The Lakefield College School Information Technology Acceptable Use Policy

1 SCOPE OF THE POLICY

This policy document applies to all members of the Lakefield College School community: students, staff, parents, contractors and volunteers, hereinafter referred to as the User.

This policy governs the use of all information technology at, or belonging to Lakefield College School (hereinafter referred to as the School), including but not limited to: laptop & desktop computers, servers & server storage space, network routing & connection hardware, printers, scanners, LCD projectors, computer software, databases, operating systems, CD-ROMs, the e-mail system, the Internet, the School intranet and the School web presence. Collectively, this hardware, software and any data contained therein will be referred to hereinafter as the Network.

Authorized School representative shall hereinafter refer to members of the Lakefield College School Information Technology area, including Richard Life, Todd Harris, Simon Spivey, Jason Ayotte and Brad Clairmont.

By accessing, operating or otherwise using the Network, Users agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this Information Technology Acceptable Use Policy.

2 STATEMENT OF THE POLICY

2.1 Ownership

The School retains ownership over all information stored on, or transmitted via the Network, including but not limited to messages, files and data.

2.2 General Principle of Access

Access to various parts of the Network is granted to all Users based on their individual grade, job, role or needs as determined by the School. Granted access may be limited by time restrictions, and may be revoked at any time as seen fit by the School.

2.3 General Principle of Use

The Network is provided to students for educational usage only, and to other Users for educational and business usage related to their individual role at the School.

2.4 Authorized Use

The User may access the Network, if access and use are justified by:

2.4.1 the requirements of the User's role within the School and the performance of the tasks stemming therefrom – for students this would mean learning tasks assigned by their teachers;

2.4.2 the requirements of projects to which the User is assigned;

2.4.3 the personal usage guidelines outline in section 2.7 or the personal responsibility guidelines in section 2.8.

2.5 Prohibited Use

While accessing and using the Network, the User may not, for any reason whatsoever, do any act that constitutes illegal or unacceptable behavior. More specifically, but without limitation, the User may not, voluntarily or through negligence:

2.5.1 use someone else's account or password to access the Network; or in anyway impersonate another person or organization.

2.5.2 obtain or attempt to obtain unauthorized access to the Network or parts thereof;

2.5.3 allow or tolerate access to the Network or its use by an unauthorized person;

2.5.4 use his or her own personal hardware to access or use the Network on campus without prior approval from an authorized School representative;

2.5.5 reveal his or her account password to a third-party;

2.5.6 install any software on a server or workstation that is assigned for use by multiple people, including but not limited to the Grade 7 & 8 classroom workstations, the Library workstations, and the student pool drive (G:).

2.5.7 install software on his or her workstation or laptop unless the software is properly licensed for this use by the User, the software does not disrupt, modify or affect in any way the performance or operation of the Network beyond the user’s regularly assigned workstation or laptop, and the software does not disrupt, disable or hinder the performance of any applications required by the user’s role at the School.

This prohibition also precludes, but without limitation:

2.5.7.1 Installing shareware which the User never intends to purchase.

2.5.7.2 Installing software on multiple machines when the license agreement is for one copy.

2.5.7.3 Installing software for which illegal access has been obtained via copying, a crack, or an unauthorized registration code.

2.5.8 use, obtain, install, or run software or hardware, or visit websites for the following purposes, regardless of whether the software, hardware or website is primarily designed for this purpose:

2.5.8.1 to obtain illegal access to software.

2.5.8.2 to allow the laptop or workstation to act as a server, that is listen for and service the requests of other computers – including but not limited to running network games, web server and file sharing software (i.e., WarCraft, Napster, Morpheus, BitTorrent, Windows file sharing).

2.5.8.3 to circumvent the Network security, restrictions, monitoring or firewall.

2.5.8.4 to aid in illegal activities.

2.5.9 Access, display, distribute, create, store, transmit or print any pictures, movies, text, music, sound, messages, or data that could be construed as stolen, profane, obscene, or pornographic, or that advocates illegal activity or violence or discrimination against other people.

2.5.10 Use the Network to contravene other School policies, including, but not limited to, the Harassment policy and late academic work policies.

2.6 Outside Use

2.6.1 General Principle

In general, it is expected that laptops would be used both on and off campus, while all other Network equipment would remain on campus at all times. Access to most information resources is provided to Users via the Internet via independent Internet Service Providers.

2.6.2 Portable Equipment

All Network equipment, with the exception of laptops, must remain on campus at all times, unless explicit permission has been granted by an authorized School representative. Usage of equipment assigned into the care of an individual User for use off campus, including laptops, is subject to the terms of an additional equipment user agreement.

2.6.3 Network usage

This entire document applies equally to User accessing their School account or the School Network in any way from outside the School campus or from outside the Network.

2.7 Personal Use

2.7.1 General Principle

Personal usage of the Network must not contravene the law or any other School policies including this document; personal usage is further limited by the following exceptions and limitations.

2.7.2 Limitations

2.7.2.1 Personal usage must not prevent the User or any other User from completing their assigned work or responsibilities.

2.7.2.2 Personal usage by students is not allowed during academic classes or during evening study.

2.7.2.3 Server, workstation and laptop storage space used to store personal messages, files, data or software must not disrupt, modify or affect in any way the performance or operation of the Network.

2.7.2.4 Software applications run for personal use must not disrupt, modify or affect in any way the performance or operation of the Network beyond the user’s regularly assigned workstation or laptop.

2.7.3 Exceptions

While accessing and using the Network for personal use, the User may not, voluntarily or through negligence:

2.7.3.1 Advertise, or solicit on behalf of commercial ventures, religious causes, political causes, or outside organizations; or

2.7.3.2 Enter into or complete business transactions for profit, including but not limited to joining services that pay a User to surf the internet.

2.8 User’s Responsibilities

It is the user’s individual and sole responsibility to:

2.8.1 Account security

Ensure that their account and access to their account is secure at all times, by maintaining secure passwords, and by periodically changing their passwords;

2.8.2 Communication

Remain in contact with other members of the community by checking e-mail at least once per academic day, for student and faculty Users, or at least once per workday for all other Users;

2.8.3 Software upkeep

Ensure that all software installed on their laptop or workstation by the School remains in working order;

2.8.4 Viruses

Prevent the spread of viruses, by running the background virus checking software provided on their workstation or laptop, by periodically running thorough virus checks of their entire workstation or laptop, and by following any directions or statements issued by the Information Technology department;

2.8.5 Chain mail

Prevent the spread of chain mail, by refraining from creating or forwarding messages which request the recipient to pass the message on to other people – this includes messages which seem to be providing a public service;

2.8.6 Storage

Ensure that storage space provided on the Network (H: drive and G: drive), and in the e-mail system is not occupied by excessive, out-of-date, expired, or unnecessary information, files, messages or data, by periodically purging information, files, messages or data from the provided areas;

2.8.7 Bandwidth

Ensure that the quantity and size of data and files transmitted over the Network by any software or by the use of software, including web surfing, email and downloading, does not make excessive demands on the Network and thereby affect the ability for other Users to effectively use the Network.

2.8.8 Data integrity

Ensure the integrity of the data they work with, by saving frequently and, if necessary, by backing data up (copying) to a secondary storage area or device – Laptop User’s should strive to save all work to a network drive (H:) and avoid saving work only to their local hard drive (C:);

2.8.9 Business transactions

Ensure the security, reliability and integrity of all business transactions entered into or completed using the Network – personal transactions are always the sole responsibility of the individual User;

2.8.10 Personal safety

Ensure their own personal safety by not providing personal contact information to a website, a chat room, via e-mail or in any way using the Network, without careful consideration as to the third-party’s legitimate need for the information, and by not agreeing to meet someone in person who was met online; and

2.8.11 Report problems immediately

Report all problems with the Network functionality or security, the user’s responsibilities, or the proper usage of the Network immediately to a member of the Information Technology department.

2.9 Respect of Intellectual Property

2.9.1 Plagiarism

While accessing and using the Network, the User may not, for any reason whatsoever, plagiarize the work of others – that is present the ideas, writings or creations of others as your own. Information on the correct methods for acknowledging the contributions of others to your work can be obtained from the school Librarian.

2.9.2 Copyright

While accessing and using the Network, the User may not, for any reason whatsoever, copy the work of others without their express written permission – that is copy, reproduce, print, save, store, or transfer any data, information, files, images, movies, music, or software that doesn’t belong to you, unless the rightful owner has given you permission, or you are using only a small part of the work for educational purposes.

2.9.2.1 Publishing a web site, implies that the owner wishes that surfers read the information provided, but it does not give others the right to save or copy the images or text, unless the owner specifically gives permission., or if you are using a small portion of the web site for educational purposes.

2.9.2.2 It is acceptable to quote or paraphrase text from a website, as long as the quote is reasonable in length and the information is properly acknowledged.

2.9.2.3 Sites that offer images, movies, music files, software and other data may not actually own the information. Be sure you only download files and data from sites that have the right to grant you permission to copy the material.

2.9.2.4 MP3 and other music files created from commercial CDs are illegal to possess or use unless you own a copy of the CD – downloading or trading them otherwise is theft. Storage of MP3 and other music files is not permitted on the Network, as it is not feasible for the School to verify CD ownership.

2.10 Rights of the School

In the ordinary course of its business and for legitimate reasons of management or of security, the School may, at its sole discretion and without prior notice:

2.10.1 peruse, read, copy, reproduce, print, use, communicate, keep, move, store or destroy, in whole or in part, the information, messages, files or data located on the Network or emanating there from;

2.10.2 monitor, in real or deferred time, using any technical means, access to the Network and the use thereof by the User, whether or not the User is aware of being monitored;

2.10.3 intercept or record any transmission, communication or work session, whether or not the User is aware such interception or recording is taking place;

2.10.4 modify, limit or revoke the access granted to a User.

2.10.5 Modify or remove information, files or data posted for retrieval by other Network or public Users, including but not limited to messages sent via the school e-mail system, web pages posted to the Internet or Intranet, and postings to Course or School Forums.

3 SANCTIONS FOR VIOLATING THE POLICY

3.1 Enumeration of Sanctions

Violations of this policy document will lead to sanctions against the User. More specifically, but without limitation, any or all of the following sanctions may be applied at the sole discretion of the School:

3.1.1 Suspension of the user’s e-mail account for one week or more.

3.1.2 Suspension of network account access for one week or more – which still allows access to course materials, but blocks access to printing, network storage (H: and G: drives) and the Internet.

3.1.3 For students, meeting with the School Standards committee to determine further accountability, including but not limited to suspension and expulsion.

3.1.4 For all non-student Users, meeting with a supervisor or manager to determine further accountability, including but not limited to suspension and termination.

3.1.5 Legal Action.

3.2 Imposition of Sanctions

In the event that there is a claim that a User has violated this policy document, the User will be provided with prompt notification and the opportunity to present an explanation to a member of the Information Technology department, or to the appropriate advisor, manager, supervisor or Head of House. At the school’s sole discretion, account access may be suspended immediately.

4 REQUEST TO DEROGATE FROM POLICY

It is possible that this policy may limit legitimate educational or business usage of the Network. Requests may be made to derogate from this policy document in writing to Richard Life, Assistant Head of School.

5 LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

In no event shall the School be liable to any User in whole or in part for damages, whether direct, indirect, special or consequential, arising out of use of the Network, accuracy of information contained therein, or related directly or indirectly to failure of the Network, interruption of service, or loss of data.