not attempt to alter any restrictions associated with their access privileges or to attempt to breach internal or external security systems. Individuals may not attempt to impersonate other individuals or to misrepresent themselves in any way when using university technological resources. Individuals may not use data/voice/video networks for criminal purposes or to compromise the privacy or security of other individuals or organizations. Networks external to the university (e.g., those on the Internet, AOL, etc.) must be used in an ethical, responsible, and courteous manner; members of the RCC community must observe the policies of such entities. Access or Transmission of Potentially Offensive Material Material might be accessible via network resources which some individuals may consider to be objectionable or offensive. Roxbury Community College does not encourage or endorse accessing/transmitting such material except for legitimate academic purposes. Individuals should exercise caution and good judgment if there is a reasonable expectation that accessed/transmitted material may be considered objectionable by some. The use of university technological resources for creating or sending nuisance, harassing, or obscene materials or messages is prohibited. Individuals should be aware that university technological and information resources can be accessed by minors. Moreover, individuals are prohibited from engaging in any activity using network resources that is proscribed by federal or state law. Reporting Suspected Violations Suspected violations of any provisos of this policy are to be reported to the appropriate organizational units or unit heads, which may include the dean of students or the CIO of Information Technology Services. Individuals found, upon due process, to be in violation of any provisos of this policy may be subject to disciplinary action, including the loss of computer/network access privileges, suspension or dismissal from the college, and to criminal prosecution under applicable state and/or federal laws. The college reserves the right to seek restitution for any financial losses sustained by Roxbury Community College, or by others, as a direct result of violations of this policy. RCC computer labs are open to any student currently enrolled at RCC either part-time or full-time. Campus labs are also open to faculty and staff of RCC. INDIVIDUALS NOT ENROLLED AT RCC OR EMPLOYED BY RCC ARE NOT PERMITTED TO USE CAMPUS COMPUTER FACILITIES. No student may copy any software or files of any kind from any RCC-owned computer for any reason. Doing so is a violation of state and federal copyright laws. No student may install or copy any software (programs, games, chat software, etc.) onto any RCC-owned computer for any reason. Doing so is a violation of college computer use policies. NO GAMES OF ANY KIND THAT ARE NOT APPROVED AND INSTALLED BY THE STAFF OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ARE PERMITTED IN ANY LABS ON CAMPUS. No student may attempt to gain access to any other student, faculty, or administrator's computer files without explicit permission from the concerned party. No student may for any reason use/alter/examine any computer located in the offices of staff members in both the Administrative and Academic Computing departments without explicit permission from the concerned party. No student may attempt to gain access to non-public computer network files/information. Ethical Use It is the intent of the College to maintain a campus environment that facilitates access and sharing of information without fear that an individual's work will be violated by misrepresentation, tampering, destruction and/or theft. The privilege of using these resources carries with it the responsibility for ethical behavior. Unethical behavior will not be tolerated and includes, but is not limited to: activities that obstruct usage or deny access to others activities that compromise privacy activities that could be considered harassment or libelous attempts to gain unauthorized access to local or remote information resources activities that violate copyright laws (this includes unauthorized copying and distribution of commercial software, text, graphic images, audio and video recordings) activities that violate College policies and standards of conduct destruction or alteration of data or information belonging to others activities that violate local, state, or federal laws unauthorized use of computer accounts or impersonating other individuals creating, using or distributing programs intended to damage data files, application programs, system operations, or network operations attempts to capture or crack passwords or break encryption protocols allowing anyone else to use your account(s) extensive use of resources for private or personal use knowing or reckless distribution of unwanted mail or other messages, specifically "chain letters" and other schemes that may cause excessive network traffic or computing load