Acceptable Use Policy
Purpose
College-owned or operated computing resources are reserved for the educational, instructional, research, and administrative computing needs of the faculty, students, staff, and other individuals authorized by the College. The College’s computing resources include but are not limited to all College computers and hardware, access to the Internet or access to any College intranet provided through College-owned or operated computers, online and offline storage, and network and communications facilities. Access to these computing resources is a privilege and, therefore, it is essential that all users exercise responsible ethical behavior when using these resources. Users are expected to read, understand, and comply with the College’s Acceptable Use Policy.
The College monitors access to the computing resources and reserves the right, without prior notice to users, to access the College’s computing resources and to use any and all information retrieved from the computing resources. Users do not have an expectation of privacy regarding their use of the computing resources, and by accessing and using the College’s computing resources, users expressly consent to such monitoring, access, and use by the College. Further, the information contained on the College’s computing resources and in College accounts, including but not limited to e-mail, may be subject to inspection under the Public Records Law of the State of North Carolina.
The College does not attempt to articulate all required or unacceptable behavior by its users. Therefore, each user’s judgment on appropriate conduct must be relied upon. To assist in such judgment, users will follow this policy:
- College computing resources are to be used only for educational, research, or instructional purposes for which access is provided, and are not to be used for any unauthorized purpose, including but not limited to commercial purposes, unauthorized access to remote computers or non-College related activities.
- An access account assigned to a user must not be used by any other individual. Users are responsible for the proper use of their accounts, including proper password protection and appropriate use of the College’s computing resources. Obtaining another user’s password, allowing friends, family, co-workers, or any other individual use of your or another user’s account, or other unauthorized use of an access account, is a serious violation of this policy.
- Users shall not create, display, transmit or make accessible threatening, racist, sexist, obscene, offensive, annoying or harassing language, e-mail messages, and/or material, including broadcasting unsolicited messages, sending unwanted e-mail, or impersonating other users. Remember – the College’s policies against discrimination and harassment apply to communications through the College’s computing resources or otherwise.
- All computer software is protected by federal copyright law. In addition, most software is proprietary and protected by legal licensing agreements. Users are responsible for being aware of the licensing restrictions for any software used on the College’s computing resources.
- Users shall not download, reproduce and/or distribute copyrighted or licensed materials without proper authorization from the author or creator. Additionally, users shall not publish information, messages, graphics, or photographs on any web page, without the express permission of the author or creator.
- Users shall not engage in activities to damage or disrupt the hardware, software, or any communication associated with the College’s computing resources, such as virus creation and propagation, wasting system resources, overloading networks with excessive data, or any attempt to circumvent data protection schemes or uncover security loopholes.
- Users shall not waste, monopolize, interfere or misuse the College’s computing resources by, for example, requesting an excessive number of copies from a printer, playing games, or participating in chain letters or Ponzi schemes.
- Users shall not access or damage any portion of the College’s computing resources or other College property, such as College records, or use the College’s computing resources for illegal activities.
- Users learning of the misuse of the College’s computing resources or violations of this Acceptable Use Policy should notify a faculty member of the College or other College official immediately.
Enforcement
Failure to follow the Acceptable Use Policy and any misuse of the College’s computing resources may result in the suspension or revoking of access accounts, removal from the class with a grade of “F,” as well as other College disciplinary action including but not limited to conduct probation, suspension, or dismissal from the College. All College policies and procedures are applicable to users of the College’s computing resources. A violation of this Acceptable Use Policy is considered participation in an activity that “disrupts the educational process” of the College and is a violation of the Conduct Policy of the Catalog & Student Handbook , as well as other applicable policies and procedures of the College. Any conduct, which violates local, state, or federal laws, will result in the immediate loss of all access to the College computing resources and will be referred to appropriate College offices and/or law enforcement authorities.
Cape Fear Community College is not liable for the actions of anyone connected to the Internet through the College’s computing resources. All users will assume full liability: legal, financial or otherwise, for their actions.
