INSCAPE DESIGN
COLLEGE
ICT Acceptable Use
Policy and Procedures R1.1
2009/10/01
ICT Acceptable Use Policy
Inscape depends on the
appropriate use of information and communication technology (ICT) to facilitate
and promote learning and research. Whilst
the college respects academic freedom, it also requires responsible and legal
use of the technologies and facilities by its students and staff.
This Policy provides a
framework for such use of Inscape Design College’s ICT resources. It applies to all computing,
telecommunication, and networking facilities at the College. It should be interpreted to have the widest
application, and references to ICT services should, where appropriate, be taken
to include any staff responsible for such services.
It is the
responsibility of all users of Inscape’s ICT services to read, understand and
comply with this Policy. If any information
contained herein is unclear, an email can be sent to it@inscape.co.za requesting clarification.
ICT Acceptable Use Procedures
These procedures apply
to all information and communication technology, including, and not limited to:
equipment (computers, ‘phones, ‘copiers and printers, fax), services (web
browsing, email, financial transactions, sending and receiving information) and
documentation (computer files and programs) by means of ICT at Inscape (whether
it belongs to Inscape or not).
1) Purpose of Use
Inscape ICT resources
are provided primarily to facilitate a person's work as an employee or student
or related role within the College.
Acceptable Use of
Inscape ICT, such as personal electronic mail or recreational use of the World
Wide Web is a privilege and not a right and can be withdrawn. Any such use must not interfere with the user's
duties or studies or any other person's use of computer or communication systems
and must not, in any way, bring the College into disrepute. Priority must always be granted to those
needing facilities for academic work.
College e-mail
addresses and associated College e-mail systems must be used for all official
College business, in order to facilitate auditability and institutional record
keeping. All staff and students of the
College must regularly read their College e-mail.
Commercial work for
outside bodies, using Inscape ICT services, requires explicit permission from
the Principal; such use, whether or not authorised, may be liable to charge.
2) Authorisation
In order to use some
of the College computing or communication facilities, a person must first be registered
by the IT Officer at it@inscape.co.za. Registration to use College services implies,
and is conditional upon, acceptance of this Acceptable Use Policy, for which a
signature of acceptance may be required. The lack of a signature does not
exempt an individual from any obligation under this Policy.
The registration
procedure grants authorisation to use the core ICT facilities of the College. Following registration, a username, password (and
e-mail address) will be allocated. Authorisation
for other services may be requested by application to IT Officer.
All individually
allocated usernames, passwords (and e-mail addresses) are for the exclusive use
of the individual to whom they are allocated. The user is personally
responsible and accountable for all activities carried out under their
username. The password associated with a particular personal username must not
be divulged to any other person, other than to designated members of IT staff
for the purposes of system support.
Attempts to access or use any username, e-mail address or certificate,
which is not authorised to the user, are prohibited. No one may use, or attempt to use, ICT
resources allocated to another person, except when explicitly authorised by the
provider of those resources.
All users must
correctly identify themselves at all times. A user must not masquerade as another,
withhold their identity or tamper with audit trails. A user must take all reasonable
precautions to protect their resources.
It should be noted
that the college principal and IT Officer, who have appropriate privileges,
have the ability, which is occasionally required, to access all files,
including electronic mail files, stored on a computer which they manage. It is
also occasionally necessary to intercept network traffic. In such circumstances
appropriately privileged staff will take all reasonable steps to ensure the
privacy of service users. The College
fully reserves the right to monitor e-mail, telephone and any other
electronically-mediated communications, whether stored or in transit. Reasons
for such monitoring may include the need to:
·
ensure
operational effectiveness of services,
·
prevent a
breach of the law, this policy, or other College policy,
·
investigate
a suspected breach of the law, this policy, or other College policy,
·
monitor
standards.
Access to staff files,
including electronic mail files, will not normally be given to another member
of staff unless authorised by the IT Officer, who will use their discretion, in
consultation with the principal of the College, if appropriate. In such circumstances the staff member’s
senior will be informed and will normally be consulted prior to action being
taken. Such access will normally only be
granted in the following circumstances:
·
where a
breach of the law or a serious breach of this or another College policy is
suspected;
·
when a
documented and lawful request from a law enforcement agency such as the police
or security services has been received;
·
on request
from the relevant Head of Department, where the managers or co-workers of the
individual would be entitled to, and require access to e-mail messages or
files, which are records of a College activity, and the individual is unable (e.g.
through absence), to provide them.
The College sees
student and staff privacy as desirable but not as an absolute right, hence
students and staff should not expect to hold or pass information, which they
would not wish to be seen by responsible members. When a breach of the law or of this policy is
suspected, or when a documented and lawful request from a law enforcement
agency (such as the police or security services) has been received, the IT
Officer is authorised to release the contents of a student's or staff member’s files,
including electronic mail files. The IT
Officer is also authorised to release the contents of a student's relevant files,
including electronic mail files, when required to by a member of staff who has
a direct academic work-based reason for requiring such access.
After a student or
member of staff leaves the College, all their files (including electronic mail
files) on any computer system, including servers, owned by the College will be
considered to be the property of the College. When leaving the College, staff should make
arrangements to transfer to colleagues any e-mail or other computer-based
information held under their personal account, as this will be closed on their
departure.
Software licensed to
the college and installed on student-owned or staff-owned computers must be
removed before the student or staff member leaves the college.
No person shall
jeopardise the integrity, performance or reliability of computer equipment,
software, data and other stored information. The integrity of the College's computer
systems is put at risk if users do not take adequate precautions against
malicious software, such as computer virus programs. All users of College ICT services must ensure
that any computer, for which they have responsibility, and which is attached to
the College network, is adequately protected against viruses, through the use
of up to date anti-virus software. (Any exceptions to this must be approved
explicitly by IT Department - it@inscape.co.za), and has the latest
tested security patches installed. Reasonable
care should also be taken to ensure that resource use does not result in a
denial of service to others.
Unacceptable use of
College communication, computers and network resources may be summarised as:
·
the possession
or distribution of material that is offensive, obscene or indecent, except in
the course of recognised research or teaching that is permitted under South
African and international law; distribution will usually be considered to be a
much more serious offence;
·
infringement
of intellectual property rights, including copyright, trademark, patent, design
and moral rights;
·
causing
annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to others;
·
defamation
(genuine scholarly criticism is permitted);
·
unsolicited
advertising, often referred to as "spamming";
·
sending
e-mails that purport to come from an individual other than the person actually
sending the message using, e.g., a forged address;
·
attempting
to break into or damage computer systems or data held thereon;
·
actions or
inactions which intentionally, or unintentionally, aid the distribution of
computer viruses or other malicious software;
·
attempts
to access or actions intended to facilitate access to computers for which the
individual is not authorised;
·
using the
College network for unauthenticated access;
·
making lengthy
(more than 10min) private ‘phone calls on a college ‘phone;
·
use of
mobile phones (by lecturers or students) during class time;
·
unauthorised
resale of College services or information.
These restrictions
should be taken to mean, for example, that the following activities will
normally be considered to be a breach of this policy (potential exceptions
should be discussed with IT Department):
·
the
downloading, distribution, or storage of music, video, film, or other material,
for which you do not hold a valid licence, or other valid permission from the
copyright holder;
·
the
distribution or storage by any means of pirated software;
·
connecting
an unauthorised device to the College network, i.e. one that has not been
configured to comply with this policy and any other relevant regulations and
guidelines relating to security, IT purchasing policy, and acceptable use;
·
circumvention
of Network Access Control;
·
monitoring
or interception of network traffic, without permission;
·
probing
for the security weaknesses of systems by methods such as port-scanning,
without permission;
·
associating
any device to network Access Points, including wireless, for which you are not
authorised;
·
non-academic
activities which generate heavy network traffic, especially those which
interfere with others' legitimate use of ICT services or which incur financial
costs;
·
excessive
use of resources such as leading to a denial of service to others, especially
when compounded by not responding to requests for action;
·
frivolous
use of College owned computer and office automation equipment, especially where
such activities interfere with others' legitimate use of ICT services;
·
the
deliberate viewing and/or printing of pornographic images, for purposes other
than legitimately academic;
·
the
passing on of electronic chain mail;
·
the
posting of defamatory comments about any persons on virtual learning
environment or social networking sites;
·
the use of
College business mailing lists for non-academic purposes;
·
the use of
storage devices for the purpose of copying unlicensed copyright software,
music, etc.;
·
the
copying of other people's web site material without the express permission of
the copyright holder;
·
the use of
peer-to-peer and related applications within the College. These include, but
are not limited to, Ares, BitTorrent, Direct Connect, Morpheus, KaZaA,
Limewire;
·
Plagiarism
(see Inscape Intellectual Property policy), i.e. the intentional use of other
people's material without attribution.
It should be noted
that individuals may be held responsible for the retention of attachment
material that they have received, via e-mail that they have never opened, via
e-mail that they have read. Similarly, opening an attachment, received via
unsolicited e-mail, especially if clearly unrelated to work or study, which
leads to widespread virus infection, may result in disciplinary action being
taken.
Acceptable uses may
include:
·
personal
e-mail and recreational use of Internet services, where these are in keeping
with the framework defined in this policy document and do not interfere with
one's duties, studies or the work of others;
·
advertising
via electronic notice boards, intended for this purpose, or via other College
approved mechanisms;
·
making of five
private phone calls of less than 10 min each per day;
·
photocopying
a maximum of 10 b/w pages per day.
However such use must
be regarded as a privilege and not as a right and may be withdrawn if abused or
if the user is subject to a disciplinary procedure.
Any serial numbers,
software and / or hard copy of data or information which is not generated by
the user personally and which may become available through the use of College
computing or communications resources shall not be copied or used without
permission of the College or the copyright owner. In particular, it is up to
the user to check the terms and conditions of any licence for the use of the
software or information and to abide by them. Software and / or information provided
by the College may only be used as part of the user's duties as a staff member
or student of the College or for educational purposes. The user must abide by all the licensing
agreements for software entered into by the College with other parties, noting
that the right to use any such software outside the College will cease when an individual
leaves the institution. At this time, any
software on a privately owned computer that has been licensed under a College
agreement must then be removed from it, as well as any College-owned data, such
as documents and spreadsheets. When a
computer ceases to be owned by the College, all data and software must be removed
from it, in accordance with the College's policies and contractual obligations.
In the case of private work and other personal
use of computing facilities, the College will not accept any liability for
loss, damage, injury or expense that may result.
Staff or students who
break this Acceptable Use Policy will find themselves subject to the College's disciplinary
procedures as detailed in the Disciplinary Policy.
The IT Officer as well
as the Principal or appointed administrators may take the necessary disciplinary
action. Individuals may also be subject
to criminal proceedings. The College
reserves its right to take legal action against individuals who cause it to be
involved in legal proceedings as a result of their violation of licensing
agreements and / or other contraventions of this policy.
end
proposed amendments in red
changes since previous release in italics