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Policies

Policies 

Computer Ethics and Policies Statement

Simpson College provides information technology (IT) resources to students, faculty and staff. As members of the campus community, all users have the responsibility to use those services in an effective, efficient, ethical and legal manner. Ethical and legal standards that apply to IT resources derive directly from standards of common sense and common decency that apply to the use of any shared resource. The campus computing community depends first upon the spirit of mutual respect and cooperation that has been fostered at Simpson College. While freedom of expression is recognized, users of institutional computer accounts are reminded that certain categories of speech-defamation, obscenity and incitement to lawlessness are not protected by the Constitution. Users are encouraged to respect the privacy of others and to avoid grossly offensive expressions in matters of ethnicity, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age or disability. Simpson College reserves the right to monitor the use of IT resources for the purpose of determining compliance with the provision of the computer ethics and policies statement.

Computer User Account and Electronic Mail Policy

No person may use, or attempt to use, any computer account other than his/her own assigned account. The negligence or naivete of another user in revealing an account name and password does not confer authorization to use the account.

  • An account owner may not lend his/her account(s) to another user.

  • Each account owner is responsible for all computing activities involving that account and will be held liable for any misuse of that account.

  • All users accessing inter-campus networks using College owned computers must know and respect the rules and policies of that network.

  • Users may not send anonymous mail, mail with altered headers giving erroneous information (e.g., an erroneous “sender” name), or anonymous files from anywhere on campus.

  • Users may not use college-owned resources to deliberately annoy or significantly impede the academic pursuit of others. For example, it is prohibited to send obscene, abusive or threatening e-mail.

Student Residential Computer Network Policy

Simpson College’s residential network provides students living in the residence units, college owned Greek housing and non-college owned Greek housing the ability to further their educational experience. This is accomplished by enabling access to computing resources at Simpson College and on the Internet.  By connecting to the campus network, the student agrees to the terms and conditions of this Student Residential Computer Network Policy.  This list of acceptable or unacceptable behaviors is meant to be illustrative, not exhaustive.

  1. Student is responsible for all activity originating from this connection. Student must take reasonable precautions to prevent unauthorized use by others of this connection, and his/her accounts, programs, or data.
  2. Students should not engage in activities that consume excessive amounts of network bandwidth.
  3. Student must not modify or extend the campus network services and wiring. This applies to all network wiring, hardware, and in-room jacks. The only device you can connect is a personal computer. You may not connect servers of any type, hubs or network printers.
  4. Campus network connections are provided for individual use only. Student may not create accounts on his/her computing system that provide campus network access for anyone else.
  5. Campus network connections are for Simpson related activities only. Student may not conduct a commercial business via the campus network.
  6. Student may not run sniffers or any other software or hardware designed to intercept packets or to disrupt the security or operation of the campus network.
  7. Student may not participate in illegal activities such as software piracy—either the distribution of copyrighted software or illegal attainment of software or other copyrighted materials—from the campus network connection.

At Simpson’s discretion, we may monitor network resources for violations of this policy. Sanctions for violation of this policy may result in disconnection from the campus network, other disciplinary actions, or referral to external authorities.

Simpson College Mail-List Use Policy

Upon getting an e-mail account you will automatically be added to an appropriate moderated e-mail list. Currently, these lists include those for the students, faculty, staff and administration.

The purpose for these lists is to disseminate academic and other school-related information to the respective groups. Please do not send the following types of messages, since they are not school or academic related.

  • Messages sent for the purpose of selling goods. (This excludes sales announcements by administrative/academic departments and college related groups.)

  • Messages meant to benefit a single individual whether it be student, faculty or staff.

  • Messages which are considered “chain letters”, jokes or other such mail.

  • Messages containing any content which breaks any part of the “SIMPSON COLLEGE COMPUTER ETHICS AND POLICIES STATEMENT” and “COMPUTER USER ACCOUNT AND ELECTRONIC MAIL POLICY.”

Simpson College reserves the right to review e-mail messages for compliance purposes.

Security Incident Reporting Policy

A security incident is an actual or potential event involving loss or compromise of data or the loss of functionality of an information system or network. Examples include unauthorized access to a PC, data theft, unauthorized data modification, a computer virus, unauthorized network probing, denial of service attacks, and violations of acceptable use policies.

Send an email to report a security incident. The security team will review and respond.

Copyright and Compliance Policy 

The Simpson College community respects the intellectual work and property of others, regardless of the medium by which it is transmitted. This is a cornerstone of academic integrity and essential to the mission of the college. We prohibit the use of unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material, which is subject to both civil and criminal penalties as well as college procedures.

The faculty of this institution recognize its obligation to provide continuing guidance as to what constitutes academic honesty and to promote procedures and circumstances, which will reinforce this principle.

Distributing copyrighted materials using peer-to-peer or file-sharing programs is illegal and the college uses technological solutions to deter this activity. Still, Simpson may receive notices of copyright violations and is required by federal law to respond to notifications of copyright violations on its networks.

All shareware programs must be registered in accordance with their license and use provision.

Simpson generally addresses copyright violations with a “three strikes” procedure. It also recognizes that, depending on the situation, a single offense may be sufficient for immediate suspension or termination of network services and access privileges, and for names of violators to be referred to the appropriate authorities for criminal or civil prosecution.

World Wide Web Publishing Policy

Simpson College recognizes the value and potential of publishing on the Internet and so allows and encourages students, staff and faculty to publish electronic information.

Content of all electronic pages, including links to other pages, must be consistent with college policies as stated and with local, state and federal laws. A page may be considered in violation if it contains links to a page that violates the aforementioned policies.

Copyright laws apply to electronic publishing as well as to other publishing.

Users are expected to abide by these laws.

No institution-owned information technology resource should be used for commercial purposes, including sales and marketing.

All personal home pages must contain the disclaimer, “the views and opinions expressed on this page are strictly those of the page author”.

The College’s information technology resources are finite. Owners of personal home pages that require inordinate amounts of computer resources will be asked to modify their page or move it to an Internet service provider better equipped to distribute those pages.