Office of Information Technology

Usage Guidelines

This document describes the general policies covering the use of the Office of Information Technology Facilities. “Information Technology” means any use of Campus/University-owned/purchased computing machinery (central processors, printers, terminal, microcomputers, and other types of peripheral equipment), software (programs and documentation) related to teaching, learning and research activities, and related facilities (computing rooms, dial-up connections, Internet resources). Every user of university computing resources is expected to understand and follow these guidelines.

Access to the Office of Information Technology Network and Computer Accounts

Users gain access to the campus computer network by either being assigned personal computer “account” or through the use of one of the many “anonymous” accounts (Campus-wide Educational access account) that provide read/execute only access to the many software packages on LIUNET. These accounts (anonymous or personal) will from hereon be referred to as “accounts”.

Possession of a computer account allows the user access to network software and services of peripheral devices such as printers and plotters.

The Office of Information Technology provides access to computing for members of the Long Island University community. We provide services appropriate for the needs of particular users, within the framework of needs and objectives of the Campus/University. Computer access is made available to individuals and organizations, according to the guidelines which follow.

Alumni

Students who have graduated from Long Island University, and received a diploma are considered alumni. Alumni in possession of a valid alumni card are granted access to the general computer labs and access to all network software, however they are not entitled to a personal user account or e-mail address.

College Organizations

Organizations which are officially part of the Long Island University community may apply at the Office of Information Technology to use the computing facilities. The application must include a written description of the computing needs of the organization. One specific group member must be designated as the computer account manager, and that person is responsible for all computing activities of the organization account. Organization accounts will expire upon the organizations disbanding, or upon one year of inactivity. At Southampton special accounts are not created for organizations. However, members of the organization have access to a common area for filesharing.

Departmental Accounts

Academic Departments can have a general account similar to the type offered to College Organizations. Departmental accounts follow all of the rules and regulations of a College Organization.

Faculty

Faculty members, upon filling out an account request form, will be assigned Network accounts on the campus network for his/her use in teaching and research activities. Faculty accounts will expire upon leaving the University, or upon one year (except during the case of a Sabbatical) of inactivity.

Staff

Each staff member who has computing needs which support the overall goals of the University may apply at the Office of Information Technology for a computer account on the campus network. Staff accounts will expire upon leaving the University, or upon one year of inactivity.

Students

All registered University students will have access to the local computer network via one of the campus computer facilities, using a Campus-wide Educational access account. Once a person ceases to be a registered student (unless they are considered alumni) they will not be permitted use of the computer facilities.

Special Students

High school students and others who are taking classes as “special students” will be able to use the computing facilities as covered in the paragraph for students. They will be subject to the same policies as regular students. A special student will be able to use the facilities until he/she is no longer classified as a student.

Approval of Account Applications

The Chief Information Officer will approve/ disapprove requests for all accounts on the Campus network.

Cost of Computing

Users of the Long Island University computing facilities are not, in general, charged for the use of those facilities. The Office of Information Technology will provide reasonable supplies of expendable resources (e.g. paper) for publicly accessible peripherals such as printers and plotters. However, the Office of Information Technology reserves the right to levy charges for special supplies or services, and for computer use by campus organizations and individuals or organizations that are not part of the campus community.

General Use Policies Account Access

Account Access

In general, no person may use, or attempt to use, any computer account(s) other than his/her own assigned account(s).
In general, no account owner or manager may lend his/her account(s) to another user.
A user should only access, or attempt to access, files in his/her own account(s), or files which have been made accessible to him/her, or files which have been made publicly accessible by the file owners.
Each account owner or manager is responsible for all computing activities involving that account, and will be held liable for any misuse of that account.
Any exception to the access policies stated above must be approved in writing by the Chief Information Officer.

Proper Use of Computing Resources

University computing resources may not be used for any activity that is contradictory to the educational goals of the University. It is not to be used for work which is related to an individual’s private (non-Campus related) business.
University computing resources may not be used for any activity that violates the Campuses’ policies on academic honesty.
University computing resources may not be used for any activities which intimidate, threaten or harass individuals, or which violate the Campuses’ policies concerning relationships between Campus constituencies.
Using the electronic mail systems, Newsgroups or the World Wide Web to send or post obscene or threatening messages is strictly prohibited and subject to appropriate disciplinary action as well as loss of computer privileges and may be subject to criminal punishment as defined by law.
University computing resources may not be used for profit-making or commercial purposes, unless special arrangements have been made with the University.
University computing resources may not be used for partisan political activities.
No person may possess or use programs that violate or hamper another person’s use of computing resources. Examples of such programs are those that attempt to control terminals or PCs obtain another user’s passwords, acquire another user’s files, viruses, etc.
The use of private computer games, except as they relate to course work involving programming assignments, is not allowed.
Every user is expected to use the computing facilities in a manner which does not infringe upon use of those facilities by other people and which does not waste software resources or hardware resources.

Use of Licensed Software

No user is allowed to store or use private copies of licensed software (except that provided by the Office of Information Technology) on any Office of Information Technology computer system unless the user provides the Office of Information Technology with a copy of a license agreement allowing such possession.
Stolen or bootleg copies of software are not permitted on any University Campus Computing system.
No user may copy, or attempt to copy, any proprietary or licensed software provided or installed by the Office of Information Technology. This includes software on the campus network as well as any Office of Information Technology microcomputers.

Ownership of Software

All software developed using Office of Information Technology facilities and/or stored on a campus computing system is the property of Long Island University. Exceptions to this rule are available only in accordance with rules governing tenure, grants, and faculty development. Any exception to this policy must be arranged with the Chief Information Officer or the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Allocation and Maintenance of Computing Resources

Disk Quotas

Each Departmental, Faculty, Organization or Staff account will be assigned storage space (a quota) on one or more disk storage devices. Users may apply for additional quota by filling out request forms located at the Office of Information Technology.

Account Maintenance

Each account owner or manager is responsible for maintaining the account and files stored in the account. This maintenance includes removing old and unused files, backing up files to diskette, reading LIUNET NEWS to be aware of changes in computing procedures, and changing the account password regularly to prevent other users from gaining access to the account.

Off-Line Storage

It is the responsibility of the users to backup their own files. The Office of Information Technology will provide limited storage of user files on private magnetic tapes, according to the following operational procedures:

Users may purchase their own magnetic tapes under direction from the Office of Information Technology.
Users who want files copied to or from a private tape must give a written request detailing the requested transfer to the Chief Information Officer or his designated representative.
The only files which the Office of Information Technology will copy from or to a user’s tape are files which contain easily identifiable information (data, clearly documented source listing, documentation). No compiled programs or proprietary software may be copied from or to a users tape, except as covered in the paragraph “Use of Licensed Software.”

Account and File Security

The Office of Information Technology makes strong efforts to maintain the security of account numbers, passwords, directories and files. However, no computer system is truly secure, and it is possible that some user could gain access to another user’s account through actions or accidents beyond reasonable control. Each user must take full advantage of password and file protection security mechanisms provided by the Campus Network.

File Backups

The Office of Information Technology will carry out regular backup procedures to maintain relatively current copies of all users files stored in accounts.

Notification Of Changes In The Computing Environment

The Office of Information Technology will announce all non-transparent changes in operating procedures, hardware and software at least one week before the change is to take place. Such announcements will be made using the LIUNET NEWS or system broadcast messages. At Southampton typing NEWS will give the latest information about the state of the network, and any major projects being worked on.

Policy Enforcement and Modification

Interpretation of Policies

The Office of Information Technology staff is responsible for interpreting the general computing philosophy and policies of academic computing at Long Island University, in consultation with the Computer Users Committee when appropriate, and for implementing operational procedures to support the philosophy and policies.

Examination of Computer Accounts

The Office of Information Technology reserves the right to examine any information stored in any account on any campus computer system, after giving the user prior (24 hour) advance notice. The Chief Information Officer may authorize examination by an Office of Information Technology staff member of any files, pro-grams, passwords, accounting information, printouts, tapes, or other computing media used on campus computer systems.

Violations of Computing Policies

The campus may take disciplinary and/or legal action against any individual who violates any of the campus computing policies.
The Office of Information Technology may temporarily or permanently suspend an individual’s use of campus computing facilities. Generally, a person violating the policies for the first time will have his/her computing privileges suspended for two semester weeks. A second violation will result in a suspension of computing privileges for the semester. Such suspensions may be imposed regardless of any computer-related course work the student may have. Hence students should be aware that a suspension of computing privileges may have serious academic consequences.
The Office of Information Technology will report any violation of computing policies that bear on academic dishonesty or plagiarism to the appropriate campus committee(s), the Associate Provost for Student Affairs and/or any other appropriate University entities. These Committee(s) will pursue such reports by their usual procedures and this process will be independent of any action taken by The Office of Information Technology.