Acceptable Use of Information Resources

Security & Privacy, , ,

This policy was approved by the Board of Trustees on March 27, 2018 and supersedes the Guidelines for Acceptable Use of Information Resources. Below you will find two of the key elements from the policy. Follow the link for the full policy.

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to protect the College network and information resources. Inappropriate use exposes South Texas College to risks including virus attacks, compromise of network systems and services, and legal issues. The intent of this policy is not to impose restrictions that are contrary to the institutions established culture of openness, trust and integrity. South Texas College endeavors to protect employees, students and the institution from illegal or damaging actions by individuals, either knowingly or unknowingly. Effective security is a team effort involving the participation and support of everyone at the college who deals with information resources.

Acceptable Use

State law provides protection against abuse of information resources or against unauthorized use. In the same manner, the College shall define activities that are not acceptable and that might break the law, impact operations or create a negative environment.

  1. Responsibilities of User of College Information Resources
    1. Protect information that is classified as confidential or protected by law.
    2. Protect the user identification and password that is assigned.
    3. Adhere to the Information Security Mobile Device Security Standard when connecting personal devices to college information resources.
    4. Immediately report lost or stolen devices that are owned by the College or personal devices that contain College data.
    5. Respect intellectual property rights.
    6. Adhere to the terms of software licensed by the College or installed on College information resources.
    7. Use information resources in a manner that complies with State and Federal law.
  2. Prohibited Uses of College Information Resources
    1. Sharing the password for your College user accounts.
    2. Attempting to gain or gaining unauthorized access to information resources.
    3. Sending unsolicited email messages unrelated to College functions.
    4. Intercepting electronic communications.
    5. Disabling or tampering with the security controls applied to information resources.
    6. Performing actions on information resources that result in disruption or performance degradation.
    7. Transmitting or displaying media content in a manner that violates the College’s policy, including, but not limited to, Policy 4216 Discrimination, Harassment, Retaliation, and Sexual Misconduct.
    8. Copyright infringement by illegally downloading, streaming, or sharing protected material.
    9. Use of information resources for personal profit, commercial reasons, non-College fundraising, political campaigning or any illegal activity, with the exception of activities sponsored by the College.
    10. Intentionally or knowingly installing, executing, or providing to another user, a program or file that could result in the damage or unauthorized modification of an information resource.
    11. Personally owned devices can only connect via our wireless network.