Policies on Computer Use and Internet Access

Gadsden State Community College provides technology resources for use by students, faculty, staff, and the general public. This technology includes, but is not limited to, all College computing equipment, software, systems, networks, electronic mail, web site, and Internet access. These resources are the property of the College and are provided to the campus community to support the College's mission and institutional goals. The College reserves the right to grant, restrict, or deny privileges and access to technology resources.

Use of technology resources must be consistent with the stated mission, goals, policies, procedures, and priorities of the College. Use of College resources is a privilege and requires that users agree to abide by all relevant College policies and procedures, and by all applicable federal, state, and local laws. Users are expected to conduct themselves in a responsible and ethical manner at all times.

Any use of College technology resources for illegal, inappropriate, or obscene purposes, or in support of such activities is prohibited. Respect for intellectual property or copyright, ownership of data, security measures, and personal rights and privacy must always be demonstrated.

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Enforcement of Policy

The College views misuse of technology resources as unacceptable and cause for disciplinary action. The College will actively investigate and report violations to the appropriate persons. Violations of this policy are treated like any other violation of College policy. After investigation by appropriate personnel or the President's designee, the College reserves teh right to discipline a user if it is determined that the user violated federal or state law or College policy.  Procedures contained in the faculty, support, and student handbooks will determine appropriate disciplinary action, up to and including termination of status or legal action.

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General Guidelines

The following guidelines will be observed when accessing College technology resources.

• Users are expected to use College facilities in a responsible and appropriate manner.
• Users must abide by all relevant laws, regulations, and contractual obligations relating to computer resources and networks.
• Users must respect the rights of other users.
• Users are prohibited from transmitting, posting, or otherwise displaying material that is threatening, obscene, harassing, or defamatory.
• Users are prohibited from accessing the Internet for commercial purposes.
• College students, staff, and faculty will have priority over community users.
• All Internet access is provided on a first-come, first-serve basis, and Internet usage may be limited in times of high demand.
• Users may be required to sign up for computer access at designated locations.
• Educational and research use of campus facilities takes precedence over any use for personal e-mail, chat rooms, or other recreational purposes. Users may be asked to vacate a workstation, if necessary, to permit access by a student with research or educational needs.
• Specific workstations may be designated for e-mail use.
• Printing may be limited or permitted only upon approval of authorized College personnel.

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Unacceptable Usage

To prevent use of technology that adversely affects the ability of others to use the resources of the College, abuse will not be tolerated, including, but not limited to:

• using or accessing profanity or obscenity in a deliberate manner 
• using inflammatory or derogatory language
• making libelous or slandering remarks
• activities connected with any attempt to overthrow the government of the United States
• any actions that can be interpreted as sexual harassment or that contribute to a hostile work-environment
• any actions of malicious intent
• violating another student's or employee's rights or privacy
• using the College's resources for personal profit
• distributing political campaign materials

The following examples illustrate unacceptable use of computer resources.

• Wastefully using network resources including consuming large amounts of bandwidth for prolonged periods of time (i.e. game-playing from any Internet site).
• Displaying images, sounds, or text containing nudity, obscenity, or graphic violence.
• Commercial, political, or private business excluding scholarly pursuits.
• Knowingly downloading or uploading a virus.
• Installing or downloading any software to a computer without the express consent of the appropriate College official for that area. To do so can create conflicts with existing software.
• Printing large amounts of information from the Internet, or printing information that contains primarily graphics.
• Reconfiguring or otherwise changing the computer system setups. In addition, users may not copy commercial software programs, or files, or attempt to access or modify such files. Any deliberate attempt to delete system files or to degrade or to disrupt system performance will be treated as criminal activity subject to penalty under applicable state and federal laws.
• Employees using the All Employee User mass distribution list to mass distribute non-work related messages.

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