Computing Services - Conditions of Use

|| Purpose || Conditions of Use || Privacy & Security || Web Pages || User Behavior || Contacts || Consequences of Violations ||

Purpose of Computing Services

The primary purpose of computing at Marywood is to provide for the needs of employees and students of Marywood to carry out the academic and administrative goals and objectives set by faculty, administrators, and students.

Conditions of Use Statement

The Conditions of Use Statement underscores the need for the responsible, ethical, legal, and secure use of the CWIS for the protection of users. Ethical and legal standards that apply to information technology resources derive directly from standards of common sense and common decency that apply to any shared resource. Mutual respect and cooperation is fostered at Marywood University to resolve differences and ameliorate problems that arise from time to time. This statement is published in that spirit.

"System" is used in the following statement in a generic sense to refer to the aggregation of all hardware and software owned or licensed by Marywood University.

As a user of the Marywood system you are responsible for using that system in a responsible manner. When using any of Marywood's computing resources, you agree to adhere to the following conditions:

• You will respect the privacy of other users by not attempting to access their accounts and/or tampering with their data; for example, you will not intentionally seek information on, obtain copies of, or modify files or passwords belonging to other users or Marywood, or represent others, unless explicitly authorized to do so by those users.

• You will not attempt to access/copy any data/files from any part of the system for the purpose of plagiarism.

• You will not make unauthorized copies of copyrighted or licensed programs or data; for example, you will not make copies of a licensed computer program to avoid paying license fees or to share with other users.

• You will not attempt to bypass any security systems that are in effect in an attempt to access privileged information or alter existing interfaces.

• You will respect the integrity of the system; for example, you will not intentionally develop or use programs, transactions, data or processes that harass other users or infiltrate the system or damage or alter the data or software components of a system.

• You will respect the financial structure of the system; for example, you will not intentionally develop or use any unauthorized mechanisms to alter or avoid charges levied by Marywood.

• You will not load and use personal programs or any existing programs in a manner that affects the stability of existing systems, nor use any programs in a deliberate attempt to hinder or harass other people.

• You will use only your own User ID and password solely for the purpose for which it was intended.

• You will respect the rights of other users to an open and hospitable computing environment, regardless of race, sex, color, religion, ethnicity, age or handicap status.

• You will respect Marywood's commitment to spiritual, ethical, and religious values. For example, anything stored, transmitted or posted to the World Wide Web will be of a form and content that it could be posted on a bulletin board anywhere on campus.

• You will not use any University-owned or operated computers for personal "for-profit" activities or for any illegal purposes.

• You will respect the limited resources that are shared by all users by avoiding such practices as printing large amounts of unnecessary information, using resources for personal purposes, or unnecessarily holding dial-up telephone lines for long periods of time when others are waiting to use these devices for academic purposes.

Privacy and Security

There are no specific laws, rules or regulations that protect the privacy of your files or electronic mail messages - or any other information you may retrieve as a result of your sessions on the Marywood Campus-Wide Information System.

These computers are owned and operated by Marywood University, which reserves the right to monitor and record any action that you perform while using the Campus-Wide Information System. You need to be aware that an audit trail is kept by system management software of each of the component systems. If it is determined that a user's action(s) are contrary to the policies and conditions of use, then the appropriate department has the right to monitor that user's actions and will do so if necessary to protect the integrity of the Marywood computing system. Access to this equipment by members of the Marywood University community is not a right, but a privilege.

You need also to be aware that any users - not just those who have system management status - can read any of your files that are not read-protected. This is true, for example, of files containing homework, personal correspondence or other materials that you would rather not share with your fellow users. You are urged to safeguard your data and passwords, to change your account password frequently, and to follow the security policies and procedures established to control access to Marywood's system.

Furthermore, any file left in locations that the public can access, such as the hard-drives of computers, may be traced back to its owner. This means, for example, that any user is free to form an estimate of your character based on the materials that you download from the Internet and leave where such material can be accessed by others.

To summarize, users of Marywood University's computing system should feel free to use the system according to their academic and personal needs, but they should also consider the implications that careless use of the system might have on them or other members of the Marywood community.

Institutional, Professional and Personal Web Pages

Institutional web pages are those maintained by an official unit of Marywood University. These include various areas of the University and student organizations. Student organizations can apply for institutional web accounts through the Director of Student Activities. Professional pages for faculty and staff are web pages that contain information directly related to one's position at Marywood. One's professional page may contain a link to one's personal page. Personal pages are web pages maintained by individual faculty, staff or students who, while bound by these policies, are entirely responsible for the content of their pages.

Copyright laws apply to electronic publishing as well as to print publishing. Be sure you have permission to publish the information, graphics, photographs, audio, video, etc. on your pages if you are not the author or creator. Photographs of an individual or personal information about an individual must not be included without the permission of the individual.

User Behavior Expectations

Marywood University staff members also have the right to work in a non-hostile environment. Staff are available for assistance as a service and should be treated with politeness. Faculty, staff, or students can have their computing privileges immediately revoked by the director of the appropriate service for behavior that is deemed improper by that director in consultation with other appropriate University staff. Other Consequences of Violations, as noted below, may apply as well.

As with all departments within the University, any claim of sexual harassment will be taken seriously and investigated immediately, and the results of such investigation passed on to the appropriate agency within the University as deemed appropriate by the affected director. Sexual harassment can be verbal, visual, or physical. It can be overt, or it can consist of persistent, unwanted attempts to change a professional relationship to a personal one. Sexual harassment can range from inappropriate put-downs of individual persons and unwelcome sexual flirtations, to physical abuse such as rape. It is coercive or threatening and creates an atmosphere that is not conducive to good working or academic conditions.

Damaging or altering equipment (such as viruses on hard drives or displaying inappropriate pictures on any monitor in any public computing area on campus) is cause for immediate expulsion from a public computing facility, and may be subject to the Consequences of Violations noted below. Food or drink is absolutely not allowed in computer labs, drop-in areas, or near any computers or computer-related equipment.

Direct questions on acceptable use to any of the following:

• The Director of Management Information Services by sending e-mail to tob@marywood.edu or calling (570) 348-6211, ext. 2421.

• The Director of Network Services (for questions concerning "etiquette") by sending e-mail to spinillo@marywood.edu or calling (570) 340-6057.

• The Webmaster (for questions regarding web pages) by sending e-mail to webber@marywood.edu or by calling (570) 348-6211, ext. 2340.

Consequences of Violations

Any violation of these conditions (for example, using some else's account without permission, tampering with files or passwords, harassing others) is unethical and may constitute a criminal offense. Rights to all individual accounts are non-transferable.

If computing staff members suspect that any of these conditions is being violated, staff will initiate an investigation through the appropriate agency on campus. During the investigation, the account in question and all computing services may be suspended. If a breach of the conditions is confirmed, the user may face disciplinary review and/or possible legal action. Marywood University cannot and will not extend protection to a user who violates the policies of an external network.

2/3/99