Delta College Access & Use Guidelines

Applicability

Delta College (“the College”) Access and Acceptable Use Guidelines (“Guidelines”) apply to all Users of Information Resources as defined herein. College students, faculty and staff, and all others using computer and communication technologies, including the College's network, whether personally or College-owned or funded, which access, transmit, or store College or student information are covered by these Guidelines. By accessing the College’s Information Resources, Users agree to be bound by these Guidelines.

Guidelines Statement 

All use of the College’s Information Resources should support the basic missions of the College in teaching, learning, and educational access. Users of the College’s Information Resources are responsible to properly use and protect Information Resources, and respect the rights of others. This statement provides Guidelines that define the appropriate use of Information Resources. 

1. Definitions

As used in these Guidelines:

1. "Information Resources" include but are not limited to College-owned or College-funded: computers, systems, applications, programs, internal and external networks, network and communication services, devices, storage devices, telephones, output devices, and connecting resources of any kind (e.g. projectors, cameras), and other technologies or platforms, including cloud hosted solutions, that access, store, or transmit information or data, including databases.
2. "Personally-Owned Resource" includes any Information Resource that is not owned or funded by the College.
3. “User” includes any student, faculty, staff, trustee, volunteer, emeritus or retired employee, guest, or any other person who accesses the College’s Information Resources. 

2. Acceptable Use Statement

By accessing College Information Resources, Users assume personal responsibility for the appropriate access and use of Information Resources and agree to comply with these Guidelines, all applicable College policies and procedures, as well as external networks' policies and procedures, and applicable local, state, and federal laws and regulations. 

Private business use or use for personal gain, non-profit activities, activities such as advertising and fundraising not related to and not authorized by the College are prohibited.  Excessive personal use of College Information Resources for activities such as game playing, financial transactions or communicating with family and friends is also prohibited. Uses that threaten the integrity of any College-owned Information Resources, the function of Information Resources accessed through the system, the privacy or safety of anyone, or that are illegal are expressly forbidden. Violation of these Guidelines may lead to penalties up to and including loss of system access, employment termination, expulsion from classes or from the College, responsibility for any costs or damages caused to the College or to other Users related to violation of these Guidelines, and referral to law enforcement for any illegal activities. Users are solely responsible for any risk of or actual personal criminal or civil liability under local, state, and federal laws and regulations related to their use of Information Resources.   

3. Guidelines

1. General Statement: Users of Information Resources must protect: (1) their online identity from use by another individual, (2) the integrity of Information Resources, and (3) the privacy of electronic information and data.
   
   
2. Access: Users may not seek to gain or provide unauthorized access to Information Resources to an unauthorized individual. A User may not access Information Resources to gain access to information or data for a purpose that is unrelated to the User’s job responsibilities, the exercise of a College function, or the exercise of an academic function. Authorized system administrators may access Information Resources only to the minimum extent necessary to accomplish legitimate, authorized, operational purposes.
   • Prohibition against Sharing Identities: Sharing an online identity (user ID and password or other authentication method such as a token or certificate) is prohibited.
   • Information Belonging to Others: Users must not intentionally seek out or provide information on, obtain copies of, or modify data files, programs, or other digital materials belonging to another User, without the specific permission of the other User or that User’s supervisor.
   • Abuse of Computing Privileges: Unauthorized access to or unauthorized sharing of Information Resources will be treated as an abuse of College computing privileges.
3. Usage: The College is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization and, as such, is subject to specific federal, state, and local laws regarding sources of income, political activities, use of property and similar matters. Accordingly, the College must assure proper use of property under its control and allocation of overhead and similar costs. Use of the College's Information Resources must comply with these Guidelines, College policies and legal obligations (including licenses and contracts), and all federal and state laws.
   • Prohibited Use: Users must not send, view, or download fraudulent, harassing, obscene (i.e., pornographic), threatening, or other messages or material that are a violation of applicable law or College policy. In particular, contributing to the creation of a hostile academic or work environment is prohibited. Each user must respect the privacy of every other User. Users may not represent themselves as someone else or send messages that appear to originate from someone else ("spoofing"). Users may not access or attempt to access, copy, modify or otherwise view or use the passwords, data, or electronic resources of any other User or individual, except as expressly authorized in writing by the Chief Information Officer (“CIO”) of the Office of Information Technology (“OIT”).  
   • Copyrights and Licenses: Users may not violate copyright law and must respect licenses to copyrighted materials. For the avoidance of doubt, unlawful file-sharing using the College's Information Resources is a violation of these Guidelines.
   • Social Media: Users must respect the purpose of and abide by the terms of use of online media forums, including social networking websites, mailing lists, chat rooms, and blogs. The same common-sense rules of courtesy, ethics, morality, and law apply on digital platforms as elsewhere.
   • Political Use: College Information Resources may not be used for partisan political activities where prohibited by federal, state or other applicable laws, and may be used for other political activities (including but not limited to, activities to solicit support — financial or otherwise — for or against legislation, governmental policies, or other political matters) only when in compliance with federal, state, and other laws and in compliance with applicable College policies and these Guidelines.
   • Personal Use: College Information Resources should not be used for activities unrelated to appropriate College functions, except in a purely incidental manner.
   • Commercial Use: College Information Resources should not be used for commercial purposes unrelated to, not mandated by, or expressly permitted by the College, including advertisements, solicitations, promotions, or other commercial messages, except as permitted under these Guidelines or College policy. Any such permitted commercial use should be properly related to College activities, take into account proper cost allocations for government and other overhead determinations, and provide for appropriate reimbursement to the College for taxes and other costs the College may incur by reason of the commercial use. The College's Executive Director of Institutional Advancement and Director of Marketing and Public Information will determine permitted commercial uses.
   • Use of College Information: Users must abide by applicable secure data storage and transmission practices, including the appropriate application of information security safeguards, standards, and best practices as generally recognized within the higher education community.
   • Unattended Information Resources: Users with access to employee or student information, or any other information that is protected by state or federal law, must not leave open Information Resources unattended. Users must sign out of any open programs, applications, or other Information Resource prior to leaving a computer or device unattended.
   • No Warranties: The College makes no warranties of any kind, either express or implied, for the Information Resources it provides. The College is not responsible for any damages suffered by Users due to, but not limited to, loss of data, user errors, system malfunctions, or delays due to an interruption of service. 
4. Personally-Owned Resources: Delta College personnel may, in some cases, desire to utilize their personally-owned resources to conduct College business. Individual divisions or departments within the College may permit such use, and users may choose to use their own resources accordingly. Any personally-owned resources used for College business are subject to these Guidelines and must comply with all Delta College requirements pertaining to that type of resource and to the type of data involved. The resources must also comply with any additional requirements (including security controls for encryption, patching, and backup) specific to the particular College functions for which they are used. Confidential information, such as social security numbers, credit card information, and information protected by state or federal law must comply with security controls and not be stored on a personallyowned resource. The College is not responsible for personally-owned equipment, software, or data including, without limitation, personal laptops, personal computer peripherals, mobile or tablet devices, or any data on removable media. At all times and in all contexts, users connect to College systems at their own risk.
   
   
5. Integrity of Information Resources: Users must respect the integrity of Information Resources.
   • Modification or Removal of Information or Information Resources: Unless they have proper authorization, Users must not attempt to modify or remove information, data, or Information Resources that are owned or used by others.
   • Other Prohibited Activities: Users must not encroach, disrupt, or otherwise interfere with access or use of the College's Information Resources. For the avoidance of doubt, without express permission, users must not give away College Information Resources or send bulk unsolicited email. In addition, users must not engage in other activities that damage, vandalize or otherwise compromise the integrity of College Information Resources, information, or data. The following list is provided to illustrate the kinds of uses that could subject users to penalties by the College or by outside authority and is not an exhaustive list:
     • Harassment, intimidation, or bullying, such as repeated unwanted or threatening communications,
     • Any violation of others' privacy,
     • Destruction or damage to equipment, software or data of the College or others, o Violation of computer or Information Resources security,
     • Use of accounts or access codes other than one’s own, or permitting another unauthorized person to use accounts or access codes, o Violation of copyright or software license agreements,
     • Negligent or deliberate inappropriate use of Information Resources in any way that degrades service for other users, including viruses, malware, and the like,
     • Academic dishonesty,
     • Violation of these Guidelines, College policy or local, state or federal law, o Use of Information Resources for any purpose which is criminal, or that the College determines is unethical, dishonest, damaging to the reputation of the College, or likely to subject the College to liability, o Any unauthorized access to College Information Resources, information, or data,
     • "Spamming", “phishing”, or the non-commercial equivalent, defined as sending any large volume of unsolicited e-mail which is irrelevant to most, if not all, recipients.
   • Academic Use: The College recognizes the value of legitimate research projects undertaken by faculty and students under faculty supervision. The College may restrict such activities in order to protect College and individual information and Information Resources, but in doing so will take into account legitimate academic pursuits. The College will not impose restraints except as required by applicable law and system administration requirements. All communications are subject to such laws, including those regarding others' rights to privacy, licensing or copyright, prohibition of defamation, or prohibition of harassment or stalking. The consequences of violations can be severe.  Users must observe classroom and computer lab policies and procedures and comply with instructions of support staff in the computer labs and OIT staff. In particular, Users will vacate workstations or the facility and will surrender other resources (such as printers and software) promptly when asked to do so both at closing times and when necessary to permit access by others.  Anything Users access in an academic environment may be copyrighted. Absence of a © notice does not mean that the material is not copyrighted. For example, before downloading a document, an image, or any other media for academic use, Users should request and receive the author's explicit permission. Users are personally responsible for any statements made via Information Resources of the College, including statements on any personal, academicuse web pages. Such statements do not represent the opinions of the College or any other member of the College community.
6. Locally Defined and External Conditions of Use: Individual units within the College may define "conditions of use" for Information Resources under their control. These statements must be consistent with these overall Guidelines but may provide additional detail, guidelines, restrictions, and/or enforcement mechanisms. Where such conditions of use exist, the individual units are responsible for publicizing and enforcing both the conditions of use and these Guidelines. Where use of external networks is involved, policies governing such use also are applicable and must be followed.
   
   
7. Access for Legal and College Processes: Under some circumstances, as a result of investigations, subpoenas or lawsuits, the College may be required by law to provide electronic or other records, information related to those records, or information relating to use of Information Resources

("Information Records") to third parties. Additionally, the College may in its reasonable discretion review Information Records (i.e. for the proper functioning of the College) in connection with investigations or audits, or to protect the safety of individuals or the College community. The College may also permit reasonable access to data to third-party service providers in order to provide, maintain, or improve services to the College. Accordingly, Users of College Information Resources do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy when using the College's Information Resources. College system administrators have access to all Information Resources and will monitor them as necessary to assure efficient performance, appropriate use, and maintain sufficient security to prevent Information Resources from being compromised. For the avoidance of doubt, users should not assume that anything received, sent, or stored using any College Information Resources is private. The College generally, and system administrators specifically, will respect the privacy of Users; and, whenever deemed appropriate and/or necessary, administrators will request written permission from the College’s Human Resources department in cases requiring specific access to employee information. If improper access or illegal use is disclosed, it may be reported and penalized. Legal process, including requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act, may also compel disclosure.  At all times and in all situations, the College reserves the right to monitor, manage, and control the usage of Information Resources, and to make changes to these Guidelines without prior notice.

4. Oversight of Information Resources

The College’s Information Resources and technology systems are centrally managed, secured, and administered by OIT.

Responsibility for, management, and responsible handling of the operational and business use of departmental information, College data, and Information Resources is delegated to the head (“lead”) of each specific department of the College, such as an Executive Director, Vice President, Director, Dean, or Associate Dean. This person will be responsible for ensuring compliance with these Guidelines and all College policies relating to the use of data or Information Resources owned, used, or otherwise residing in their department. The lead may designate another person in their department (“designee”) to manage and operate the system, but responsibility for Information Resources remains with the lead. 

The lead or department designee is responsible for managing and operating Information Resources under their oversight in compliance with these Guidelines and College and departmental policies, including accessing Information Resources necessary to maintain operation of the systems and processes under their care.

1. Responsibilities: In cooperation with OIT, the lead or department designee should:
   1. Take all appropriate actions to protect the security of Information Resources.
   2. Take reasonable precautions against theft of or damage to Information Resources.
   3. Faithfully execute and abide by all licensing agreements applicable to Information Resources.
   4. Communicate these Guidelines, and other applicable information use, security, and privacy policies and procedures to their Information Resource Users.
   5. Cooperate with OIT to implement secure use guidelines and find and correct problems caused by the use of the information, data, and Information Resources under their control.
2. Suspension of Privileges: The lead, department designee, or OIT may temporarily suspend access to Information Resources if they believe it is necessary or appropriate to maintain the integrity of the Information Resources under their oversight.

5. Reporting or Investigating Violations or College Concerns

1. Reporting Violations: System Users will report violations of these Guidelines to OIT, and will immediately report defects in system accounting, concerns with system security, or suspected unlawful or improper system activities to OIT during both normal business hours and after-hours.
2. Accessing Information and Systems: Inspecting and monitoring Information and Information Resources may be required for the purposes of enforcing these Guidelines, conducting College investigations or audits, ensuring the safety of an individual or the College community, complying with law or ensuring proper operation of Information Resources. Only the College's Vice President of Business and Finance, Director of Business Services, or Chief Information Officer (or designee) may authorize this inspection and monitoring.
3. Cooperation Expected: Information Resources Users are expected to cooperate with any investigation of policy abuse. Failure to cooperate may be grounds for cancellation of access privileges, or other disciplinary action.

6. Consequences of Misuse of Information Resources

A User found to have violated these Guidelines may also have violated the College’s Code of Conduct and/or other College policies and will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action up to and including dismissal, expulsion, and/or any other appropriate legal action. The College's Vice President of Business and Finance, Director of Business Services, or Chief Information Officer will refer violations to College units, i.e., Student Services for students, the supervisor for staff, or the Dean of the relevant department for faculty or other teaching or research personnel, if appropriate.   

The consequences and the particulars of the process will depend on the violation. When required to either protect others or safeguard integrity of Information Resources, immediate termination or suspension, removal of electronic information or other materials, suspension of User privileges, or other actions may occur. Whenever possible, Users will be notified of the alleged infraction and will have an opportunity to respond to a person or body separate from information resource systems administration and will have an opportunity to appeal. The process used will depend on the nature of the alleged infraction, and could be heard under the Judicial Process, Student Violation of College Rules and Regulations, Disciplinary Action, Support Staff Policies and Procedures 1.12; the Grievance/Complaint Procedures for Equal Opportunity/ Equity Concerns, other appropriate college policies, procedures, or guidelines.  The process could also be referred to outside legal authorities where violations of local, state, or federal law are involved. Penalties imposed may range from warnings to suspension of privileges for a temporary, definite, or indefinite period, to termination of employment or expulsion from classes or from the College, to civil suit or criminal prosecution and the penalties resulting from those actions. 

7. Oversight Responsibility

The College's Chief Information Officer (“CIO”) and Director of Business Services, or other person designated by the Vice President of Business and Finance, shall be the primary contacts for the interpretation, monitoring, revising, and enforcement of these Guidelines.

Last Revision 01/03/2024