Introduction

The purpose of this policy is to acknowledge restrictions the College places on the use of College owned computer hardware, copyrighted software that is licensed to the College, the security of students, staff and faculty records, and Internet Access. Use of College computers and/or software is an agreement by the user to comply with all provisions of this policy. Violation of any provisions of this policy could result in disciplinary action.

Policy

Computer Security - Computer security is critically important to the College. Each person at HACC who gains access to the computer system including students and student workers, should do so under that individual's unique userid and password. Use of another person's userid and password is prohibited by law and by College policy. Userids and passwords should not be loaned to another person even on a temporary basis. Any compromise of security is a serious matter, and College employees and students are responsible for all actions performed under their userids and passwords.The College may monitor access to and use of the equipment and networking structures and systems for the following purposes:

Family Education Rights and Privacy Act Provisions - Employees at HACC may have access to education records which contain personally identifiable information, the disclosure of which is prohibited by the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974. Disclosure of this information to any unauthorized person (including a parent or spouse) is contrary to College policy.

Software Copyrights - It is the policy of the College to honor the copyrights of all software packages used by or licensed to the College and to recognize the intellectual property rights of the owner. All software run on computers owned or controlled by the College must be purchased and used in accordance with College policies and procedures. Restrictions under this policy include:

Business Records - Any and all records generated by the College, including but not limited to personnel records, payroll records, business and other records are considered to be confidential. Willful or intentional unauthorized disclosure of such information violates College policy.

Internet - Access to the Internet is provided to College employees and students for the purposes of education, administration, and research only. Use of the Internet, including email, to create, display, or transmit language and/or materials which violate local, state or federal laws or regulations is strictly prohibited. Such use includes, but is not limited to, the violation of applicable laws regarding copyright and trademark infringement, fraud, forgery, harassment, discrimination, obscenity, libel or slander. The adopted Board of Trustee policy "Statement of Individual Rights of All Members of the College Community, Visitors and Guests" and the "Statement of Practices Constituting Unacceptable Conduct" are incorporated by reference in this policy.

System Tampering - It is a violation of College policy to intentionally disrupt the performance of the College's computer system or the College network; introduce computer viruses; read, execute, modify or delete any file belonging to someone else without permission; or damage or remove without permission from Computer Services any hardware that supports the College's computer system or College network.

Procedures

The College will publish the policy in the College catalog, the Student Handbook, and the administrative, classified, and faculty handbooks.

Any suspicious occurrences or breaches of the policy will be reported to the departmental supervisor, or in the case of branch locations, to the chief administrative officer. In cases concerning a breach of password security or copyright violation, the departmental supervisor or chief administrative officer will notify the Dean of Information Technology and Distance Learning.

The Safety and Security Office may be contacted by College employees or by student workers for assistance if a computer user continues to disregard the policy. The Safety and Security Office will create a report of the incident. A copy of the report will be sent to the immediate supervisor, the Vice President of Student Services, and to the President of the College.

College employees are subject to disciplinary action resulting from inappropriate behavior as stated above in 1 through 3. Corrective action will be instituted by the immediate supervisor and may include processes described in Regulations for Reprimand, Suspension, and Dismissal of Faculty (886), Staff (888), and Administrators (889) respectively and the Student Disciplinary Policy.

Userids and passwords for College employees are obtained by completion of the HACC Employee Computer Access Form available from Computer Services.

Computer Services is responsible for maintaining a database of computer software that is owned by or licensed to the College. College employees and students should contact Computer Services with any questions concerning software use violations or to determine whether software is appropriately licensed.