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Electronic mail, Internet access, and other electronic media, and equipment
are business tools that are provided by the Massachusetts College of Art + Design to employees
to facilitate timely and efficient conduct of business
Massachusetts College of Art + Design Electronic Mail, Internet and Telecommunications/Voice
Mail Policy
Introduction
General Principles:
The ethical principles that apply to everyday academic community life also
apply to the use of information and computing resources. Every member of the
Massachusetts College of Art + Design community has basic rights and responsibilities.
It is unethical for anyone to violate these rights or ignore these responsibilities.
Anyone who uses Massachusetts College of Art + Design’s computer systems and networks
is responsible for meeting the standards outlined in this policy.
The privilege of access to computer systems and networks owned or operated
by Massachusetts College of Art + Design imposes certain responsibilities and obligations
and is granted subject to the College’s policies, and local, state, and
federal laws. Appropriate use always is ethical, reflects academic honesty,
and shows restraint in the consumption of shared resources. It demonstrates
respect for intellectual property, ownership of data, system security mechanisms,
and individuals’ rights to freedom from intimidation, harassment, and unwarranted
annoyance. Appropriate use of Massachusetts College of Art + Design’s electronic
mail, internet, and telecommunications/voice mail systems includes instruction,
independent study, authorized research, independent research, communication,
and official work of the offices, units, recognized student and campus organizations,
and agencies of the College.
Respect for intellectual labor and creativity is vital to academic discourse
and enterprise. This principle applies to works of all authors and publishers
in all media. It encompasses respect for the right to acknowledgment and the
right to determine the form, manner, and terms of publication and distribution.
Because electronic information is volatile and easily reproduced, respect for
the work and personal expression of others is especially critical in computer
environments. Violations of authorial integrity, including plagiarism, unauthorized
access, and trade secret and copyright violations, may be grounds for sanctions
against members of the academic community. This policy should be taken in the
broadest possible sense and applies to Massachusetts College of Art + Design internet,
email, telecommunications voice mail usage even in situations where it would
not apply to the computer(s) in use (for example, student-owned computers attached
to the campus network).
Philosophy:
Reasonable Use. Limited resources and a large use community dictate the need
for all users to consider the right of others to work effectively. Any behavior
by a user that significantly impacts the working environment of others, either
directly or indirectly, is considered unreasonable.
Academic Integrity. As an educational institution, we must maintain the integrity
of activities relating to education. Electronic Mail, Internet, and Telecommunications/Voice
Mail violations of such integrity will warrant the same severity, as would any
other violation.
Policy
Electronic mail, Internet access, Telecommunications/Voice mail and other electronic
media, and equipment are business tools that are provided by Massachusetts College of Art + Design to employees and students to facilitate timely and efficient conduct
of business. To help ensure that these tools are used appropriately, Massachusetts College of Art + Design has developed the following acceptable use policy. This policy
addresses access, use, and disclosure of electronic mail, Internet messages,
telecommunications/voice mail and material created, sent, or received by Massachusetts College of Art + Design employees and students using the College’s systems. Massachusetts College of Art + Design intends to honor the policies set forth below, but reserves the
right to change them as may be required under the circumstances. The "Committee
on Workplace Privacy and Electronic Information" makes changes to this
policy through recommendations to the President of the College. The Committee
meets several times a year, or as needed, to discuss the policy and, if necessary,
to update, change, or modify the policy.
- Purpose. Massachusetts College of Art + Design maintains electronic mail,
Internet, and telecommunications/voice mail systems. These systems
are provided by the College to assist in the conduct of business within
the College. Massachusetts College of Art + Design supports
computing, networking, telecommunications, and information resources for
the students, faculty, and staff of Massachusetts College of Art + Design. Computer
and telecommunication facilities and services are offered in support of
teaching, learning, research and public service. Access to the telecommunication,
computer, and network systems owned and operated by Massachusetts College of Art + Design imposes certain responsibilities upon users, in accordance with
existing Massachusetts College of Art + Design policies and local, state, and federal
law. Users accept the responsibility for utilizing services in ways that
are ethical, that demonstrate academic integrity, and respect for others
who share these resources. This policy is established in an effort to help
users understand what is expected of them. It sets guidelines regarding
the issues of privacy and respect for property, ownership of data, system
security, and misuse of the system.
- Relation to Other Policies. This policy is intended to be consistent
with other Massachusetts College of Art + Design policies, including, but not limited
to, the College’s sexual harassment and equal opportunity policies
and the students’ code of conduct. Employees and students are to use
Massachusetts College of Art + Design’s electronic mail, Internet systems,
and telecommunications/voice mail systems in a manner that is consistent
with these other policies.
- Acceptable Use. The use of the electronic mail, Internet systems,
and telecommunications/voice mail systems is reserved solely for the conduct
of business at the College.
- Company Property. The electronic mail, Internet systems, telecommunications/voice
mail systems and hardware are College property. Additionally, all messages
and attachments composed, sent or received on the electronic mail, Internet
systems, and/or telecommunications/voice mail are and remain the property
of Massachusetts College of Art + Design. They are not the private property of any
employee or student, and employees and students should not consider any
e-mail, Internet messages, telecommunications/voice mail messages or material
private or their personal possessions.*
- Pass Codes. Employees and students must not use a code, access
a file, or retrieve any stored communication, other than where authorized.
All pass codes are the property of Massachusetts College of Art + Design.
- Non-Removal. Employees and students may not remove from the premises
any hardware licensed to/owned by the College, software licensed to/owned
by the College, or telecommunications devices licensed to/owned by the College
without prior management approval. Employees and students, may not remove
from the premises any files or data licensed to/owned by the College without
prior management authorization. The language of this paragraph is not intended
to prohibit employees from taking work home with them which requires the
use of files, software, hardware, or data which is owned by or licensed
to the College for the purpose of off-campus use. The language of this paragraph
is not intended to prohibit students from taking school work home with them
which requires the use of files, software, hardware, or data which is owned
by or licensed to the College for the purpose of off-campus use.
- Downloading. In downloading documents from the Internet, Massachusetts College of Art + Design requires that such documents must be job or curriculum related
and constitutes a reasonable use of Massachusetts College of Art + Design’s
resources. Please refer to the MassArt’s Electronic
File Sharing Policy for more details.
- No Sexually Explicit, Offensive, or Inappropriate Web Sites. Offensive
or Harassing Use Prohibited. Massachusetts College of Art + Design’s
Internet systems and telecommunications/voice mail systems must not be
used to visit sexually explicit or otherwise offensive or inappropriate
web sites, or inappropriate telecommunications sites or to send, display,
download, communicate or print offensive material, pornographic or sexually
explicit pictures or any other inappropriate materials. If an individual
believes access to such sites is necessary for academic research, or
is otherwise necessary to further the College’s interest, the individual
must first receive written approval by the Vice-President of Academic
Affairs.
The electronic mail, Internet systems, and telecommunications/voice mail
systems are not to be used to create or communicate any offensive or disruptive
messages. Among those which are considered offensive are messages, materials,
or communications which contain sexual implications, racial or ethnic
slurs, or other comments that offensively address someone’s age,
sex, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, ancestry, or disability.
In addition, these systems must not be used to
communicate other improper messages, for example, messages or material
that is defamatory, derogatory, obscene, or otherwise inappropriate. The
electronic mail, Internet systems, and telecommunications/voice mail systems
must not be used to commit any crime, including but not limited to, sending
obscene e-mails over the Internet with the intent to annoy, abuse, threaten,
or harass another person.
- Solicitation Prohibited. The electronic mail, Internet systems,
and telecommunications/voice mail systems may not be used to solicit or
proselytize for outside or personal commercial ventures, religious or political
causes, outside organizations, or other solicitations that are not job or
curriculum related.
- Chain Letters and Repeated Messages. Employees and students must
not send or forward "chain letter" e-mails. Employees and students
are prohibited from sending anonymous or repeated messages via the e-mail,
Internet, or telecommunications/voice mail systems designed to annoy, abuse,
or torment. Employees and students are prohibited from making any communication
which adversely impacts the communications of the College by over-loading
the network or knowingly acting in a manner that will disrupt normal operations
of computers, telecommunications/voice mail, or the network systems.
- Viruses. Employees and students may not use Massachusetts College of Art + Design’s e-mail or Internet systems to develop or send any virus, worm,
Trojan horse, or otherwise destructive program. Employees should not open
e-mails or attachments unless they are confident of the identity of the
sender.
- Copyrighted Material and Trade Secrets. The electronic mail and
Internet systems must not be used to send (upload) or receive (download)
copyrighted materials, trade secrets, proprietary financial information,
or similar materials without prior management authorization. The College
expressly incorporates into this policy the "Fair Use Guidelines
for Educational Multimedia
resulting from the NASAD 1997 Annual Meeting.See the Electronic
File Sharing Policy page for more info.
- College’s Right to Monitor. Massachusetts College of Art + Design acknowledges
that privacy is an important value for educational institutions. Creative,
innovative, and risky thought as well as scholarship and educational accomplishment
all depend on interacting in a communication context in which individuals
feel free to express and transmit their opinions and ideas. Thus, Massachusetts College of Art + Design extends to its students, faculty, and staff a reasonable
expectation of privacy in the communication that they conduct via Massachusetts College of Art + Design’s internet, email, telecommunications/voice mail systems
and networks. However, everyone should recognize that privacy cannot be
guaranteed, even when it is intended, and should, therefore, exercise reasonable
caution in electronic communication.
Although the privacy of electronic mail, files, and data is protected in
normal circumstances, when, upon the judgment of the appropriate authorities,
there is reason to believe the law or College policies have been violated,
Massachusetts College of Art + Design may access or disclose the electronic files,
mail, voice mail, and/or electronic discussions stored or transmitted by
a student, staff member, or faculty member of the College. In these cases,
an individual with appropriate administrative responsibility will make the
determination. For example, for students, it will be determined by the Dean
of Students’
office or that office’s designee; for staff, by the relevant Vice-President
or designee; for the faculty, by the Vice President of Academic Affairs
or designee; and, in cases that may be in violation of the College’s
Affirmative Action policy, the Director of Civil Rights Compliance and Diversity
or designee. Authorized representatives of the College will monitor the use
of its systems in its sole discretion, at any time, with or without notice
to any employee or student and may bypass, delete, change and/or modify any
pass code. Such monitoring is capable of tracking and recording e-mail messages
and telecommunications/voice mail messages sent and received as well as Internet
web sites visited by employees.
The Information Technology department of Massachusetts College of Art + Design
may routinely monitor communications technology and log usage data, such
as network session connection times and end-points, CPU and disk utilization
for each user, security audit trails, network loading, etc.
Information Technology
may review this data
for evidence of violation of law or policy, and other purposes.
- Consent. An employee’s or student’s use of Massachusetts College of Art + Design’s e-mail system and/or Internet systems and/or telecommunications/voice
mail systems constitutes his/her agreement to comply with the College’s
Electronic Mail, Internet, and Telecommunications/Voice Mail Policy as
well as his/her consent to the College’s recording and monitoring
of the employee’s
use of the e-mail, Internet, and telecommunications/voice mail systems.
- Confidentiality/Privacy. The confidentiality of any message or materials
should not be assumed. Even when a message or material has been erased,
it may still be possible to retrieve and read or hear that message or material.
Further, the use of passwords for security does not guarantee confidentiality.
Messages read in HTML may identify the reader to the sender. Notwithstanding
Massachusetts College of Art + Design’s right to retrieve and read/listen to
any electronic mail, Internet messages, telecommunications/voice mail messages
or material, such messages or material should be treated as confidential
by other employees and students and accessed only by the intended recipient.
Employees and students are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality
of material on the systems. Without prior management authorization, employees
and students are not permitted to retrieve or read e-mail messages that
are not sent to them. The contents of electronic mail, Internet messages
or materials, or telecommunications/voice mail messages may, however, be
disclosed to others within the College, with prior management authorization.
- Confidentiality and Encryption. Confidential or privileged information
should not be sent over the Internet, unless with appropriate warnings,
safeguards, or encryption.
- Disciplinary Action. In keeping with its long tradition of academic
freedom, Massachusetts College of Art + Design supports free inquiry and expression
by the users of its internet, email, and telecommunications/voice mail systems
and networks. Massachusetts College of Art + Design, however, reserves the right
to take action against or deny access to its facilities to those whose use
is not in agreement with the purpose of the College or infringes on the
rights of others.
In accordance with College procedures, Massachusetts College of Art + Design may
impose sanctions on anyone who is found to have violated the policies of
the College regarding internet, email, computer and/or telecommunications/voice
mail network or systems usage. A violation of the policy may result in disciplinary
action, including, but not limited to, the loss of computer, internet, email,
and/or telecommunications/voice mail network or systems access privileges
and/or discipline ranging from counseling up to discharge from employment
or expulsion from the College, and/or legal action. Some violations may
constitute criminal offenses and may be subject to local, state, and/or
federal prosecution.
In addition, Massachusetts College of Art + Design reserves the right to terminate
any computer network connection without notice should it be determined that
network traffic generated from the connection inhibits or interferes with
the use of the network by others.
- Password Accountability. Employee and student passwords are confidential
and employees and students are accountable for all usage under the password
of Massachusetts College of Art + Design computer and telecommunication/voice mail
systems. No one shall give any password for any College computer, telecommunications/voice
mail system, or network facility to any unauthorized person, nor obtain
any other person’s password by any unauthorized means whatsoever. In
general, passwords should never be shared with anyone else. Anyone who knows
your password can use your account. If he/she does anything that affects
the system, it will be traced back to your userid. If your userid or your
computer account or telecommunications/voice mail account is used in an
inappropriate manner, you may be held responsible. All employees and students
are prohibited from running programs that attempt to identify passwords
or codes.
- Other Countries’ Laws. Employees and students with Internet
access must take particular care to comply with and understand the copyright,
trademark, libel, slander, and public speech control laws of those countries
in which this College maintains an academic/business presence.
- Representation of the College. Employees and students should make
clear when they are or are not representing the College in their e-mail,
Internet, or telecommunications/voice mail communications.
- Internet Site/Identification Originator. Employees and students
should be aware that Internet sites accessed from Massachusetts College of Art + Design’s computer network may identify Massachusetts College of Art + Design
as the originator of each visit. If employees or students participate in "chat
sessions" or post messages on the Internet, they may be regarded as
representing Massachusetts College of Art + Design. Thus, all communications must
be professional, appropriate to Massachusetts College of Art + Design, and not adversely
reflect on its reputation.
- Public Records. As a State College (public entity), information
accessed and/or distributed over the e-mail, Internet or the telecommunications/voice
mail systems may be considered a public record pursuant to Massachusetts
General Laws c.66.
- Collective Bargaining Agreements. Where Collective Bargaining Agreements
are in effect and come into conflict with this Policy, the Collective
Bargaining Agreements shall govern.
- Contact Person. If you are not sure whether an activity you are
planning would affect service, you may contact Administrative Computing at
(617) 879-7870. Employees who need help understanding this policy or who
discover a violation of this policy should notify Human Resources at 617-879-7907
or the
Information Technology Help Desk at
617-879-7888.
Disclaimer. All parties placing materials on the College’s e-mail,
Internet, website, or any other College network represent and warrant that the
submission, installation, copying, distribution, and use of such materials in
connection with the College’s systems will not violate any other party’s
proprietary rights. The user understands and agrees that Massachusetts College of Art + Design is not responsible for any errors created in or damage to materials as
a result of the installation or maintenance on the College’s Network servers,
or their use by anyone accessing Massachusetts College of Art + Design servers. All use
of the e-mail, Internet, and telecommunications systems must be in accordance
with existing Massachusetts College of Art + Design regulations for computer and telecommunications/voice
mail use. Official Massachusetts College of Art + Design computer network pages may contain
links to other pages not sanctioned by the College.
Massachusetts College of Art + Design intends to honor the policies set forth above,
but reserves the right to change them as may be required under the circumstances.
The "Committee on Workplace Privacy and Electronic Information" makes
changes to this policy through recommendations to the President of the College.
The Committee meets several times a year, or as needed, to discuss the policy
and, if necessary, to update, change, or modify the policy.
* This policy is not meant to determine ownership of academic research and
work product displayed and/or stored on Massachusetts College of Art + Design systems.
** Parts of this Policy incorporate some of the substance and language
of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Policy on Electronic Citizenship
approved April 13, 1998 and last modified on October 18, 1999.
Date: June 22, 2006
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