4.9 Computer Use
Employees using this equipment for personal purposes, however, do so at their own risk. Further, employees are not permitted to use a code, access a file or retrieve any stored communication unless authorized to do so or unless they have received prior clearance from an authorized College representative. All pass codes are the property of the College. No employee may use a pass code or voice-mail access code that has not been issued to that employee or that is unknown to the College. Therefore, you should have no expectation of privacy in any message, file, data, document, communication or facsimile, or any other form of information accessed, transmitted to, received from, or stored on any electronic communication system made available by the College.
To ensure that the use of electronic communications systems and business equipment is consistent with the College’s legitimate business interests, authorized representatives of the College may monitor the use of such equipment from time to time. This includes monitoring Internet usage of any kind.
The College provides access to the Internet. The Internet represents a useful tool for the College in conducting its business, but like any other tool, it must be used properly. For purposes of this policy, Internet includes any public electronic data communications network.
Internet e-mail offers broadly similar capabilities to other College e-mail systems, except that correspondents are external to the College. External e-mail messages may carry one or more attachments. An attachment may be any kind of computer file, such as a word processing document, spreadsheet, software program, or graphic image.
Electronic communications provide an efficient way to communicate with others. Nevertheless, you must remember that the ease of using e-mail is not a license for unprofessional conduct, and you should exercise good judgment, forethought and common sense when creating and distributing e-mail messages.
Whenever you send e-mail, your name, user ID, and location are included in each e-mail message. You should also be aware that the messages can be as permanent as (or even more so than) conventionally mailed letters and materials.
E-mail can be archived in any system through which it passes. Deleting e-mail from your inbox DOES NOT remove it from the College’s database. Accordingly, employees should consider each e-mail message to be a letter and compose it accordingly. Do not write anything in an e-mail message that you would not want disclosed in a legal or other proceeding. This is true for external as well as internal e-mail.
The following are unacceptable uses of the College’s e-mail:
- Sending unsolicited e-mail messages, including the sending of “junk mail” or other advertising material to individuals who did not specifically request such material (e-mail spam);
- Sending or receiving harassing, threatening, obscene, racist, sexist, discriminatory, inappropriate, embarrassing or other objectionable messages via e-mail to anyone (such messages include, but are not limited to, threats, jokes, cartoons, unwelcome propositions, chain letters and love letters);
- Unauthorized use, or forging, of e-mail header information;
- Solicitation of e-mail for any other e-mail address, other than that of the poster’s account, with the intent to harass or to collect replies;
- Use of unsolicited e-mail originating from within the College’s networks of other Internet service providers on behalf of, or to advertise, any service hosted by the College or connected via College’s network;
- Actual or attempted forgery via e-mail message;
- Attempts to read, copy, modify or delete e-mail messages of other users; and
- Proselytizing for commercial ventures, religious or personal causes, or outside organizations, as well as other non-job-related solicitations via the College’s e-mail.
- Also note: employees should avoid, if possible, sending College-wide e-mails with large logos and/or photos. Such e-mails tend to take up a lot of space on the College’s exchange server.
Just as the College has an official Internet Web site, so do other organizations. Most public Web sites are “read only,” meaning that they permit a person who visits the site to read material posted on the Web site but not to leave a message. Other Web sites permit visitors to establish continuing contact by leaving a message (the electronic equivalent of leaving your business card or a telephone message). The owner or operator of a Web site may record the information that a connection was made from the College.
As a general rule, employees may not forward, distribute, or incorporate into another work, material retrieved from a Web site or other external system. Very limited or “fair use” may be permitted in certain circumstances. Any employee desiring to reproduce or store the contents of a screen or Web site should contact the Office of Human Resources to ascertain whether the intended use is permissible.
Use of the World Wide Web includes all restrictions, which apply generally to the use of the College’s e-mail and other electronic and telephonic equipment, as noted above. In addition, the following rules apply with respect to Internet usage:
- No Browsing of Restricted Content Web Sites: The College has blocked access to Web sites which contain pornographic material. However, the World Wide Web changes on a daily basis. In this connection, users who find new sites which the College has not yet blocked are required to report such sites to the appropriate individuals in the College’s Office of Information Technology (“IT”).
- No Downloading of Non-Business Related Data: The College allows the download of files from the Internet. However, downloading files should be limited to those, which relate directly to College business.
- No Downloading of Application Programs: The College does not permit the download or installation on College computers of application software from the Internet. Such software may not only contain embedded viruses, but also is untested and may interfere with the functioning of standard College applications.
- No Participation in Web-Based Surveys without Authorization: When using the Internet, the user implicitly involves the College in his/her expression. Therefore, users should not participate in Web or e-mail based surveys or interviews without authorization.
- No Use of Subscription-based Services without Prior Approval: Some Internet sites require that users subscribe before being able to use them. Users should not subscribe to such services without the express approval of the IT Office.
- No Violation of Copyright: Many of the materials on the Internet are protected by copyright. Even though they may seem to be freely accessible, many of the intellectual property laws which apply to print media still apply to software and material published on the Internet. Employees are permitted to print out Web pages and to download material from the Internet for informational purposes as long as the purpose for such copying falls into the category of “fair use.” Please do not copy or disseminate material which is copyrighted. Employees having any questions regarding such materials should contact the Human Resources Department or the IT Office for guidance.
The restrictions and limitations established in this policy apply equally to any remote or off-site use of the College’s electronic communication systems, including but not limited to direct dial up, VPN and intranet access via the Internet.
As a condition of employment and continued employment, employees are required to sign an e-mail and voice-mail acknowledgment form (see sample form following this policy statement). Applicants are required to sign this form on acceptance of an employment offer by the College.
Employees who violate this policy are subject to disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal. Such violations may lead, under certain circumstances, to individual civil and criminal liability.
Approved February 28, 2014