NCSSM Internet Use Policy

Use of the Internet provides great educational benefits to students and staff of NCSSM. However, some material accessible via the Internet may contain items that are illegal, defamatory or potentially offensive to some. Access to the Internet is given as a privilege to staff and students who agree to use the privilege in a considerate and responsible manner. We require that staff and students read and accept the rules for acceptable behavior in the network usage procedures section below.

NCSSM provides computer equipment, services and network access for educational purposes only. Educational purposes are defined as those purposes directly related to an educational assignment, project, job or function for which the user is responsible. These services are provided to improve learning and teaching through research, teacher training, administrative support, collaboration, dissemination of information, and use of materials and resources. Access to networks carries with it the responsibility for proper use of those resources and computing facilities.

Use of NCSSM computing resources depends upon mutual respect and cooperation to ensure that all members of the NCSSM community have equal access, privileges, privacy, and protection from interference and harassment. NCSSM computing resources shall be used in a manner consistent with the instructional, research, and administrative objectives of the academic community in general and with the purpose for which such use of resources and facilities is intended.

Electronic records on the NCSSM network are the property of NCSSM and NCSSM has the right to monitor internet usage including, but not limited to, web browser activity over the NCSSM network for the safety and security of users.

The ITS division of NCSSM may, at the written request of a division supervisor, monitor the web activities of a particular workstation. However, an individual’s email account can only be accessed subsequent to a written directive from the Executive Director. All NCSSM personnel must respect the confidentiality of all email accounts unless subpoenaed or specifically instructed otherwise.

Inappropriate use of the network will result in termination of network privileges, disciplinary actions, and/or other actions determined appropriate, including legal action.

II. PURPOSE

The purpose of this Policy is to assure that:

NCSSM community is informed about the applicability of policies and laws to internet services;
Internet services are used in compliance with those policies and laws;
Users of internet services are informed about how concepts of privacy and security apply;
Disruptions to NCSSM email and other internet services and activities are minimized.

III. CAUTIONS

Users should be aware of the following:

Both the nature of internet usage and the public character of NCSSM's business make internet usage less private than users may anticipate.
Internet usage, whether or not created or stored on NCSSM equipment, may constitute an NCSSM record subject to disclosure.
NCSSM, in general, cannot and does not wish to be the arbiter of the contents of email. Neither can NCSSM, in general, protect users from receiving email they may find offensive. Members of NCSSM community, however, are strongly encouraged to use the same personal and professional courtesies and considerations in email as they would in other forms of communication.
Electronic records are not distinguished from paper records in the NC Public Records Law. Therefore, be cautious about transmitting sensitive information about students or staff over email.

IV. SCOPE

This Policy applies to:

All email systems and internet services provided or owned by NCSSM; and
All users, holders, and uses of NCSSM internet services; and
All NCSSM electronic records in the possession of NCSSM students and staff.

All terms and conditions as stated in this document are applicable to all users of the network.

V. CONDITIONS

Acceptable Use

Use of the network must be in support of education and research consistent with NCSSM policy and an employee’s job description.

Non-official use is permitted only if the use does not

(1) add additional charges to NCSSM,

(2) interfere with NCSSM obligations or

(3) undermine the use of NCSSM resources and services for official purposes.

Use must be consistent with the attached network usage procedures, which are intended to be illustrative of the range of acceptable and unacceptable uses of internet services and not necessarily exhaustive.

Compliance with the Children’s Internet Protection Act

NCSSM has taken the following steps to protect the safety and security of minor students:

A proxy server is in place to block sites with harmful material* on the internet. These sites can be unblocked upon request due to a legitimate educational purpose.

Chat rooms and other forms of internet communication are monitored by NCSSM staff for safety purposes.

Unauthorized access by students, including hacking and unauthorized use of another person’s account, is prohibited.

Publishing, downloading or transmitting threatening or obscene material is prohibited.

*Defined by the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) as a picture or an image that “appeals to a prurient interest in nudity, sex, or excretion;” that depicts a sexual act in an offensive way; and that lacks literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

VI. POLICY VIOLATIONS

Violations of NCSSM policies governing the use of NCSSM internet services may result in restriction of access to NCSSM information technology resources. Any user violating these provisions, applicable state and federal laws or posted school rules is subject to loss of network privileges, confiscation of personal property and any other NCSSM disciplinary options, up to and including dismissal and criminal prosecution.

VII. RESPONSIBILITY FOR POLICY

The Chief Information Officer (CIO) and NCSSM Legal Counsel are responsible for development and maintenance of this Policy for issuance by the Executive Director after approval by the NCSSM Board of Trustees.

VIII. EFFECTIVE DATE

March 14, 2002

IX. PROCEDURES

Access to and use of NCSSM computing resources is a privilege granted to members of the NCSSM community for scholarly, research, academic, and administrative purposes. Computing resources are defined as facilities, equipment, systems, and personnel. Use of these resources includes World Wide Web pages, listservs, email, application software, printers and any other electronic communication. Members of the NCSSM community who use computing resources are expected to do so in an effective, efficient, appropriate, ethical, and legal manner. Use of NCSSM computing resources depends upon mutual respect and cooperation to ensure that all members of the NCSSM community have equal access, privileges, privacy, and protection from interference and harassment. NCSSM computing resources shall be used in a manner consistent with the instructional, research, and administrative objectives of the academic community in general and with the purpose for which such use of resources and facilities is intended. All activities inconsistent with these objectives are considered to be inappropriate and may jeopardize continued use of NCSSM computing resources.

NCSSM computing resources are for the use of authorized individuals only and for use only in a manner consistent with each individual's position. NCSSM computing resources may not be used in any manner inconsistent with an individual's authority, prohibited by licenses, contracts, school policies, or local, state, or federal law. No one may grant permission for inappropriate use of computing resources, nor does the ability to perform inappropriate actions constitute permission to do so.

Use of All-Staff and All-Student distribution lists should only be used for institutional purposes and only if it is necessary to reach a wide audience immediately. The posts must be applicable to the entire community. You have a responsibility to read posts tagged as high priority (!) as authorized prior to all other email messages. High priority tagging should be restricted to items having genuine urgency.

School-related announcements should be posted on “At a Glance.” Personal announcements should be sent to personal distribution lists.

NCSSM reserves the right to monitor, record, and store computing activities of anyone using computing resources. If such monitoring, recording, and storage reveals possible evidence of inappropriate, unethical, or illegal activity, computing system personnel may provide the evidence obtained from monitoring to appropriate institutional and civil authorities.

X: USER AGREEMENT

Each user agrees to make appropriate use of computing resources including, but not limited to:
1. Respecting the intended purposes of computing resources, facilities, and equipment (for scholarly, research, academic, administrative and NCSSM sponsored community service purposes);
2. Respecting the stated purpose of computer accounts (for scholarly, research, academic, administrative, and NCSSM sponsored community service purposes) and to use computer accounts only for the specified purposes;
3. Respecting the dignity and privacy of other users;
4. Respecting the integrity of the systems;
5. Maintaining secure network connections (locking computers or logging off when absent);
6. Respecting the resource controls of the systems and managing appropriately use of disk space;
7. Respecting the privileges associated with having network connectivity;
8. Respecting the copyright protection of licensed software and documentation;
9. Following all NCSSM policies and local, state, and Federal laws related to computing;
10. Notifying the system administrator of any change in account information.

Each user agrees to refrain from inappropriate uses of computing resources including, but not limited to:

Security:

1. Revealing your account password or allowing another person to use your account;
2. Using another individual's account;
3. Attempting to log on as another user;
4. Misrepresenting oneself or others through email or other electronic communication;
5. Identifying or propagating a security problem to other users;
6. Attempting to read, delete, copy or modify another user's email;
7. Attempting to decrypt or guess passwords;
8. Attempting to gain access to another's account or to network shares or services other than those designated for your account;
9. Attempting to gain unauthorized access to remote systems;
10. Modifying the ITS/OIC assigned network configuration settings.

Any user identified as a security risk or having a history of problems with other computer systems may be denied access to NCSSM resources.

If you identify a security problem, notify a system administrator or OIC member immediately. Failure to notify is a violation of the NCSSM acceptable usage policy.

Vandalism/Harassment:

Harassment is defined as the persistent annoyance of another user or the interference in another user's work.
Vandalism is defined as any malicious attempt to harm or destroy data of another user, the Internet or other networks.

Each user agrees to refrain from inappropriate uses of computing resources including, but not limited to:
1. Posting obscene, abusive, harassing, or threatening content;
2. Use of obscene, vulgar, abusive or inappropriate language, pictures or other material;
3. Libeling, slandering or harassing other users through means other than email;
4. Publishing, downloading or transmitting threatening or obscene material;
5. Altering or avoiding accounting for the use of computing resources, facilities, and equipment;
6. Intentionally seeking information on, obtaining copies of, modifying, or tampering with files, tapes, passwords, or any type of data belonging to other users unless specifically authorized to do so by those users;
7. Using resources to develop or execute programs that could harass others, infiltrate the systems, damage or alter the software components of the systems, or disrupt NCSSM activities;
8. Abusing, harassing, intimidating, threatening, stalking, or discriminating against others through the use of computing resources;
9. Engaging in vandalism or mischief that incapacitates, compromises, or destroys NCSSM resources (including knowingly, negligently or carelessly introducing viruses or worms);
10. Vandalizing equipment or tampering with data or software;
11. Physical destruction or theft of property;
12. Inappropriate, unauthorized, unethical, or illegal use of another individual's computer.

Vandalism and/or harassment will result in the cancellation of the offending user's account, confiscation of personal property and any other NCSSM disciplinary options, up to and including dismissal and criminal prosecution.

Plagiarism/Copyright Violations:

Each user agrees to refrain from inappropriate uses of computing resources including, but not limited to:
1. Using, duplicating, or distributing licensed software and documentation without the express written permission of the original copyright owner;
2. Placing copyrighted material on the network without author permission;
3. Distribution of material protected by trade secret;
4. Plagiarizing or incomplete accreditation of source material.

Miscellaneous Unacceptable Use:

Each user agrees to refrain from inappropriate uses of computing resources including, but not limited to:
1. Anonymous postings from free web-based ISPs which do not require user authentication in account creation;
2. Sending attachments without a description phrase in the body of the message;
3. Inappropriate use of distribution lists or circumventing distribution list restrictions;
4. Downloading student recreational materials between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday or non-residential staff recreational material at any time;
5. Recreational streaming of internet material, such as radio, video, TV, or stock tickers;
6. Adding any other device to the NCSSM network other than one personal computer;
7. Downloading ancillary software that is not in support of an employee’s position or principal job responsibilities to individual desktops;
8. Using networks for illegal activities, such as gambling or pornography;
9. Creating Local Area Networks (LANs) or ad hoc wireless networks;
10. Spamming or forwarding of chain letters;
11. Use for commercial activities or political lobbying;
12. Making excessive use of resources, controlled or otherwise;
13. Violation of any rules appropriate to any other network being used/accessed.
14. Forwarding email without the permission of the author.
15. Use of Webcams in residential halls.

XI: World Wide Web Policy

Access to the World Wide Web (WWW) and the ability to create web pages on NCSSM computing systems are privileges provided to members of the NCSSM community. NCSSM users must conduct their activities in a courteous and professional manner.

Servers

NCSSM supports and maintains designated WWW servers for general campus usage. All web servers connected to the Internet through NCSSM networking are to be registered with the NCSSM Webmaster (webmaster@ncssm.edu) The WWW Policy applies to all web servers using NCSSM as the Internet Service Provider (ISP).

Individual WWW Pages

Appropriate Use Policies for NCSSM computer accounts also apply to individual home pages. Individuals who create home pages are responsible for adhering to the following guidelines.

Individual home pages are encouraged for the following purposes:
1. Presenting personal non-commercial information (resumes, family, etc.);
2. Experimenting with available Web technologies and authoring tools;
3. Publishing and disseminating academic work;
4. Linking to cultural, scientific, or historical sites;
5. Posting announcements, news bulletins, and other general information.

Departmental WWW Pages

Appropriate Use Policies for NCSSM computer accounts also apply to departmental web pages. All departmental web pages are expected to adhere to the NCSSM authoring standards to maintain a coherent and uniform NCSSM web presentation. The Communications Office of NCSSM will provide the authoring guidelines.

Departmental pages are encouraged for the following purposes:
1. Disseminating general departmental information (goals, office hours, point of contact, etc.);
2. Highlighting departmental programs or activities;
3. Introducing faculty or staff and/or hyper-linking to their personal pages.

Individual and Departmental WWW Pages

Individual and departmental home pages may not be put to inappropriate uses which include, but are not limited to:
1. Use of copyrighted materials in any form without the express written permission of the original copyright owner;
2. Personal, commercial uses which could result in a financial benefit for the page owner or his/her associates;
3. Use of audio, images (e.g., photographs, paintings, or derivatives thereof), videos, or movies of individuals without their express written consent;
4. Use of any personal information that is not public record pertaining to other individuals without their express written permission;
5. Use of any images or data that are abusive, obscene, harassing, threatening, or discriminatory;
6. Use of any images or data that violate other NCSSM policies (e.g., Harassment Policy) or local, state, or Federal laws;
7. Creation of direct hypertext links to abusive, obscene, harassing, threatening, or discriminatory material;
8. Use of materials whose nature or volume compromise the ability of the system to serve other users' documents and web pages;
9. Any use which constitutes academic dishonesty;
10. Use of individual home pages to engage in illegal activity.

XII: Suspension of Privileges during Investigation

During the investigation of an alleged policy violation, a user’s computing and network access may be suspended. NCSSM reserves the right to examine a user’s recorded and stored information in the course of investigating an alleged policy violation.

XIII: Consequences of Policy Violations

Violations of NCSSM Computing Policies may result in disciplinary action, including, but not limited to, suspension of access to the WWW, suspension of email privileges, suspension of computing privileges, suspension or expulsion from the institution, suspension or termination of employment, imposition of fines, and referral for legal action.