- Purpose. To secure and protect the information assets of Howard Community College.
- Consistent with College Mission. Information technology at Howard Community College is provided to facilitate the educational and business processes of the college. Employee use of information technology must be consistent with the mission of the college and comply with federal, state, and local laws.
- Eligibility for Access. Access to the college's information technology resources is a privilege granted to students, faculty, staff, and others designated by the college. The college reserves the right to extend, limit, restrict, or deny privileges and access to its information technology resources. Prior to access, all employees must first complete the college’s access and responsibility online training and read, complete, electronically sign, and submit the agreement access form at the end of the training.
- General Employee Responsibilities. The following responsibilities and standards apply to all employees given access to college information technology resources. Employees must:
- Access only those resources for which they have been specifically authorized.
- Use information technology resources only for college business, ,except as otherwise provided by the procedure, 40.02.01, Intellectual Property Produced By Howard Community College Faculty and Staff and policy, 40.02, Intellectual Property. This provision applies equally to all college-owned or college-leased equipment.
- Safeguard the access, transmission, and storage of all college-related information. Refer to college procedure, 61.13.01, Safeguarding College Information.
- Protect information systems by logging off of the college’s computer network when away from his/her workstation. Employees must protect computers by enabling the screen saver and password protection settings. Screen saver and password protection must be set to automatically engage after five to ten minutes of inactivity. Desktops and monitors should be powered down at the end of the workday, unless systems are needed for remote access or printer sharing. Employees must ensure regulated or confidential information displayed on monitors is not visible to others. Refer to college procedure, 61.13.01, Safeguarding College Information.
- Respect the privacy of person-to-person communication in all forms, including voice (telephone and voicemail), text (electronic mail and file transfer), and image (graphics and video). However, employees should not have an expectation for total privacy of their electronic communications. While in conjunction with their assigned duties, it may be necessary for system administrators and human resources personnel to retrieve electronic communications generated or received by employees. Access to employees’ electronic communications by system administrators, technicians, supervisors, or human resources staff must not be arbitrary or capricious and performed only with specific college purpose. Requests by supervisors for access to employee email accounts or other electronic files must first be approved by supervisors and area vice presidents.
- Not copy HCC licensed software for personal use or transfer software to non‑HCC equipment.
- Not interfere with or disrupt network users, services, or system resources. Disruptions include, but are not limited to, distribution of unsolicited advertising, creation and/or propagation of computer viruses, or transmission of slanderous and/or harassing materials.
- Not intentionally abuse, disrupt, or threaten the viability of any system, including those at the college and those on networks to which the college's systems are connected.
- Not record an individual’s social security number in any electronic device, document, or database, unless the collection is required by law and used for specific purposes within the college’s administrative computing system (Colleague). Additionally, employees must not transmit or require the transmission of an individual’s social security number over the Internet unless there is a secure connection and encryption protection. Refer to college procedure, 61.13.01, Safeguarding College Information.
Compliance with this and all other Howard Community College Policies and Procedures is expected under the policy, 63.09, Ethics and Conduct; noncompliance is subject to all of the disciplinary provisions of policy, 63.09, Ethics and Conduct up to and including suspension and/or dismissal and possible criminal prosecution. Effective Date: 11/13/09 | |
