FACULTY & STAFF POLICY

Implementation Information:
Version 2.5 Implemented Fall 99

1. Approval and Enforcement

1.1. Access to CSUSM computing facilities and equipment is granted to all members of CSUSM faculty and staff. An individual may have these privileges revoked if he or she violates the rules set forth in this policy statement.

1.2. "Access" is considered to be physical use of a computer or terminal, or remote access to a computer via a network or telephone line.

1.3. Access to campus computer equipment may be suspended during the course of an investigation, but shall not be revoked without formal review with campus administration.

1.4. University employees who violate this policy may be subject to disciplinary action following established University channels for disciplinary matters.

1.5. Individuals who violate U.S. copyright law and software licensing agreements may be subject to criminal or civil action by the copyright or license owners.

1.6. Activities that are illegal or against University policy will be referred to the appropriate officials regardless of whether or not a computer was involved in their commission.

2. Purpose

2.1. CSUSM provides computer equipment and facilities to faculty/staff for educational use and legitimate University related business. Examples of this include but are not limited to:

Development of coursework and instructional activities

Scholarly research, service and creative activities

Participation in campus community activities

Administrative duties

2.2. Use of campus computer equipment, including electronic mail, modem lines, web browsers and other common applications and functions should be limited to legitimate campus business purposes and should not be regarded as tools for personal or private communication.

3.  Employee Responsibilities

Individuals granted access to campus computing equipment shall adhere to the following rules and responsibilities:

3.1. Transmittal of messages
Faculty/staff shall not transmit unsolicited information which contains obscene, threatening, offensive or discriminatory material to another individual, a mailing list, a news group or a public area on a CSUSM computer. Although mailing list subscribers and/or news group readers are considered to have solicited all postings, Faculty/Staff shall not submit entries to news groups and/or mailing lists which are considered inappropriate by the recipients. Unless specifically identified as such, news groups, mailing lists and other electronic discussion areas are not to be treated as an "open forum". Repeated transmission of material to a person who finds such transmission offensive, obscene or discriminatory will be treated as harassment and will subject the sender to disciplinary proceedings.

3.2. Electronic publication of material
Faculty/Staff shall not publish web pages containing obscene information (pictures, movies, sounds, text). Faculty/Staff shall not use copyrighted graphics or text on their web pages. Faculty/Staff shall not publish web pages containing obscene, threatening, offensive or discriminatory material. Faculty/Staff may not create "open forum" mailing lists, news groups and/or other discussion areas . Requests to create such an area must be directed to the Dean of Information and Instructional Technology.

3.3. Use of copyrighted software
Faculty/Staff shall not copy, misuse, destroy or otherwise use campus licensed software or data for a purpose other than it was intended. Faculty/Staff shall not violate the license agreement on any software application installed on a CSUSM computer by creating and/or installing and/or distributing copies of licensed software unless directed to do so as part of their duties while employed at CSUSM.

3.4. Use of computer in the commission of a crime
Faculty/Staff shall not use CSUSM computer equipment or facilities in the commission of a crime or any other unlawful purpose according to the federal, state, county and university rules. (See California State Penal Code Section 502.)

3.5. Improper access
Faculty/Staff shall not attempt to gain improper access to any user account, stored information, network or computer system, on or off campus. Anonymous ftp and guest telnet access to remote hosts both on and off campus are considered proper when used strictly for the purposes for which they were intended. Intentional interception of any electronic communication or knowledge of information obtained through interception of electronic communication is considered improper access and may also be in violation of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act chapter 119.

3.6. Disruption of service
Faculty/Staff shall not disrupt network or computer response by deliberately placing a burden on the system or by using electronic resources in a manner inconsistent with their stated purpose. Users shall not distribute "mass mailings" to multiple Usenet groups, mailing lists or large numbers of individuals. Such mailings typically provoke a response which would overburden our computing resources. In addition Faculty/Staff are required to comply with Usenet News and mailing list etiquette practices so that they do not cause complaints from other members of the Internet. The receipt of multiple complaints by system administrators for conduct and/or etiquette violations is considered to place an undue burden on the system support staff.

3.7. Reporting a policy violation
Faculty/Staff shall report any violation of this policy to the Dean of Instructional and Information Technology who shall in turn, report the incident to the appropriate college/unit manager as needed. In the event that an individual health or safety is concerned, the incident should be immediately reported to Public Safety.

3.8. Improper use of computer facilities
Faculty/Staff shall use the CSUSM computing system only for valid purposes as set forth in section 2 of this document. Use of CSUSM computing facilities, including desktop systems, for the non-University business activities or other non-educational functions often violates the software license agreements extended to educational and non-profit institutions and is not permitted.

3.9. Use of the computer account
Faculty/Staff shall not disclose their password to an individual other than a member of the CSUSM computer support staff responsible for managing the affected computer system. Faculty/Staff may not allow an individual to use their account except during troubleshooting sessions with designated support staff. 

3.10. Access to student records
Faculty/Staff with access to student records shall protect those records as specified by Federal Law (Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act).

4.  Privacy and Ownership of Electronic Communications & Media

4.1. Protection of Individual's Mail and Data
The campus will attempt to protect the privacy of an individual's mail and data files from inadvertent exposure to others. Except when such files are involved in a security issue, policy violation or system maintenance problem, system support personnel will not access nor disclose the content of an individual’s email and/or data files. In appropriate circumstances (e.g. where there is evidence suggesting a member of the campus has engaged in wrongdoing), electronic communications may become subject to internal monitoring.

4.2. Tracking and monitoring
The University may track user activities and access any files or information in the course of performing normal system and network maintenance or while investigating violations of policy or statute. Anyone using CSUSM resources expressly consents to such tracking and is advised if such tracking reveals possible evidence of criminal activity, or violation of statute or policy, the University will provide the evidence to appropriate officials.

4.3. Disclosure of information
Information stored or transmitted electronically, such as electronic mail, system access logs, and network records, may be considered public records and therefore be subject to disclosure or discovery in litigation.