General Regulations 2009-10

Regulation 23: IT Services

23.1.1 This Regulation applies specifically to IT Services facilities, which are:

1 The College network and all facilities accessed by it;

2 All computer facilities in the Rutherford Building, and other facilities managed by IT Services.

23.1.2 This Regulation is supplemented by:

1 The JANET Acceptable Use Policy published by UKERNA (which also applies to eduroam)

2 The Web Publishing Policy

3 The E-mail Policy for students    and E-mail Policy for Staff

4 The Devolved Departmental Public Web Serving Policy   

5 The Software Copyright Policy  

6 The Wiki Community Policy

7 The Anti-virus Policy  

Other statements of policy relating to computer use which may be issued by the College from time to time.

23.2.3 Statements of College policy as set out in 23.1.2 above, and amendments to such policies, shall be approved by the Registrar and Secretary, who may seek advice from relevant committees.

23.2 Registration

23.2.1 Use of IT Services facilities is conditional on prior registration with IT Services.

23.2.2 Anyone attempting to use IT Services facilities without having registered or by using a registration other than that issued to them will be deemed to be attempting to gain unauthorised access to computer facilities and will be liable to criminal proceedings under the Computer Misuse Act 1990.

23.2.3 All staff, degree students, and students on credit-bearing programmes, whether full-time or part-time, are entitled to register with IT Services.

23.2.4 Other students are entitled to register with IT Services only if their course tutor has obtained the written permission of the Director of Information Technology for IT Services facilities to be used for the course, and the relevant Head of Department has authorised the application of the student.

23.2.5 Users other than staff or students may, exceptionally, be allowed to register at the discretion of the Director of Information Technology, on condition that they agree to abide by these regulations and any other conditions imposed by the Director of Information Technology.

23.2.6 Student registrations are valid only for the duration of a student's course; staff registrations are valid only for the period of employment.

23.2.7 At the discretion of IT Services, the validity of a student's username may be extended for a standard period after the end of the student's programme of study. Any use of IT Services facilities during this extension period remains subject to this Regulation, and the user accepts liability for any harm caused to IT Services facilities or services by any misuse on their part.

23.3 Access to facilities

23.3.1 The granting of access rights to all IT Services facilities will be by the provision of username(s) and password(s) giving access to locations, hardware and/or software IT facilities.

23.3.2 Staff and students must not use another user's username and password to gain access to IT Services facilities, nor allow any password issued to them to become known to any other person.

23.3.3 A user who does not log out and thereby leaves IT Services facilities unattended and potentially usable by some other person will be held responsible for any misuse which arises from this omission.

23.3.4 Users must notify IT Services of any change in their status which may affect their right to use IT Services facilities. This does not apply to students completing their studies or a section of their studies in the normal way.

23.3.5 A user must report to IT Services any attempt by another person to discover the user's password.

23.4 Permitted use

23.4.1 All registered users may use IT Services facilities for the purposes of teaching, learning, or research.

23.4.2 Any other use, including use for commercial gain or advertising, is prohibited except with the prior written permission of the Director of Information Technology.

23.4.3 Where IT Services facilities are set aside for a particular purpose or for the use of a particular group of users, other uses are not permitted without the written permission of the Director of Information Technology.

23.4.4 All use of the College network (including eduroam) to access JANET or the Internet is subject to the JANET Acceptable Use Policy.

23.4.5 The use of IT Services facilities to the substantial advantage of other bodies such as employers of placement students must have the explicit prior permission of the Director of Information Technology, and may be subject to additional conditions.

23.4.6 Any user providing information via the College network or via a server within the College's Internet domain must abide by the conditions of the Web Publishing Policy.

23.4.7 Users of electronic mail (email) and other electronic messaging facilities from a College computer or from a remote computer using College facilities must abide by the Email Policy for Staff or Email Policy for Students, as appropriate.

23.4.8 The College respects the privacy of personal email of staff and students, but has the right, in the circumstances set out in the Email Policies, to examine email messages without authorisation from the sender or recipient.

23.4.9 Registered users are entitled to establish personal Web pages on the College's dedicated server provided that they are in accordance with the Web Publishing Policy. IT Services may remove or make inaccessible without notice any material which breaches this Policy.

23.4.10 Public Internet servers may only be established on the College network with the prior, written permission of the Director of Information Technology. Permission will be granted only where a proposed server meets the criteria set out in the Devolved Departmental Public Web Serving Policy. IT Services may disconnect without notice any public Internet server on the College network not so authorised.

23.5 Equipment

23.5.1 Users must not in any way cause any form of damage to IT Services facilities, nor to any of the accommodation or services associated with them.

23.5.2 Users are responsible for ensuring that they are sufficiently familiar with the operation of any equipment they use to make their use of it safe and effective, and to avoid damaging it or changing its configuration.

23.5.3 No IT Services equipment may be disconnected or moved without the prior agreement of IT Services.

23.6 The College Network

23.6.1 Users must not connect their own computer to the College network using a cable or wireless connection, except using the methods and facilities explicitly provided by IT Services for this purpose.

23.6.2 Users who connect their own computer to the College network via the authorised means must ensure that their computer (a) has all relevant security patches installed, and (b) is running the latest version of an appropriate anti-virus application, with up-to-date virus definitions.

23.6.3 Users who attempt to connect their own equipment to the College network other than via the authorised methods, or who compromise the security of College computer systems by failing to observe the security precautions specified in 23.6.2, above, may be denied access to these facilities.

23.6.4 Users who connect their own computer to the College network must not permit any other person to access the College network via that connection, whether by giving physical access to the computer or by configuring the computer to act as a wireless access point, router, hub or switch.

23.6.5 Users must not connect to the network any hub, switch, wireless access point, gateway, router or other device which has the effect of providing access to the network for others.

23.6.6 Users must not configure or use any equipment connected to the College network to connect to a peer-to-peer network without the prior written permission of the Director of Information Technology.

23.6.7 Users must not configure any equipment connected to the College network to act as public Internet server without the prior, written permission of the Director of Information Technology. A user who installs software on any equipment connected to the College network must ensure that the software does not cause the equipment to operate as a public Internet server, and does not enable any other form of public access to data and software installed on the equipment or other equipment on the network.

23.7 Use

23.7.1 Users must adhere to the terms and conditions of all licence agreements relating to IT Services facilities which they use including software, equipment, services, documentation and other goods.

23.7.2 Users must not modify any software nor incorporate any part of the provided software into their own work without permission from IT Services or the copyright holder.

23.7.3 Users must not load or attempt to load onto IT Services facilities any software without permission from IT Services.

23.7.4 In accordance with the Anti-virus Policy, users must not deliberately introduce any virus, worm, Trojan horse or other harmful or nuisance program or file into any IT Services facility, nor take deliberate action to circumvent any precautions taken or prescribed by the IT Services to prevent this.

23.7.5 Users must not delete or amend the data or data structures of other users without their permission.

23.7.6 Users must ensure that they start and terminate each session of use of IT Services facilities in accordance with published instructions.

23.7.7 Consumables including stationery must be used for the purpose for which they are supplied and their consumption should be minimised as far as is reasonably possible.

23.7.8 Staff are required to ensure the security of any computer files relating to their College work.

23.8 Behaviour

23.8.1 Users must not interfere with the use by others of IT Services facilities; they must not remove or interfere with printed output belonging to another user.

23.8.2 The use of IT Services facilities for the creation, display, production or circulation of offensive material in any form or medium is forbidden.

23.8.3 The Smoke free policy applies to IT Services facilities. Eating or drinking of certain non-intrusive items is permitted only in areas permitted by signs.

23.8.4 Users must respect the rights of others and should conduct themselves in a quiet and orderly manner when using IT Services facilities.

23.8.5 Users must respect published times for access to IT Services facilities.

23.8.6 Where a Computer Teaching Room is booked for a class, users who are not part of the class must leave the room in good time before the commencement of the class.

23.8.7 Users of IT Services facilities must log off and/or leave if asked to do so by an authorised member of College staff.

23.9 Retention

23.9.1 Users' data and software will be subject to published procedures for their removal or archiving after specified periods.

23.9.2 Users' printout and other output will be disposed of after published periods if not collected.

23.10 Disclaimer

23.10.1 Any facility (including software) provided by IT Services is used entirely at the risk of the user and IT Services accept no responsibility for the malfunctioning of any facility or part thereof, whether hardware, software or other.

23.10.2 IT Services will not be liable for any loss, damage or inconvenience arising directly or indirectly from the use or unavailability of any facility provided by IT Services.

23.10.3 Users who use IT Services facilities to conduct personal financial or other confidential transactions on-line do so entirely at their own risk. IT Services do not guarantee the confidentiality or security of such transactions.

23.10.4 It is the responsibility of the user to ensure that all personal data is adequately backed up and secured, and IT Services accept no responsibility for the loss of any data or software or the failure of any security or privacy mechanism.

23.11 Infringement

23.11.1 Certain infringements of these regulations may be subject to penalties under civil or criminal law and such law may be invoked by the College.

23.11.2 Any infringement of these regulations may lead to the suspension of the user's registration and possible further disciplinary procedures, regardless of any legal proceedings or civil legal action.