NCWC: Computer Networking Policy

North Carolina Wesleyan College, hereinafter referred to as NCWC, maintains a private network with connectivity to the Internet, a public/global network. NCWC exercises limited control over the content of the Internet and subsequent transmissions into the private network. Those with valid NCWC network service accounts, hereinafter referred to as USERS, are expected to abide by all current and future policies/guidelines deemed necessary and prudent. These guidelines will be made publicly accessible, either through printed or electronic media. This policy is intended to do the following:

1. Preserve the utility and flexibility of the system

2. Protect the privacy and work of students, faculty, and staff

3. Preserve the right of NCWC to access global networks in order to facilitate the goals of the NCWC educational system.

NETWORK CONNECTIVITY

Users requiring network connectivity will request such from authorized Network Services personnel. Personal computer systems will be reviewed and audited before such network connectivity is granted. Only systems with compliant hardware and software will be granted connectivity. Hardware and Software in development stages may not be used without written notification to Information Systems department. Upon request of the IS Dept personnel, hardware and software believed to be causing problems must be removed. Contact the IS Dept personnel for further clarification.

GENERAL USAGE POLICY

1. Faculty, staff, students and others with NCWC authorized accounts may use the available computing facilities, including transmissions of data for scholarly purposes, official NCWC business, and for personal purposes so long as such use:

A. Does not violate any law or college policy.

B. Does not involve significant use of College resources, direct costs, or substantial interference with the performance of College duties /work.

C. Does not result in commercial gain or private profit.

D. Does not bring discredit to the NCWC establishment.

2. All users are expected to preserve the integrity of the NCWC network by prohibiting any person from sharing personal passwords or sharing personal accounts. It is the users' responsibility to report any unauthorized use and protect their accounts from such use by changing their passwords periodically and using passwords which have the following requirements:

A. Minimum of seven characters

B. Combination of upper and lower case letters or

C. Combination of letters and numbers

3. Owners of an account are responsible for actions that occur from that account.

4. Any attempt to circumvent system security, guess other passwords, or in any manner gain unauthorized access to NCWC or Internet resources is prohibited.

5. Transferring copyrighted materials to or from any system or via the NCWC network without express consent of the owner may be a violation of Federal Law and is a felony under State Law. Such violations will be subject to case-by-case review and may result in censure, removal of network access, or reported to pertinent authorities.

6. Use of electronic mail and other network communications facilities to harass, offend, or annoy other users of the network is prohibited.

7. The use of NCWC network facilities for playing graphics-based interactive games is NOT permitted; unless written permission has been granted. Users must stop such activity on request from authorized staff.

INFORMATION ACCESS AND USER PRIVACY

Electronic mail and other information passing over the College network, including information stored in user accounts and computers are considered to be private and confidential. Although this type of information must be accessed by system personnel for the purpose of backups, network management, etc., the content of user files and network transmissions will not be viewed, monitored, or altered without the express permission of the user except in the following circumstances:

1. The College has reason to believe that an account or system has been breached and is being used by someone other than the authorized user.

2. The College has received a complaint that an account or system is being used to gain unauthorized access or to attempt to gain unauthorized access to another network site

3. The College has reason to believe than an account or system is being used in violation of College Policy, Federal or State Law.

Under these circumstances a Vice President of the College may authorize system support personnel to monitor the activities of a specified account or computer system and to search electronic information stored in that account. The authority for this search must be requested on an account-by-account basis and monitoring will be restricted to the specified account. If this search provides evidence of violation the account will be disabled and action taken with appropriate authorities.

PRIVATE MACHINES CONNECTED TO THE COLLEGE NETWORK

It will become increasingly possible for computer systems owned by students, staff, or faculty to be attached directly to the NCWC Network via on-campus attachment or dial-in services. Of course, the owner of a personal machine may use that machine at his or her discretion, however, the use of the College network is subject to all of the policies stated in this document.

1. The owner of a machine connected to the NCWC network is responsible for the behavior of all users of that machine and for all network traffic to and from the machine. NCWC maintains no responsibility or liability for loss of data or hardware corruption on personal computer systems.

2. A private machine connected to the College network may not be used to provide network access to individuals who would not otherwise have access through official NCWC channels. The private machine may not be used to redirect data to other networks, nor may it serve in any way as an electronic gateway to non-College affiliated systems.

3. Private machines may not use the College network for commercial gain or profit.

4. Private machines may be used to support anonymous ftp, http, or gopher services when these services fall within the definition of scholarly use. Unless otherwise approved, in writing, provisions for interactive login services for non-College affiliated users is prohibited.

5. Should the College have reason to believe that a privately owned system is using the network inappropriately, network traffic to and from that system will be monitored and, if justified, the system will be disconnected and appropriate punitive action will be taken.