Technology Acceptable Use Policy

Approved by the Administrative Council of Gustavus Adolphus College: April 15, 2003.

Policy Statement

Technology resources provided by Gustavus Adolphus College are privileges made available to students, faculty, staff and approved guests of the College to facilitate and enhance their work, teaching, learning, and scholarly research. These resources include college-owned hardware, software, accompanying network resources, and technology support personnel. All constituents are expected to exercise responsibility, use technology resources ethically, respect the rights and privacy of others, and operate within the bounds of state and federal law, as well as the educational mission of the College.

Intended Use of Technology

The intended use of the College's technology resources is to support teaching, learning, research and campus services. Use of technology must be consistent with this purpose. Activities that are not in keeping with the intended use will not be tolerated, and may result in revocation of privileges. Such activities may include, but are not limited to

Activities that violate federal and state statutes or copyright laws
Activities that interfere with or deny access to other users
Activities that jeopardize the security or integrity of the system
Activities that are harassing, fraudulent, or threatening
Activities that significantly diminish or impede the educational use of these resources or flow of network traffic to other users, such as email spamming, file sharing or game playing
Activities that alter the configuration of college owned equipment in campus labs and other public areas, including the installation of software
Activities that are commercial in nature
Activities that create a hostile or offensive work environment
Copyright

Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code) to the authors of original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. You should assume materials you find on the Internet are copyrighted unless a disclaimer or waiver is expressly stated. Some examples of copyright violations would include:

displaying pictures or graphics you have not created yourself
offering sound recordings you have not produced yourself
using programs to distribute copyrighted files
placing any materials owned by others on your web page (or any other medium) without the expressed permission of the original owner
Fair Use

Educational institutions enjoy special exemptions from copyright protection called Fair Use, whereby reasonable portions of copyrighted material may be distributed by instructors to students in a class. For further information see the Library of Congress's Copyright Office Circular 21: Reproduction of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians at http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/circs/circ21.pdf

Violations

The College strives to direct its efforts to the enhancement of technology resources and not the policing of the use of those resources. Engaging in any activity that violates the intended use of campus technology will result in the disabling of the offender's technology privileges, and will be referred to the appropriate college judicial organization for review and any disciplinary recourse. Violations of state or federal law may be reported to the appropriate authorities.