Acceptable Use Policy
Contents Overview

This document outlines the policies regarding use of computing resources at the College of Wooster.

Information Technology documentation is available online at http://www.wooster.edu/technology/documentation/.

Last revised: September 9, 2004


Responsibilities of the Users

Users of technology services on campus agree to the following:

Academic usage is always given priority.

Electronic mail and the messaging system will not be used to send abusive, obscene, or otherwise harassing communications.

Computer and network facilities are provided as a shared resource for all users. No user shall use College computing and network resources in such a way as to interfere with the ability of others to use them.

Security of the computer systems is in place to ensure resource availability to all users. No user will seek to penetrate the security of any campus communications network or computer system.

Users are not permitted to attach wireless access devices to the College network. Please refer to the Policy on Wireless Access to the College of Wooster Network for further information.

Students and faculty are expected to keep an active College of Wooster (wooster.edu) e-mail account and to keep in mind that the administration, faculty, and various offices at the College will send both official and unofficial communications to them by e-mail. If users prefer to maintain a different e-mail address than that provided by the College, they should set their College of Wooster account to forward their mail automatically to their preferred account.

A user's account is the responsibility of the user. Sharing passwords is unacceptable.

Software will not be copied or used illegally.

Web site materials will be cited appropriately and permission obtained for copyrighted material.

Personal web pages are intended for the students, faculty and staff of the College. Users may not "donate" this resource to off campus organizations. The pages on this server must be maintained by individuals associated with the College.

No technology resource will be used for an unsanctioned commercial purpose.

Sharing Files and Accessing Information of the World Wide Web

The College of Wooster supports the free exchange of information and ideas facilitated by sharing computer files over the college network and the Internet. Any copyrighted material must be accompanied by the appropriate permission from the owner. Without the appropriate permission the account owner can experience the following:

  • Asked to immediately remove the material
  • Material removed by Information Technology personnel
  • Judicial Review
  • Criminal Prosecution

Privacy

Users should be aware that the privacy of computer use is not and cannot be guaranteed. Although the College does not routinely examine the content of user files on College-owned or College-controlled computer systems, it does reserve the right to do so. Users should also understand that the College routinely copies many files on many College-owned and College-controlled computer systems for backup purposes. These copies are retained for some time, and while the College does not routinely do so, it reserves the right to examine the content of these copied files. Please refer to the College-Owned Property policy for further information. The College takes steps to protect the data residing on the computers that it owns or controls from unauthorized access. Users should understand that the efficacy of these steps is not and cannot be guaranteed.

Many software systems are designed to collect usage information and to log user activity. The college routinely aggregates the data stored in these logs for analytical purposes. In general, the college makes no attempt to extract from the logs data regarding the activity of individual users. The college does, however, reserve the right to do so.

Policy Enforcement

All users of The College of Wooster's computing facilities are responsible for understanding the principles set forth above. Alleged violations of the acceptable use policy will be investigated. Users found to have violated any provision of the policy will be subject to disciplinary action. Such action could include, but may not be limited to, loss of access to College technology resources.


The College of Wooster — User Services Help Desk — (330) 263-3000, xHELP