Appropriate Use Principles and Policy

Users of the College of Wooster’s technology services agree that:

• Academic and educational uses are always given priority.
• Technology facilities and network services are provided as shared resources for all users. No user shall use College computing or network resources in such a way as to interfere with the ability of others to use them.
• Users are expected to have a fundamental understanding of information and cybersecurity risks and to complete the College’s annual awareness program.
• A user’s account is the responsibility of the user. Sharing passwords or granting access to anyone other than the user are not permitted.
• Use of College-provided technology systems, applications, and services is governed by the College’s policies that guide student, staff, and faculty behavior and use of College-provided resources. These policies are included in the Scot’s Key, Faculty Handbook, Employee Handbook, The Handbook of Select College Policies, technology use policies for specific systems and applications, as well as department and program policies.
• Use of College-provided technology systems, applications, and services is governed by applicable laws and regulations; College-provided technology systems, applications, and services must not violate any law or regulation, including those pertaining to information privacy and security.
• Electronic mail and other College messaging systems including social media applications will not be used to send abusive, obscene, or otherwise harassing communications.
• Security of the technology systems is in place to ensure resource availability to all users. No user will seek to break the security of any College provided network, technology system, or application.
• Users are not permitted to attach wireless access devices to the College network. Please refer to the Policy on Wireless Access to the College of Wooster Network (Wireless Networking Policy) for further information.
• Students, staff, and faculty are expected to keep an active College of Wooster (wooster.edu) e-mail account. Emergency, official, and unofficial communications are sent by e-mail to campus members’  wooster.edu e-mail address. If students prefer to maintain a different e-mail address than that provided by the College, they should set their College of Wooster account to forward their mail automatically to their preferred account.
• Software will not be copied or used illegally; similarly, use of software and applications provided by a service (“cloud”) is restricted to the licensed user only and in accord with the provisions of the license.
• Electronic materials, including web sites, documents, and images, are to be cited appropriately and permission obtained for use of copyrighted material. 
• Personal web sites/blogging sites are intended for the personal use the students, faculty and staff of the College. Users may not “donate” their personal web or blogging space for the use or benefit of off campus organizations. Personal web and blogging sites must be maintained by their respective owners.
• No technology resource will be used for commercial or non-College related purposes.

Sharing Information, Ideas & Files: Respecting Copyright and Intellectual Property

The College of Wooster supports the free exchange of information and ideas facilitated by sharing files over the College network and the Internet. Any copyrighted material shared must be accompanied by the appropriate permission from the owner. Unauthorized sharing or distribution of copyrighted material, including unauthorized peer-to-peer file sharing, may subject users to:

• A request to remove the material immediately.
• Removal of the material by Information Technology personnel.
• Loss of access to College technology services.
• Disciplinary review and sanctions.
• Criminal and civil liabilities.

Privacy

Users should be aware that while the College complies with all applicable information privacy regulations, the privacy of technology use cannot be guaranteed. Although the College does not routinely examine the content of user files on College-owned or College-controlled computer systems, it does reserve the right to do so (see “Investigations Requesting Information from IT Systems & Applications“). Users should also understand that College applications and data are routinely copied for backup purposes –for example, individual Microsoft 365 OneDrive files are continuously “backed up” in the “cloud” by OneDrive. The College takes steps to protect the data residing on the computers that it owns or controls from unauthorized access or loss. Users should understand that the while the College and user applications backup data, the backup cannot be guaranteed.

Many software systems are designed to collect usage information and to log user activity. The College or application provider routinely aggregates the data stored in these logs for analytical purposes. In general, the College makes no attempt to extract from the logs data regarding the activity of individual users. The College does, however, reserve the right to do so (see “Investigations…” above).

Policy Enforcement

All users of The College of Wooster’s technology services are responsible for understanding the principles and expectations set forth above. Alleged violations of the acceptable use policy or other technology and information privacy/security policies will be investigated. Users found to have violated any provision of the policy will be subject to disciplinary review and sanction. Such sanctions could include, but may not be limited to, loss of access to College technology services, suspension, dismissal, or criminal or civil penalties.

Definitions

• Technology facilities: all College-owned and provided technology equipment, general and specialized labs, classroom and space technology, multi-function print devices, digital display/signage, etc.
• Network services: includes College network resources, Internet-based resources, network services provided through wireless/cellular/broadband providers

Revised: 30 June 2010 (HEOA compliance) 27 June 2022 (update College & technology terminology; add: College policies, reference to applicable law and regulation, required cybersecurity awareness training)