This document constitutes the policy for the management of all computers,
computer-based networks and all related equipment made available by the College. The
policy reflects the ethical principles of the College community and indicates, in general,
the privileges and responsibilities of those using College computing and networking
resources. Because some networks operate in environments in which specific items in this
policy do not apply, system administrators are permitted, with prior approval of the Technology
Advisory Committee, to create written policies that are at variance with this one, as
long as the principles related to legal use and institutional purposes are preserved. In
such cases, it is the responsibility of system administrators to make relevant variances
known to their users.
This document informs all users of the policies set forth by the College, in compliance
with the Tennessee Board of Regents, the State of Tennessee, and the Federal government.
This policy is intended to be an addition to existing College policies and regulations
and does not alter or modify any existing College policy or regulation.
The following terms shall have the following meanings when used in this document.
Administrator
The person having executive authority over one or more computing resource.
Central Computing Resource
Computers and peripherals purchased, maintained and operated by the Department of
Computer Services and Telecommunications made available to the College community.
Communications System
Any College voice, video, or data network and the components of such networks.
Computer Account
Upon approval, computer account codes (called user IDs) that provide access to computer
networks are made available to faculty, retired faculty and staff to assist them in
carrying out the instructional, research, and administrative goals of the College. Upon
request of a faculty member, computer accounts may be made available to currently
registered students for the completion of their course requirements. Other persons may
qualify for public service or guest accounts on a particular system with approval of the
administrator and if such use does not exceed 5% of resources used on that system.
Data Owner
The individual or unit that can authorize access to information, data, or software and
that is responsible for the integrity and accuracy of that information, data, or software.
Departmental Computing Resource
Computers and peripherals purchased by an institutional unit primarily for the use of
personnel within that entity.
Individual Computing Resource
All computers and peripherals purchased by the institutional units, primarily for the
use of an individual member of that unit and computers personally owned by faculty, staff
or students which use College resources on-campus and/or off-campus.
Networked Computing Resource
All computers and peripherals connected to any College network.
Shared Computing Resource
Computers and associated peripherals that are commonly used simultaneously by more than
one person.
System Administrator
The person or group who has system privileges and is responsible for the operation and
security of one or more networked computing resources.
Unit
The individual, group or organization responsible for performing a function within the
College community.
User
Any individual who has access to a computing and computer-based network resource.
4. Ethical Behavior and Rights
The College by its very nature values openness and promotes access to a wide range of
information. Campus information systems have been designed to be as open as possible, and
as such the College insists on responsible use of these systems. The use of computers,
computer-based networks, and electronic information is essential for research, instruction
and administration within the academic community. Because the electronic environment is
easily disrupted and electronic information is readily reproduced, respect for the work
and rights of others is especially important.
Any intentional behavior with respect to the electronic environment that interferes
with the mission or activities of the College or members of the College community will be
regarded as unethical and may lead to disciplinary action under standard College rules.
Users have the right to free inquiry and expression consonant with the purposes of the
College. Users have the right to keep certain data reasonably confidential, such as
electronic mail correspondence and data files. However, they must recognize that data
storage and communications are not perfectly secure. There are software and physical
limitations that can compromise security.
5. Copyrights
Chattanooga State expects that its personnel will abide by the policies set forth by
the College, in compliance with the Tennessee Board of Regents' policies, and the laws of
the state of Tennessee and the Federal government. Additionally, the College supports the
guidelines on fair use published by The Conference on Fair Use (CONFU) in November 1998.
Software available on computers and networks is not to be copied except as permitted by
the applicable software license. The College adheres to the EDUCOM Code of Software and
Intellectual Rights:
"Respect for intellectual labor and creativity is vital to academic discourse and
enterprise. This principal applies to works of all authors and publishers in all media. It
encompasses respect for the right to acknowledgment, right to privacy, and right to
determine the form, manner, and terms of publication and distribution. Because electronic
information is volatile and easily reproduces, respect for the work and personal
expression of others is especially critical in computer environments. Violations of
authorial integrity, including plagiarism, invasion of privacy, unauthorized access, and
trade secret and copyright violations, may be grounds for sanctions against members of the
academic community."
Quoted from: Using Software: A Guide to the Ethical and Legal Use of Software for
Members of the Academic Community, EDUCOM (January 1992), p.3.
6. General Responsibilities
If you use the College's computing and/or computer-based network resources or
facilities, you have the following responsibilities:
Use the College's computing facilities and information resources, including hardware,
software, networks and computer accounts, responsibly and appropriately, respecting the
rights of other computing users and respecting all contractual and license agreements.
Use only those computers and computer accounts for which you have authorization.
Be responsible for all use of your accounts and for protecting each account's password.
In other words, do not share computer accounts. If someone else learns your password, you
must change it.
Report unauthorized use of your accounts to your project director, instructor,
supervisor, system administrator or other appropriate College authority.
Take reasonable and appropriate steps to see that all hardware and software license
agreements are faithfully executed on any system, network or server that you operate.
Do not misuse computing, computer-based networks and/or information resources and
privileges associated with their use by any of the following:
• attempting to modify or remove computer equipment, software, or
peripherals without proper authorization
• accessing computers, computer software, computer data or information, or
networks without proper authorization, regardless of whether the computer, software, data,
information, or network in question is owned by the College (That is, if you abuse the
networks to which the College belongs or the computers at other sites connected to those
networks, the College will treat this matter as an abuse of your College computing
privileges.)
• circumventing or attempting to circumvent normal resource limits, logon
procedures, and security regulations.
• using computing facilities, computer accounts, or computer data for purposes
other than those for which they were intended or authorized
• sending any fraudulent electronic transmission, including but not limited to
fraudulent requests for confidential information
• violating any software license agreement or copyright, including copying or
redistributing copyrighted computer software, data, or reports without proper, recorded
authorization
• violating the property rights of copyright holders who are in possession of
computer-generated data, reports, or software
• using the College's computing resources to harass or threaten other individuals
• taking advantage of another user's naivete or negligence to gain access to any
computer account, data, software, or file that is not your own and for which you have not
received explicit authorization to access
• physically interfering with other users' access to the College's computing
facilities
• encroaching on others' use of the College's computers (e.g., disrupting others'
computer use by excessive game playing; by sending excessive messages, either locally or
off-campus [including but not limited to electronic chain letters]; printing excessive
copies of documents, files, data, or programs; modifying system facilities, operating
systems, or disk partitions; attempting to crash or tie up a College computer; damaging or
vandalizing College computing facilities, equipment, software, or computer files)
• disclosing or removing proprietary information, software, printed output or
magnetic media without the explicit permission of the owner
• reading other users' data, information, files, or programs on a
display screen, as printed output, or via electronic means, without the owner's explicit
permission
• posting or sending obscene, pornographic, sexually explicit, or offensive
material
• posting or sending material that is contrary to the mission or values of the
College
• intentional or negligent distribution of computer viruses
• using computing and computer-based networks for commercial
purposes
7. External Networks
Members of the College community who use networks, facilities, or computers not owned
by the College shall adhere to this Policy and all policies and procedures established by
the administrators of non-College networks, facilities, or computers they use (policies
and procedures can usually be obtained from the network information center of the network
in question). Whether or not an external policy exists, the College Policy shall remain in
effect and shall be adhered to by members of the College community at all times.
8. Privacy Considerations
In an operational sense, files in your account and data on the network are regarded as
private: that is, employees of the College do not routinely took at this information.
However, the College reserves the right to view or scan any file or software stored on
College systems or transmitted over College networks, and may do so periodically to verify
that software and hardware are working correctly, to look for particular kinds of data or
software (such as computer viruses), or to audit the use of College resources. Violations
of policy that come to the College's attention during these and other activities will be
acted upon.
Your data on College computing systems may be copied to backup tapes periodically. The
College makes reasonable efforts to maintain confidentiality, but if you wish to ensure
confidentiality, you are advised to encrypt your data. Although you may use encryption
software, you are responsible for remembering your encryption keys; once your data is
encrypted, the College will be unable to help you recover it should you forget or lose the
key used to encrypt your data.
When sources outside the College request an inspection and/or examination of any
College owned or operated communications system, computing resource, and/or files or
information contained therein, the College will treat information as confidential unless
any one or more of the following conditions exist:
• When approved by the appropriate College official(s) or the head of the
Department to which the request is directed
• When authorized by the owner(s) of the information
• When required by federal, state, or local law
• When required by a valid subpoena or court order
Note: When notice is required by law, court order, or subpoena, computer users will
receive prior notice of such disclosures (viewing information in the course of normal
system maintenance does not constitute disclosure).
9. Electronic Mail (e-mail)
Although it is not the policy of Chattanooga State to monitor electronic mail
communications, Chattanooga State's employees should be aware that such correspondence may
be a public record under the public records law and may be subject to public inspection
under section 6 of this act. An understanding of the characteristics that distinguish
electronic mail as a communication medium should guide the College's electronic mail
users.
Email Backups. E-mail systems and systems involved in the transmission and
storage of e-mail messages are usually "backed up" by systems administration on
a routine basis. This process results in copying data, such as the content of an e-mail
message, onto storage media that may be retained for periods of time and in locations
unknown to the sender or recipient of a message. It should be assumed that backup copies
of e-mail messages exist and can be retrieved, even though the sender or recipient has
discarded his/her copy of a message.
Passwording E-mail Accounts. While password protecting an individual's e-mail
account may be considered beyond usual measures taken to protect access to paper records
and telephones, it does not confer a special status on e-mail records with respect to
applicability of laws, policies and practices.
Network and Systems Monitoring. In the course of their work, system
administrators or their designees may monitor the network or e-mail system. Therefore,
these individuals during the performance of their duties may see the content of e-mail
messages.
Users may be liable for all e-mail originating from the user's account. Therefore:
- Forgery or attempted forgery of e-mail messages is prohibited.
- Attempts to read, delete, copy or modify the e-mail of other users are prohibited.
- Sending or attempts to send harassing, obscene and/or other threatening e-mail to
another user is prohibited.
- Sending or attempts to send unsolicited junk mail, "for-profit" messages or
chain letters are prohibited.
- Flooding or attempts to flood a user's mailbox is prohibited.
You should be aware that electronic mail and messages sent through computer networks,
including the Internet, may not remain confidential while in transit or on the destination
computer system.
10.
World Wide Home Pages
In order to encourage mutual sharing of information, creativity, diversity, and
technical knowledge within the campus community and beyond, the College offers to
authorized users of computing resources the use of its facilities for publishing
information on the World Wide Web. Certain restrictions as to platforms available for WWW
publishing and resources allotted may be necessary due to system limitations.
Publishers of Web pages must avoid the use of inflammatory or offensive language and
symbols in their individual home pages. Due to the public nature of Web publishing, and
the increasing number of K- 12 students who are accessing it, individual home pages must
not contain violent or prurient material, or provide links to sites that contain such
material.
Standards
• Maintain the highest standards of quality possible that will enhance the image
of Chattanooga State.
• Comply with all Chattanooga State policies and procedures as well as state and
federal laws concerning appropriate use of computers and computer networks.
• Do not use college resources for commercial gain.
• Do not use college resources to advertise non-college-related functions.
The following must not appear on any of Chattanooga State's Web pages:
• Obscene pictures or profanity.
• Links to items of an obscene/profane nature.
• Illegal use of college resources.
• Copyrighted materials.
Because individual home pages are the intellectual property of the individual,
publishers of home pages must refrain from representing their pages as an official College
publication. Use of College insignia or logos is specifically prohibited.
Individual home pages are subject to all applicable provisions contained in this Policy
and/or other applicable institutional policies.
The College may provide resources for WWW pages, but it takes no responsibility for the
individual opinions expressed therein. However, it reserves the right to monitor content
and to terminate access to any pages which are not in compliance with this policy.
11.
Sanctions
Violations of this Policy shall subject users to the regular disciplinary processes and
procedures of the College for students, staff, administrators, and faculty and may result
in loss of their computing privileges.
Illegal acts involving College computing resources may also subject violators to
prosecution by local, state, and/or federal authorities.
12.
Disclaimer
As part of the services available through the College's campus network, access is
provided to a large number of conferences, lists, bulletin boards, and Internet
information sources. These materials are not affiliated with, endorsed by, edited by, or
reviewed by the College, and the College takes no responsibility for the truth or accuracy
of the content found within these information sources. Moreover, some of these sources may
contain material that is offensive or objectionable to some users.
