6-16: Information Technology Administration
* Issued: 01/2007
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. PURPOSE
II. AUTHORITY
III. SCOPE
IV. COMPUTER ACCOUNTS
1. General
2. Employee Accounts
3. Student Accounts
4. Special Purpose Accounts
V. Official Use of College Electronic Mail
1. College use of electronic mail
2. Educational uses of electronic mail
3. Officially sanctioned electronic mail distribution lists
a. FLC-Official-L
b. FLC-Student-Official-L
c. FLC-Announce-L
VI. ARCHIVING
I. PURPOSE
This policy describes:
1. Computer system account administration
2. The use of electronic mail as an official means of communication
3. Responsibilities for "backing up" and archiving electronic communications.
II. AUTHORITY
Statutory authority for parts of this policy is Sections 24-72-203 and 24-72-204.5, Colorado Revised Statutes. This policy was reviewed and approved by the President's Cabinet.
III. SCOPE
These guidelines apply to all students, faculty, visiting faculty, staff, guests, and external individuals or organizations that use computing and electronic communications resources, and computing equipment owned, leased or rented by Fort Lewis College. Computing equipment includes, but is not limited to, dialup modems, terminals and microcomputers in public labs, minicomputers, file servers, and networking equipment used to link these components together and to the Internet.
IV. COMPUTER ACCOUNTS
1. General
a. Computer Accounts Are Managed Centrally.Computer accounts for access to major College computer resources are managed and administered centrally by the Office of Information Technology.
b. Policy Compliance. All persons who access College-owned computing resources are expected to comply with all policies of the College related to the use of the account.
2. Employee Accounts
a. College employees requesting accounts will be asked to sign a "Computer Account Request" form, including the signature of the relevant department head.
b. Employee accounts are normally established within one working day following receipt of the completed request by the Office of Information Technology.
c. Accounts for faculty will be expired when the faculty member no longer works for the College, as reported by the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA). Faculty accounts will be removed from the system (deleted) when the faculty member will not be working for the College in the future, as reported by the VPAA.
d. Accounts for non-faculty staff will be expired when the staff member no longer works for the College, as reported by the Office of Human Resources. Staff accounts will be removed from the system (deleted) when they have been expired for more than twelve months.
3. Student Accounts
a. Students are automatically assigned accounts that provide access to email, the College network and modem pool, and the general College computer labs.
b. New student accounts will be created, and expired accounts for returning students will be reactivated, within 48 hours of registering for classes in any Fall, Winter, or Summer session.
c. Student accounts will be expired according to the following schedule:
i. Accounts for students registered for Fall semester will expire the day after census date of the following winter term, if the student has not registered for the winter term by that date.
ii. Accounts for students registered for Winter semester or any summer session will expire the day after census date of the following fall term, if the student has not registered for the fall term by that date.
iii. Accounts for graduating seniors will expire the day after the census date of the following term.
iv. Accounts will expire the day following when any particular student drops all classes before the end of any term.
d. Student accounts will be removed from the system (deleted) when the account has been expired for more than twelve months. This means that all content of e-mail and the M: drive will be deleted.
4. Special Purpose Accounts
a. Temporary accounts for Authorized Volunteers. Under certain circumstances, individuals not affiliated with the College as employees or contractors may be considered "Authorized Volunteers," and be eligible for an account during the period of this volunteer service. This group might include certain retired employees (whether faculty or staff), fund raisers, or those working on specific projects for the benefit of the College. Those desiring "Authorized Volunteer" designation for purposes of a computer account may send a petition to the particular College Vice President responsible for the activity, requesting the designation. Vice Presidents must submit a signed form to The Office of Information Technology giving the "Authorized Volunteer" approval. Vice Presidents will inform The Office of Information Technology of the time period for which volunteer status is approved, and the kinds of access that the computer account should provide. Authorized Volunteers must also submit a completed Computer Account Request Form. An "Authorized Volunteer" account will remain active until June 30th of the year following the calendar year in which it was created. (For example, an account created in October 2005 will expire on June 30th, 2006, and an account created in March 2006 will expire on June 30th, 2007.) At the end of the period, another petition may be submitted.
b. Student worker accounts. Accounts for student employees will be created at the request of the supervisor. Accounts active during the fall term will expire at the end of the fall term. Accounts active during the winter term will expire at the end of the winter term. Accounts active during the summer will be available until the start of the fall term. Expired accounts will be reactivated upon the request of the supervisor. Student worker accounts will be deleted after being expired for one year.
c. Non-employee accounts. Under certain circumstances a contract or agreement with the College may entitle an individual to a computer account. This type of account will be created and/or activated based on the request of the College representative. The account will be limited in functionality to only the capabilities required to complete the contract or agreement. The account will have an expiration date. The expiration date can be changed at the request of the College representative. Accounts will not be created with an expiration date more than one year in the future. Non-employee accounts will be deleted after being expired for one year.
d. Non-registered students using campus computer facilities. Non-registered students who participate in programs (like Getaway, Extended Studies, and Pueblo Community College classes) and who pay a technology fee (which may be included in the program fee) will receive an account with a start date and end date as appropriate to the program. These accounts will be activated on the start date and expired on the end date.
V. OFFICIAL USE OF COLLEGE ELECTRONIC MAIL
1. College use of electronic mail. Electronic mail is an official means for communication within Fort Lewis College. Therefore, the College has the right to send communications via electronic mail and the right to expect that those communications will be received and read in a timely fashion. The campus recommends checking electronic mail at least once a week in recognition that certain communications may be time-critical. Communications are sent to the official address associated with the student, faculty, or staff network account. This official address will be the address listed in the College's Directory.
2. Educational uses of electronic mail. Faculty may determine how electronic mail will be used in their classes. It is highly recommended that if faculty members have electronic mail requirements and expectations, they specify these requirements in their course syllabus. Faculty may expect that students' official electronic mail addresses are being accessed and faculty may use electronic mail for their courses accordingly.
3. Officially sanctioned electronic mail distribution lists. Several electronic mail mass distribution lists are maintained by the College. In addition, there are a variety of other methods whereby bulk electronic mailings to College employees and students can be created. It is the policy of the College that these various technical means be used only to conduct College business, in responsible ways, by members of the College community. The intent is to reduce the amount of internally-generated email that might be regarded as "junk" by employees and students. Before sending any mass electronic mailing to the College community, the sender should review the guidelines for the FLC-Official-L, FLC-Announce, and FLC-Student-L electronic lists below, to be sure that any bulk posting, by whatever means, would comply. It is the intent of this policy that mass email distribution be handled through the aforementioned lists. Aside from these lists, mass email distribution is currently limited to 50 recipients. Any attempt to circumvent the intent of this policy, i.e.; by creating multiple distribution lists of 50 members each, or by sending to up to 50 different recipients, multiple times, is considered a misuse of electronic mail. Since the Unity voicemail system is integrated with email, the same restrictions apply. Misuse of electronic mail for mass distribution may result in disciplinary action.
a. FLC-Official-L
i. This list is intended for disseminating information among College employees that relates to the general business of the College
ii. All employees having electronic mail accounts are automatically subscribed to FLC-Official-L at the beginning of each semester.
iii. In an effort to reduce the volume of email sent by FLC-Official-L, the list is moderated. Messages sent to the list are automatically forwarded to a "list moderator," who compares the nature of the message to the guidelines provided below. Appropriate messages are released by the moderator to the list; rejected messages are returned to the poster.
iv. Replies to list postings will be routed to the original poster, not to the list and not to the list moderator.
v. FLC-Official-L is intended for posting College information which employees need to know, or which students need to know and informed employees can help distribute. Some examples of appropriate postings to FLC-Official-L are:
1. Faculty Assembly, Executive Council, or Employee Council minutes and proceedings
2. Academic advising, registration, student billing, financial aid, graduation or other administrative information of a general nature
3. Road, parking lot, or building closures and safety notices
4. Utility service interruptions
5. Information Technology system changes or downtime
6. Policy changes
7. Faculty/staff enrichment or training opportunities
8. Fort Lewis College Foundation major fundraising events
9. Mandated regulations
10. Campus events that are open to the entire campus community and may also be open to the public. This could include FLC fund raising events.
vi. Some examples of inappropriate postings to FLC-Official-L are:
1. Events other than those listed above
2. Personal "classified ads"
3. Promotion of political or religious views
4. Non-FLC fund raising
5. Complaints
Exceptions will be allowed to this policy only by express approval of the President or Vice Presidents.
vii. A few individuals, because of the possible emergency nature of some of their communication, are authorized to post directly to the list, without moderation. These individuals are:
1. President
2. Provost
3. Vice Presidents
4. Deans
5. Athletic Director
6. Chief of Police/Director of Police and Parking Services
7. Information Technology staff responsible for critical Information Systems
8. Others, as designated by the President, Provost, or appropriate Vice President
b. FLC-Student-Official-L
i. This list is intended for disseminating essential College information to students.
ii. All students having electronic mail accounts are automatically subscribed to FLC-Student-Official-L at the beginning of each semester.
iii. Persons who choose to post to FLC-Student-Official-L must consider the audience and be very mindful that the email must be of utmost importance to the student population. Too many mass email distributions will result in less attention paid to any email sent.In addition, the email must be brief and only one email per topic is allowed.
iv. In an effort to reduce the volume of email sent by FLC-Student-Official-L, the list is moderated. Messages sent to the list are automatically forwarded to a "list moderator," who compares the nature of the message to the guidelines provided below. Appropriate messages are released by the moderator to the list; rejected messages are returned to the poster.
v. Replies to list postings will be routed to the original poster, not to the list and not to the list moderator.
vi. FLC-Student-Official-L is intended for posting College information which students need to know. Some examples of appropriate postings are:
1. Academic advising, registration, student billing, financial aid, graduation, or other administrative information of a general nature
2. Road, parking lot, or building closures and safety notices
3. Information Technology system changes or downtime
4. Policy changes
5. Mandated regulations
6. Notices of Health related information
7. Weekly events (very abbreviated)
8. Major all-campus events to include: Common Reading Experience, Welcome Week, Family Weekend, Homecoming, Hozhoni Days
vii. Some examples of inappropriate postings to FLC-Student-Official-L are:
1. Events other than those listed above
2. Campus events too late for weekly postings
3. Personal "classified ads"
4. Promotion of political or religious views
5. Complaints
Exceptions will be allowed to this policy only by express approval of the President or Vice Presidents.
viii. A few individuals, because of the possible emergency nature of some of their communication, are authorized to post directly to the list, without moderation. These individuals are:
1. President
2. Provost
3. Vice Presidents
4. Deans
5. Athletic Director
6. Chief of Police/Director of Police and Parking Services
7. Information Technology staff responsible for critical Information Systems
8. Others, as designated by the President, Provost, or appropriate Vice President
c. FLC-Announce-L
i. Participation in the FLC-Announce-L list is voluntary, and therefore restrictions on its use are less stringent than FLC-Official-L.
ii. This list is intended as a public announcement forum for College employees.
iii. Subscription is optional, at the discretion of individual College employees.
iv. Any list subscriber may post messages to the list.
v. Appropriate content relates to intellectual, cultural, and professional activity of the College.
vi. Participants are asked to observe good decorum, as in any public forum.
VI. ARCHIVING
1. Colorado Senate Bill 1996-212 relieves state officials and employees of the obligations to preserve electronic mail messages for archival purposes unless the recipient has previously segregated and stored particular messages because of their historical or evidentiary value.
2. The Office of Information Technology shall not provide electronic back up and/or archiving of electronic communications.
3. Responsibility for back up and archiving rests with the individual/department involved in the communication, and such individual/department may be the official custodian of the information. Official College policy will control for purposes of public records.