Occidental College
Appropriate Use Policy
The use of Occidental College Digital Information Systems
and Information Resources is a privilege, not a right, and is granted
under the conditions of appropriate usage as stated in this policy. By
using the Occidental College network, computing facilities, resources,
and accounts, students, faculty, staff and other members of the
Occidental College community agree to the provisions contained herein.
Academic and administrative computing services are an
essential component of meeting the mission of Occidental College.
Students, faculty, staff, and other members of the Occidental College
community may:
• use College-owned computers, software, information and
network access to which each individual is authorized access;
• connect to the College network and digital information
systems and information resources with an individually-owned computer or
other digital device;
Individuals using Digital Information Systems and
Information Resources at Occidental College are responsible for
complying with relevant laws and the College’s policies and procedures
regarding their use and for using computing and networking facilities
and resources in a manner that is consistent with the mission and
educational purpose of the College.
The College reserves the right to deny, limit, revoke or
extend computing privileges and access to its Digital Information
Systems and Information Resources at its discretion. In addition,
alleged violations of this procedure, the College’s policies regarding
use of the Digital Information Systems, or other policies of the College
in the course of using the Digital Information Systems may result in an
immediate loss of computing privileges and may also result in the
referral of the matter to the College’s judicial system or other
appropriate authority. Student matters will be referred to the Dean of
Students. Faculty matters will be referred to the Dean of the College.
Staff matters will be referred to the Director of Human Resources.
Students, faculty, staff, and other members of the
Occidental College community will:
• use computing and networking facilities and resources
in a way that complies with any applicable laws, contractual agreements,
or licenses, including copyright laws;
• use computing and networking facilities and resources
in a manner that is consistent with the mission and educational purpose
of Occidental College;
• use computing and networking facilities and resources
in a manner that is not considered harmful or harassing to a person;
• use computing and networking facilities and resources
in a manner that does not interfere with the ability of others to make
effective use of College Digital Information Systems
Use of College information systems for hosting
non-Occidental College activities must have the written permission of
the Chief Information Officer.
Appropriate Behavior
Students, faculty, staff and other members of the
Occidental College community will:
• not view, copy, alter, or destroy data, software,
documentation, or data communications belonging to the College or
another individual without permission;
• not violate copyright laws, including using Occidental
College Digital Information Systems and facilities to receive,
retransmit, duplicate, destroy, or tamper with materials protected by
copyright unless authorized by copyright, license, College policy, or
other applicable laws. (See
Copyright Compliance and
Copyright Resources)
• not disregard computer security measures, such as:
- using a computer account belonging to another individual;
- sharing passwords with another individual or permitting another individual to use their accounts;
- exposing other computers or the network to security threats such as viruses and spyware
- attempt to defeat or bypass computer and network security measures
• not use Digital Information Systems in a manner that
deliberately diminishes or interferes with the work of others.
• not provide, assist in, or gain unauthorized or
inappropriate access to the university’s computing resources.
• not use Occidental facilities or resources for
unauthorized or inappropriate access to systems, software or data at
remote sites.
• not use Occidental computing facilities and resources
to violate federal, state or local laws or statutes, as well as all
applicable contracts and licenses.
• not use College Digital Information Systems and
Information Resources for commercial use.
Software
Usage
Faculty, staff and students have permission for the use
of licensed software according to the terms of the licensing agreements
between Occidental College and the software licensors. Anyone using the
software agrees to abide by the terms of those agreements, acknowledging
that these software programs are proprietary and therefore are subject
to copyright or patent restrictions as defined in the license
agreements.
By using College software, individuals agree not to copy,
transfer, or remove from college facilities any licensed software,
including programs, applications, databases, and code. Occidental
College’s computer facilities, equipment or software may not be used to
violate the terms of any software license agreement or applicable
Federal or State laws and regulations pertaining to copyright
violations.
Electronic Mail
The confidentiality of any message or material should not
be assumed. Even when a message or material is deleted, it may still be
possible to retrieve and read that message or material. Students,
faculty, staff and other members of the Occidental College community
should not maintain any expectation of privacy with respect to
information transmitted over, received by, or stored in any electronic
communications device owned, leased, or operated in whole or in part by
or on behalf of the College. All electronic communications, files and
content presented to and/or passed on the College network, including
those to, from or through Internet connection(s), may be monitored,
examined, saved, read, transcribed, stored or re-transmitted by an
authorized employee or agent of the College, in its sole discretion,
with or without prior notice to the user. The College reserves and
intends to exercise the right to do so:
• when required by and consistent with law;
• when the College believes that there have been
violations of College policies;
• to insure the operation of the College’s electronic
communications services.
While the College makes a good faith effort to reduce the
amount of spam delivered to individual mailboxes, it accepts no
responsibility for the content of email received by account holders.
Specific provisions concerning email use at Occidental
College include:
• Email is an official form of College communication.
Account holders are responsible for accessing their email in a timely
manner.
• Forgery (or attempted forgery) of email messages is
prohibited.
• Attempts to read, delete, copy, or modify the email of
other users are prohibited.
• Deliberate interference with the ability of other users
to send/receive email is prohibited.
Networks
The College networks are operated as a private network
designed to provide for the mission-related needs of students, faculty,
staff and other members of the Occidental community. The College network
is a shared resource and all individuals using the network are
responsible for using it in a manner that does not inhibit or interfere
with use by others.
• Only computers or networked devices that have been
approved for connection by ITS may be connected to the College network.
• Network services, equipment, wiring or jacks may not be
altered nor extended beyond the location of their intended use.
• ITS has the sole authority to assign host names and
network addresses to computers attached to Occidental’s network.
Security
To protect the integrity of Occidental College’s
computing resources, ITS reserves the right to monitor the network,
computers attached to it, examine files and account information and to
test passwords.
ITS reserves the right to immediately disconnect any
computer that is found to be disrupting the network.
ITS reserves the right to immediately disconnect any
computer temporarily for the purpose of network hardware, software, or
security troubleshooting, and to enforce the Appropriate Usage Policy.
Questions
Questions and/or comments about this policy should be
directed to the Chief Information Officer at 323-259-2889 or
pmcquesten@oxy.edu.
