Information Technology Policy
Home > Technology > Policies and Procedures > MACU IT Policy
| Overview |
| Purpose |
| Scope |
| Definitions |
| Network Drive Management |
| Institutional Data Integrity and Management |
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| Copyrights |
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| Wireless Network Policy |
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| Wireless Network Availability | |
| Technology, Installation, and Management | |
| Security and Access | |
| Student Computer Labs |
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| Hours of Operation |
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| General Usage | |
| Printing | |
| Saving Documents | |
| Disciplinary Action |
This policy provides guidelines for appropriate and accepted use of Mid-Atlantic Christian University’s network and computer systems. Users of the University’s information systems must adhere to University, State, and Federal guidelines with respect to copyrights and licenses, as well as, respect the University’s information security guidelines and obey the guidelines of accepted use detailed in this Network Policy.
Mid-Atlantic Christian University’s network and computer systems have been designed to facilitate teaching and learning. To facilitate these goals end users are required to interact with the University’s networking infrastructure and computer systems. As a consequence of this interaction it is necessary to provide appropriate usage guidelines. Mid-Atlantic Christian University’s Network Policy codifies appropriate guidelines with respect to privacy and various federal guidelines.
This policy applies to all interactions with the University network—staff, faculty, students, guest, and other temporary users of the University network are included. This policy governs all network devices, cellphones, personal computers, university-owned computers, the University website, email, and all associated software that makes use of the University network.
Definitions OIT Office of Information Technology.
Acceptable Usage of University Computers and Campus Network
Access to the Internet and email is available on-campus. Access is a privilege, not a right. All users must respect other users and respect all pertinent license and contractual agreements. Free access to the network is a privilege that may be revoked at any time for abusive conduct.
You will be assigned a user name and password. When you enter the University network, you leave your privacy at the door. Your email and Internet activity is public information and you should limit your activity accordingly. Your email can be read by people other than the party it is intended for. Internet traffic can be monitored by people outside of the MACU network as well as inside. Therefore, do not abuse Mid-Atlantic Christian University's good name to access, for instance, sexually explicit web pages. The owner of the computer will be held responsible for whoever uses his or her computer. Using your computer privileges for hacking someone else's computer is a criminal offense.
Responsible use of the university computer and network resources requires that you:
- Respect the copyright and license provisions as they apply to all programs and data made available on the campus computers and the Internet.
- Respect the copyright of all materials with respect to their incorporation into papers/assignments, software, presentations, multimedia applications and Internet servers.
- Respect the rights of others by not tampering with their accounts, passwords, programs or data.
- Use only those computers, IDs, and passwords for which you are authorized, and use them only for the purposes for which they are intended. Do not share your computer account or password with others.
- Avoid overuse of the network or printing resources of the central computers' processing power or disk storage.
- Preserve the privacy of personal or institutional data to which you may have access.
- Provide for the security of computers systems for which you are responsible. This includes, but is not limited to, adequate backups and virus protection software.
Mid-Atlantic Christian University uses OpenDNS to restrict access to websites that do not MACU's vision and code of conduct. Please contact MACU OIT at itsupport@macuniversity.edu with questions about web filtering.
Guest usage of the MACU network and any MACU OIT system requires special permission from the system's administrator and (when applicable) payment of fees to the University and to the appropriate software vendors.
Theft and vandalism of MACU OIT Computing resources is handled by the appropriate authorities. MACU OIT pursues and supports criminal prosecution of individuals suspected of theft and/or vandalism.
Games are prohibited on all MACU OIT computers.
Any attempt to crack or otherwise obtain passwords is prohibited. Storing or transferring encrypted or unencrypted password information is prohibited. Writing, transferring, compiling, storing or running programs designed to guess passwords or otherwise gain unauthorized access to user or system accounts or passwords are prohibited. This includes programs or techniques designed to trick users into divulging their password.
A username is assigned to an individual and potentially entitles the user access to sensitive information. Therefore, account sharing is prohibited. Your account is your user identification when accessing computing resources. Each user is ultimately responsible for the actions of his or her account. Any attempt to impersonate another user or conceal your identity when sending e-mail or posting to news groups is prohibited.
If you determine that your account has been compromised or accessed without your permissions, please contact MACU OIT at itsupport@macuniversity.edu
Personal Computers and Devices
Students, Staff, and Faculty are responsible for any data that passes through their personal computer/device. Computers and Devices found to be in violation of this usage policy will be removed from the network.
Staff, Faculty, and Students are required to have anti-virus installed and up-to-date on any computer used to access the MACU network.
Students are ultimately responsible for the installation and upkeep of their chosen anti-virus. However, MACU OIT is available to deal with issues relating to anti-virus programs. If a determination is made by MACU OIT that an individual’s computer is infecting and continues to re-infect the network with a computer virus or excessive network traffic, network access from the infected computer may be suspended until the computer is certified to be free of computer viruses.
MACU OIT recommends Microsoft Security Essentials for all Windows based computers and we recommend Sophos for MACs. These anti-virus solutions are free, reliable, and low impact.
The majority of work orders that are received by MACU OIT are not network/connectivity related, but spyware related. Spyware on your computer is a personal responsibility and you must be pro-active in keeping your computer clean. There are good, free tools available that can remove spyware. We recommend:
- Spybot: Search & Destroy
- Spyware Doctor
- Malwarebytes
Unauthorized Access and Modification of User Files
Unauthorized access to information contained in a user's OIT-maintained directory space is prohibited, even if the files are readable and/or writable.
Modifying files anywhere on the system without consent of the file's owner is prohibited. This includes writing or modifying files which have file permissions set to allow modification or writing. This also includes creating new files, renaming, or deleting existing files in directories which may have directory permissions set to allow creation or modification of files.
Disrupting or Degrading Service
Disrupting or degrading a network service is prohibited.
The following is a short list of some methods of causing disruption or degradation of service:
- Unplugging the network connection for a machine
- Modifying or reconfiguring a network device (AP, Switch, etc.)
- Do not modify the hardware, operating system, or application software of a MACU OIT computer. The other users with whom you share the machine, and the technicians on whom you rely for support, expect to find it set up exactly the way they left it
- Attempting to use more resources than the machine can handle (i.e., running a large number intensive applications)
- Excessive printing, using excessive disk space, or otherwise degrading system performance by monopolizing shared resources
- Sending excessive e-mail
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Email is considered an official method for communication at Mid-Atlantic Christian University. Official email communications are intended to meet the academic and administrative needs of the university. The university has the right to expect that such communications will be received and read in a timely fashion. To enable this process, the college ensures that all students can be accessed through a standardized, university issued email account.
Assignment of Staff and Faculty Email Addresses
Staff and faculty email addresses are assigned after a request has been made from the associated department. Staff and faculty will have an assigned password which will be distributed via written correspondence.
Department and group email addresses can be requested, but they are assigned at the discretion of the IT department.
Assignment of Student Email Addresses
Each student, upon enrolling, is issued an email account with an address on the macuniversity.edu domain. The email account created by the university is the official email address to which the university will send electronic communications.
Accessing Email via Outlook Web Access (OWA)
There are two options to check your OWA mail account:
- Go to www.macuniversity.edu. Click on the “Campus Email” link.
- Click on this link to launch the OWA.
Login credentials adhere to the following format:
Username: MACU\joe.doe
Password: (listed in your welcome packet/provided by OIT department)
Mobile Access/Alternative Access
MACU email does not support IMAP/POP3 forwarding to phones or other email clients. If you wish to receive your MACU email on your phone or local mail client then you must setup your MACU account to redirect to an outside address. However, IT support is not available to troubleshoot mobile devices.
Students may elect to redirect messages sent to their Mid-Atlantic Christian University email address. Students who redirect email from their official address to another address (Hotmail, Yahoo, AOL, etc.) do so at their own risk. Having email lost as a result of redirection does not absolve students from their responsibilities associated with communications sent to their official email address.
Mid-Atlantic Christian University uses Postini to filter spam, virus, and other potential threats before they are delivered to MACU email accounts. You will receive your Postini login information when your email account is registered my MACU OIT.
It is essential that you login to your Postini account daily to review your quarantine, approve and block senders, and to review your junk mail filters. Legitimate mail will sometime be classified as junk mail and these messages and senders must be approved for the email to be delivered to your inbox.
Expectations Regarding Student Use of Email
Students are expected to check their Mid-Atlantic Christian University official email on a frequent and consistent basis in order to remain informed of school-related communications. The University recommends checking email at least twice per week.
Students are responsible for the consequences of not reading school-related communications sent to their official University email account.
Students have the responsibility to recognize that certain communications may be time-critical. “I didn’t check my email,” error in forwarding email, or email returned to the university with “Mailbox Full” or “User Unknown” are not acceptable excuses for missing official university communications via email.
Instructors may set policy defining how students use email in their class, including requiring students to check their email on a regular basis.
Distribution List Access and Usage
Distribution lists are available for staff and faculty; students are prohibited from accessing University distribution list directly.
Distribution lists are for University-related use only.
Unauthorized mass mailings are prohibited and will result in the immediate loss of computing privileges.
Acceptable Usage of University Email
University email may not be used in the following ways:
- Unlawful Activities
- Commercial purposes
- Personal financial gain
- False identity in email communications
- Misrepresentation of Mid-Atlantic Christian University
Each department is assigned a network drive. Each department is expected to save all school related files to appropriate network drives and maintain the structured integrity of each drive. Please do not save files in the root directly of each network drive; make an appropriate folder, and if needed, make permission request through the IT department.
All permission and mapping requests should be made through the IT department.
Upon request the “Staff” drive can be used as a repository for departments to interact. Please make request for an interdepartmental drive through the IT department.
All personal files should be saved to “H:” drives. If you do not have an “H:” drive, make a request through the IT department.
All network drives are backed up nightly (Monday through Friday); files saved to local machines are not backed up.
Institutional Data Integrity and Management
Mid-Atlantic Christian University does not condone unauthorized copying of copyrighted material. Staff, Faculty, and Students are expected to adhere to the rights granted to copyright owners under Section 106 of the Copyright Act (Title 17.)
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act establishes the liability for infringement of copyright laws by users of computing resources at institutions of higher education.
More information can be found at: http://www.copyright.gov/ and http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/
MACU-Students WLAN is available in the following locations:
- Pearl A. Presley Hall
- Heritage Hall
- Student Life Center
- Albert C. Blanton III Campus Life Center
Technology, Installation, and Management
Only the IEEE 802.11g and/or 802.11n standard for wireless LANs will be supported.
MACU OIT is solely responsible for the installation and management of wireless equipment. Faculty, staff and students may not install or operate personal WLAN Access Points or Routers (wired or wireless.)
The MACU-Students 802.11g/n WLANs operate in the unlicensed 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz ranges and conforms to the IEEE 802.11 DSSS (Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum) specification. Devices that interfere with the wireless network may be subject to restriction or removal.
All IP addresses for the MACU-Students WLAN will be assigned by DHCP. Wireless Network Cards and Adapters are not provided by the University.
Authentication is required to access the MACU-Students WLAN. Access instructions are distributed by MACU OIT.
Please be aware that the security level of WLAN is less than that of the land-based lines. Data sent over WIFI can be easily snooped. It is highly recommended that any activity that requires the transmission of sensitive data (e.g. online banking) be conducted over a wired connection.
Acceptable usage of the MACU-Students WLAN is documented in the Acceptable Usage of University Computers and Network.
Please direct all issues related to the MACU-Students WLAN to MACU OIT at: itsupport@macuniversity.edu.
There are two computer labs available to students:
- Watson-Griffith Library Student Computer Lab
- Heritage Hall Student Computer Lab
The hours for the Student Computer Labs are posted on the Student Computer Lab page.
Altering the hardware/peripheral setup of lab computers is prohibited. Altering operating system and software settings on lab computers is prohibited.
The student computer labs are equipped with computers primarily for the academic work of our students. Those wishing to use student computers for recreation are welcome to do so as long as other students are not disturbed, delayed or inconvenienced. Recreational computer use is not allowed at times when students with academic work are waiting.
Any student working on a class assignment or student project has priority in the university computers labs. Any student using a computer for recreational use (games, correspondence, social media, e-mail, etc…) is expected to relinquish their computer promptly in response to a request from another student.
Loud or disruptive behavior is not tolerated in the student computer labs.
The Heritage Hall Student Computer Lab is restricted to students by combination lock. Circumventing this security measure by prevent the door to close in any way is against the MACU Networking Policy.
Please contact MACU OIT at itsupport@macuniversity.edu to report lab issues.
Printers are available in both computer labs. Printing is free in the Heritage Lab. Printing the library is done on a cost-per-sheet basis. Students should only print one copy of a document using the laser printers. Students should make additional copies using a copier. Students can make copies in the Library on a cost-per-sheet basis.
Food and drink are not permitted in the computer labs.
Documents should not be saved to any lab computers. Students should always save their work to a flash drive. Lab computers are wiped and re-imaged multiple times each day. Any work saved to lab computers will be lost. The college is not responsible for lost documents. Ensure that your work is being saved to a flash drive, Google Docs, etc.
Ultimate responsibility for proper use and misuse of any or all MACU technology lies with each individual user of the technology. The Information Technology Committee or other individuals within the University may be empowered to temporarily suspend some or all privileges associated with the technology use in cases of misuse or threat to the integrity of all or part of the University's technological resources. Alleged computer abuse or misuse of computing services by students, faculty, or staff will be referred to the appropriate Vice President. Violators of University policies are subject to the normal disciplinary procedures of the University. Illegal actions are subject to prosecution by local, state or federal authorities.
