Orange County Community College makes certain computing resources available to its administrators, faculty, staff, and students to support the instructional, student services, and administrative activities of the College.  These computing resources include host computer systems, personal computers, and communication networks, e-mail and Internet access, software, and data files.

Resources are granted to individuals while they are affiliated with the college, based upon their current status. All students taking courses for credit may utilize computing resources to support their academic career. Faculty, administrators, and staff are provided access for academic and professional use.

Acceptable Practices

Users of the college's computing resources are expected to abide by the following:

•  Users may not grant permission to others to use their accounts without prior approval of the Information & Technology Services.

•  Refraining from unauthorized copying, modifying, or destroying of work on the computer systems, both at the college and available over the network, and from accessing or attempting to access computing resources for which the user is not authorized or granted explicit permission.
  
•  Avoiding practices which would create a hostile working or learning environment or cause harm to others and/or to the system as a whole, including engaging in or disseminating illegal, obscene, threatening, or unwelcome electronic communication, displaying or printing sexually explicit material in a public location, or damaging computer resources physically or electronically.

Share resources equitably by using the computer system responsibly and avoiding activities that place a burden on system resources.

•  Activities which directly support the college's instructional programs and its’ administrative and student services operations must take priority over other academic or professional use.
  
•  Resource intensive applications (activities which require large amounts of network resource, such as video conferencing or transfers of very large files) must be scheduled with approval of the Information & Technology Services. Forward requests in advance to the Technical Help Desk at extension 4749.

Report security violations, including theft, vandalism, or unauthorized access, to Help Desk right away.

Internet Access and E-Mail Accounts

Purpose for Service:

Orange County Community College encourages communication among the members of the college and educational community. It also recognizes the needs of the college community to access the valuable resources found on the Internet. However, we must manage its resources in an effective and equitable manner.

Students:

On-campus Internet access is available at no cost to students currently enrolled in credit classes.  Services are available from computers at the college campuses only.

Faculty, Administrators, Staff, and Members of the College Community:

E-mail and Internet access is available to faculty, administrators, & staff, upon the written request of their supervisors. Accounts remain active only while an individual remains affiliated with the college in an eligible capacity. Access is from campus computers using a network or dial-in connection. Individuals may access their college e-mail account from their homes using an independent Internet service provider.

Privacy:

Computer files on college equipment, including e-mail documents, are not private. Similar to written communications in file cabinets, this material is college property and subject to subpoena. Files may be locked from user access and released by the college. While the college will make every effort within its resources to prevent unauthorized access, it does not guarantee against unauthorized access.

Remove Objectionable Material:

The college does not monitor electronic communications or publications. In the event of a complaint, however, the college reserves the right to remove/suspend publication of the objectionable material.

Respect the rights of others.  Don’t send abusive, threatening, or harassing materials. Use humor, cynicism, etc. with caution. Never rely on your postings being confidential or private, even if addressed to only one person.

Loss of Privileges:

These guidelines have been developed for the purpose of providing equitable and secure access to campus computing resources to the entire college community. Users who do not observe these requirements are subject to restriction or loss of computing privileges resources, and could be subject to civil and criminal penalties. Students who do not observe these requirements may be in violation and subject to disciplinary action.

 Procedures for Addressing Computer System Abuses

The recommended initial response for addressing employee computer system abuse problems is as follows:

In the event a system abuse is detected by or reported to a representative of one of the college's computer support areas, that representative is to immediately report the abuse to the support area's administrator or coordinator.  For those matters that cannot be satisfactorily resolved through informal means, individuals administering the support area at the time of the report may take immediate action to prevent further system abuse. The support area's administrator or coordinator may order the suspected employee to leave the facility, or remove the employee's access to a resource for a maximum of 24 hours. Administrators or coordinators may also choose to allow the abuse to continue in order to gather further evidence on the abuser.

Upon receipt of an abuse notification, the support area administrator or coordinator is to contact the area supervisor and/or the Administrative Director of Human Resources, providing notification of the incident.  This should be followed up with a written complaint outlining the problem.  A prompt review of the incident by the area supervisor will determine if the abuse warrants further action and if any control is to remain in place pending a hearing.  A final determination on the college's response to the incident will be made during these proceedings.

Definition of Computer System Abuse:

•  Engaging in or disseminating illegal, obscene, threatening, or unwelcome electronic communication.
  
•  Copying, modifying or destroying college network or Internet-based files.
  
•  Accessing or attempting to access the college network or Internet resources for which the user is not authorized or granted explicit permission.
  
•  Willfully engaging in practices that place undue burdens on college resources (ex.  Spamming)

Network and Department Based Computer Resources

The College Network:

The college network consists of the wide area network interconnections among the campuses, the campus backbones and sub net infrastructures; and the college and campus servers connected directly to this infrastructure. The Office of Technologies has the responsibility for designing, implementing and administering this resource.

Department Based Computing Resources:

Departments may purchase PC’s, hardware and software; and may request individual PC’s, workgroups and LANs be connected to the College backbone. Connection of these devices and facilities will be based upon campus and college technology priorities. Departments are responsible for adhering to equipment and software standards established by the College to receive college-wide services.

Services Include:

Designing, Installing and maintaining the college's network infrastructure. Provide design assistance to departments. Installing/repairing PC and Server type hardware.  Installing network, access and college-wide application software on college/campus servers and PC's connected directly to the college backbone. Designing, installing and maintaining college wide systems and applications for administrative and student services functions, done in collaboration with application specific user groups. Collaborating with faculty and instructional support staff on the instructional use of data and facilities.

Office desktop equipment assigned to an individual is the responsibility of that individual. Individuals are expected to exercise good judgment on issues dealing with equipment and data security and system backups, and are expected to load and maintain the integrity of the software licensed for their use. College/campus purchasing support and technical support is available for the equipment and software established as standard by the College.

Backbone Infrastructure:

The College network is made up of a primary backbone for the transport of both academic and administrative traffic between buildings, among the campuses and to the Internet.  Access to the backbone will be through campus or building routers and/or switches.

Request Process:

A college department or office may arrange for a temporary connection of non-college equipment to the college network for demonstration purposes.  Initial requests must go to the Department of Technology or include the following:

• The description and purpose of the demonstration; 
• The location where the connection is required;
• The type of connection requested;
• The date and time the connection is needed; and
• The expected bandwidth resources (if known)
• The College will work through this department to deliver the service.   

Requests should be made with adequate advance notice and are subject to the availability of facilities and bandwidth.

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