Maryville College Network and Computer Use Policy

General Guidelines

Each member of the Maryville College community (students, faculty, staff, and authorized guests) who uses computing resources (College-owned computers, peripherals, software, servers, network storage, and Internet access) is expected to know and must agree to follow this Computer Use Policy. Persons who use College computing resources must also abide by any federal, state, or local laws or regulations that apply. This includes but is not limited to copyright laws.

The primary purpose of the Maryville College network is to support the educational and administrative functions of the campus. The College provides computer access to students enrolled in classes and maintains computers for staff and faculty with software appropriate to their work-related needs. Use of College-owned computers and the network, including the Internet, is a privilege rather than a right.

Students may receive Internet access by connecting personally owned devices to the wireless network across campus or the wired network in their residence hall rooms. Information Technology (IT) provides hardware specifications necessary to connect to the network. Productivity software such as word-processing, spreadsheets, and applications needed for academic work are available in computer labs. Users are provided with and encouraged to utilize cloud file storage services associated with their accounts.

Users may access only the network account assigned to them and are held responsible for all activity on and information stored in their account. Users should take every precaution to protect their account credentials, such as enabling multi-factor authentication or 2-step verification.

Users of College computing resources are expected to respect the privacy of others and the confidentiality of messages sent to others. Users may not access or review messages that are not intended for them. All users of College computing resources must report possible security issues to IT. Educational and administrative use of Maryville College computing resources has the highest priority.

Privacy

The College does not disclose nonpublic information except when requested in writing by the user, or when the disclosure is permitted or required by law. Information collected by the College may be shared with other College departments as well as outside vendors for marketing purposes.

All users of the Maryville College network recognize that information transmitted, stored, and used on the network is subject to the governing policies of Maryville College and applicable state and federal laws. Maryville College is responsible for and takes significant measures to ensure the integrity of the network.

Maryville College, through the IT department, secures and protects information on the College’s network by the use of unique user identifiers (IDs) and credentials assigned to each user. These IDs and credentials enable individually customized permissions relating to users’ ability to access College-owned data and systems.

IT will ensure the integrity of the network and minimize risk of unauthorized use by issuing private identifications and credentials to users, enforcing systematic changes to passwords at regular intervals, and instituting policies that prevent unauthorized access to an account.

In the course of performing College functions, certain departments rely on information for bona fide business needs. In these circumstances, the College grants permission to staff in these departments to access relevant information on student and/or employee records. In addition to the system hardware and software, all electronic files and electronic messages are the property of Maryville College, whether composed, received or sent by a user of the network. E-mail messages and other electronic files constitute business records belonging to the College. Because all messages are the property of the College, users should not expect that messages are private.

Maryville College reserves the right to monitor any and all use of its computer and communications network and reserves the right to inspect email and to monitor internet use. The College may disclose any messages in the network for any purpose without notice to a user and without seeking permission of the user.

IT is responsible for providing services in the most efficient manner while considering the needs of the entire user community. At certain times, the process of carrying out these responsibilities may require special actions or intervention by the IT staff. At all other times, IT staff members have no special rights beyond those of other users. IT shall make every effort to ensure that persons in positions of trust do not misuse computing resources or data or take advantage of their positions to access information not required in the performance of their duties.

IT prefers not to act as a disciplinarian or to police network activities. However, in cases of unauthorized, inappropriate, or irresponsible behavior, IT reserves the right to take corrective action, starting with an investigation of the possible abuse. Information Technology, with all due regard for the rights of privacy of users, shall have the authority to examine data and accounting information, or other material that may aid the investigation. The IT Director or designee must authorize examination of the user’s files. Examples of examination include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • The Director of IT may instruct his or her staff to investigate an account suspected of being used by someone other than its rightful owner.
  • The Director of IT may instruct his or her staff to investigate an account suspected of being used in a manner that violates Maryville College’s policies, or federal, state, or local law. If such action is necessary, users are expected to cooperate in the investigation. Failure to do so may be grounds for cancellation of access privileges.
  • The Director of IT may take measures as required, including the suspension a user’s ability to access network resources if he or she determines that it is necessary in order to assess or control risk to the network as a whole.

Prohibited Activities

The following activities are prohibited:

  • Sharing account credentials
  • Attempting to use an account belonging to someone else
  • Attempting to circumvent network or account security
  • Using the network for personal commercial activity
  • Downloading or making unauthorized copies of software or media
  • Making unauthorized attempts to access data belonging to Maryville College or another user
  • Attempting to make unauthorized modification of data belonging to Maryville College or another user
  • Developing programs to access or modify data belonging to Maryville College or another user
  • Intentionally introducing malicious or other detrimental unauthorized software
  • Using a device connected to the College network to host network services
  • Using the College network to solicit for charitable or commercial ventures, or in any way that violates the College’s no solicitation policy
  • Using the network to proselytize for religious, political, or other causes
  • Using the network to harass, offend, or threaten others. The College policies prohibiting sexual or other harassment are applicable to use of the network. Messages that contain foul, inappropriate, or offensive language, or those containing racial or ethnic slurs, or sexual innuendo are prohibited.

Sanctions for Policy Violations

Violations of this policy will be reported to the employee’s supervisor in the case of a College employee, the Dean of the College in cases that involve academic integrity, or the Assistant Dean of Students.

Faculty and Staff Handbooks and this Catalog provide information about sanctions to be applied when rules and policies are not followed. Additionally, Maryville College’s Academic Integrity Policy contains provisions for dealing with dishonesty involving electronic information, documents, and equipment (see Academic Integrity Policy, “Violations of Academic Integrity” section, items 6, 7, and 8). In addition to sanctions noted in these documents, privileges to use the College network may be revoked. State or Federal penalties may apply.