Cabrini College Acceptable Use Policy (*including telecommunications and voice mail systems, e-mail, Internet and other electronic systems) Cabrini College is pleased to offer its users access to a variety of electronic communications systems. Our goal in providing this access to College users is to promote excellence in higher education by facilitating resource sharing, innovation, and communication in support of the College’s mission and values. College users are defined as students, faculty, staff and authorized guests. Electronic communications systems include e-mail, computer systems, Internet access, voice mail and telecommunications systems. The electronic communications systems and the e-mail and voice messages transmitted on them are the property of Cabrini College and are subject to acceptable use compliance**The smooth operation of these systems relies upon the proper conduct of College users, who must adhere to acceptable use guidelines. The use of the College’s electronic communications systems is a privilege, not a right. The College reserves the right to deny systems access or to cancel systems access at any time. All users are expected to use these systems in an appropriate and ethical manner. Appropriate use includes use for official instructional, educational, professionally related business and research purposes consistent with the College’s mission and values. These policies and guidelines outline the responsibilities inherent in authorized access, requiring efficient, ethical and legal utilization of system resources. 1. Acceptable Use Policies: The following are considered violations of acceptable use and are prohibited: 1.1 Engaging in conduct that obstructs or disrupts institutional activities or the individual pursuit of learning, including, but not limited to: 1.1.1 Vandalism, which is defined as any attempt to harm or destroy systems and/or other data contained therein. This includes, but not limited to, the uploading or creation of computer viruses and inflicting damage or sabotage on the system. 1.1.2 Reading/listening to or attempting to read/listen to another user’s electronic messages without authorization. 1.1.3 Degrading system performance. 1.1.4 Unauthorized or inappropriate use of an account or electronic file or data. 1.1.5 Threat, harassment (including, but not limited to, sexual harassment), or libel toward any student, employee or guest. 1.1.6 Sending sexually oriented e-mail messages or sending or receiving sexually oriented images or file transfers other than those with legitimate academic purpose. 1.2 Using the College’s electronic systems to conduct any activity not related to the College’s operation, including, but not limited to, advertising, soliciting, political lobbying, personal, other business, games, shareware, personal email messages and screen savers. 1.3 Involvement in violation of, or conviction for violation of, federal, state or local statutes or regulations regarding computers, electronic communications, interstate commerce and/or security regulations. This includes, but is not limited to, material protected by copyright, trade secret, obscenity and related laws. 2. Guidelines for Electronic Communications Access- Users are expected to abide by the generally accepted rules of system and voice mail etiquette. These include, but are not limited to, the following: 2.1 Do not expect electronic communications to be private. System maintenance may result in staff access to communications and even "deleted" information may be accessible. Electronic communications are subject to access by subpoena or other lawful order. The College may access communications for legitimate business purposes. 2.2 Do not use electronic systems to transmit confidential messages. 2.3 For security and safety reasons, be careful in revealing personal information over the electronic systems concerning any individual, including yourself. Send personal information such as social security number over an electronic system only when you are reasonably confident that the system is secure. 2.4 Do not use the system in such a way that would disrupt the use of the system by other users. Users are required to observe posted time limits for the use of public access computers, where applicable. Users must check electronic and voice mail daily and keep stored messages within reasonable limits. Keep messages short and to the point. Cabrini College reserves the right to delete messages held on the system in order to maintain system speed and functionality. 2.5 Do not install new communications software (non-instructional) without prior written consent of your supervisor and the department of Information, Resources and Technology. 2.6 It is the policy of Cabrini College to abide by all laws concerning the use of copyrighted and patented material. This protected property shall be used with authorization only. When used in an authorized context, appropriate attribution must be given. The rules of academic honesty apply to information obtained on the Internet. Aside from sanctions by the College as described below, you could be subject to civil damages and criminal penalties including fines and prison terms for violating copyright and latent laws. 2.7 Failure to log out appropriately may result in unauthorized use of a user’s account. Users are expected to make every effort to protect against unauthorized or inappropriate use of the accounts which have been assigned to them. Users must not share their logins with other users. This includes managers who may not share their logins or passwords with student workers. Users must not display their login and passwords in accessible spaces. The owner of the account is responsible for every action taken by that account. 2.8 When not officially representing Cabrini College, if the message could be perceived as College business or opinion, do not use the College’s system. The URL of Cabrini College implies representation regardless of disclaimers to the contrary. 2.9 Do not forward personal messages to discussion groups without the original author’s permission. Clearly identify quoted portions when quoting from a previous message. Users must retain such permission and make available for inspection upon demand. 3. Disclaimer- Every effort has been made to provide accurate information. However, errors can occur. Cabrini College is not responsible for any errors or omissions in information contained in the electronic systems and is not liable in whole or in part for damages resulting from any user (s) viewer (s) use of, or reliance upon, this material. Cabrini College assumes no liability for damages that may result from loss of data resulting from delays, non-deliveries, mis-deliveries, service interruptions or technical difficulties. 4. Systems Problems-Any problems with the College’s electronic communications Systems and /or any user policy violations including unauthorized or improper use must be brought to the attention of the Vice President of Graduate and Professional Studies at 610-902-8501. Any implications of harassment must be brought to the attention of the Director of Human Resources at 610-902-8206. 5. Electronic Utilization-Cabrini College has limited computing and electronic communications resources, including limited storage capacity. Users are reminded to respect these limited resources and to routinely delete or purge unnecessary data. Cabrini College reserves the right to delete messages held on the system in order to maintain system speed and functionality. 6. Sanctions-Violations of this policy may result in the cancellation of the user’s account and electronic communications privileges and other disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment (as explained in the Personnel Policies Manual) or expulsion. 7. Use of Electronic Mail Distribution Lists-Cabrini College electronic mail list services "all’’, "staff", "faculty" and "student" are designed to be used by and for Cabrini College employees as a communications tool for official College business. Because these are group mailing lists, postings must be of interest to a majority of the members; otherwise, mailings must be individually addressed. Misuse of lists may result in alterations to these services. These lists may not be used by students or non-members of Cabrini College. Unauthorized or student users will be referred for appropriate corrective action. 8. Termination or Death of a User-When the holder of an account terminates employment (either voluntarily or involuntarily), that person’s email account will be automatically shut off on the day of termination. If a request has been made by the employee’s supervisor, email will be forwarded to a supervisor or someone else in the department. When the holder of an account dies, if requested, the Department of Information, Technology and Resources will provide access to that person’s account to one of the following (depending on the identity of the deceased): chair or supervisor of the department, College administrator or immediate family member of the deceased. Policies regarding the College’s computing and network resources may be revised as needed in the future. Since the College is a changing environment , and since computer technologies and network access may be subject to change at any time, the College must reserve the right to update or revise this Acceptable Use Policy or implement additional policies in the future. The Human Resources Office will inform users of policy changes, however the user shares the responsibility of staying informed about College policies regarding the use of computer and network resources and complying with all applicable policies.