Information Technology Service Policy & Procedures

USE OF COMPUTER AND INTERNET RESOURCES: Weatherford College provides computer and Internet resources to its students, faculty, and staff, as well as to the community, as a means of enhancing learning, efficiency, and productivity. This technology allows students to access resources beyond the boundaries of our physical campus so that learning may become more global and students, faculty, and staff can be more efficient in the production of their assignments and work tasks. Finally, these resources enhance productivity by providing avenues of immediate communication on a global scale. To provide this resource to all persons affiliated with the College, a set of standards must be established for its management.

THE INTERNET: The Internet, as an information resource, enables Weatherford College to provide information beyond the confines of its campus. It allows access to ideas, information, and commentary from around the world. While the Internet offers a wealth of material that is personally, culturally, and professionally enriching to individuals of all ages, it also enables access to some material that may be offensive or disturbing to others, inaccurate, or illegal under U.S/ law. Weatherford College cannot police the global network and takes no responsibility for its content. Rather, all users must take responsibility for their activities on the Internet.

The use of the Internet must be consistent with the missions of Weatherford College, the policies of the College, and State and Federal Law. Access to the Internet per College computers is a privilege granted to users. The College reserves the right to suspend this privilege if a user violates any acceptable use policy and/or clause.

USER ACCOUNTS AND FILES: All accounts, including email, are the property of Weatherford College. As such, any information associated with these accounts is not private.

USER LIMITATION: Accounts on any College-owned computer are limited to current employees and current students. Access to College networks is restricted to faculty, currently registered students, and staff. Community members and others who do not meet the requirements above are allowed computer access at the WC Library. All authorized users are solely responsible for managing their files (including the files that constitute a web course) and their email.

DELETING OF ACCOUNTS: Accounts may be deleted when student status had ended, at the discretion of the College Administration or Network Administrator. The College is under no obligation to recover or protect user files from deleted account.

USE OF COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL: Violations of the rights of any person or company protected by copyright, trade secret, patent or other intellectual property, or similar laws or regulations, including, but not limited to, the installation or distribution of “pirated” or other software products that are not appropriately licensed for use by Weatherford College is strictly prohibited. Unauthorized copying or copyrighted material including, but not limited to, digitization and distribution of photographs from magazines, books or other copyrighted sources, copyrighted music, copyrighted movies, and the installation of any copyrighted software for which Weatherford College, or the end user, does not have an active license is strictly prohibited. Violations of “Use of Copyrighted Material” clause can result in the loss of computer access, suspension, or dismissal.

WEB PAGES/SITES: All persons who publish web pages are responsible for the content of those pages and are required to comply with the Weatherford College policies and procedures as well as State and Federal Laws.

GENERAL PROVISIONS: The following actions (including but not limited to) will result in disciplinary action including, but not limited to, the suspension of computer privileges at WC:

Damage or destruction of equipment, software, or data belonging to the College or to other users, including adding, altering, or deleting files on College workstations and servers.
Altering of system settings or Internet browser settings on College computers without specific permission of an instructor or an authorized member of the Technology Services staff.
Reproduction of materials protected by copyright.
Violating software license agreements.
Violating or attempting to violate computer system or network integrity, including attempts to bypass network security functions, or to obtain restricted passwords for system administration.
Using College technological resources to harass others.
Utilizing the Internet and/or College equipment for unauthorized material/commercial gain or profit.
Using the Internet or any College technological resource for any activity prohibited by Federal, State, or International law.
Attempting to utilize computing resources for which you do not have access.
Sharing your personal password with others.
Impersonating another via any form of electronic messaging.
The production of and/or intentional dissemination of self-replicating or similar nuisance programs (e.g. virus, Trojan horse), whether or not they are destructive in nature.

COMPUTER MAINTENANCE: The responsibility for maintaining the campus computing environment rests with the Department of Institutional Information Services (ISS). To ensure the smooth functioning all students, faculty, and staff must observe the following:

Only authorized software may be installed on any College computer. The IIS department is responsible for determining what software may or may not be installed, a decision based on technical specifications and licensing.
Only authorized IIS personnel may repair College computer equipment.
Maintenance requests for labs should be submitted in a timely fashion, i.e. at least two weeks in advance. A list of all required software and proof of licensing should be provided to the technician at that time.

RIGHT OF APPEAL: Any student, faculty or staff member in violation of this Policy may appeal their case to the relevant College Administrator. Students who have lost the privilege to use computer resources may appeal to the Student Appeals Committee to have their access reinstated. Faculty and staff may appeal to their Dean or Director.

RIGHT OF FREE SPEECH: The purpose of this Policy is not to restrict computer access information or to restrict personal expression. The guidelines stated herein are to ensure the health of the network for educational purposes and to conduct the business of the College. You may disagree with any or all elements of this Policy either publicly, privately, or in accordance with your First Amendment rights. However, you may not violate any published Policy for any reason or cause. Questions regarding this Policy should be submitted to the Director of Institutional Information Services.

DISCLAIMER: The College accepts NO RESPONSIBILITY for any damages to or loss of data due directly to the use of Weatherford College computing resources or any consequential loss or damage. It makes the representation of NO WARRANTY, expressed or implied, regarding the computing resources offered, or their fitness for any particular use or purpose. The College's liability in the event of any loss or damage shall be LIMITED TO THE FEES AND CHARGES, IF ANY, PAID TO THE COLLEGE for the use of the computing resources, which resulted in a said loss or damage.

Administrative Procedures

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