What are my responsibilities as a computer user at Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College?
Note: By using any of the Computing Resources at Southern, you agree to abide by the following:

Responsibilities of the User
Access to computing resources is a privilege to which all college faculty, staff, and students are entitled. Access may also be granted to individuals outside the college for purposes consistent with the mission of the college. Certain responsibilities accompany that privilege; understanding them is important for all computer users. These responsibilities are listed below.

Institutional Purposes
Use of Southern’s computing resources is for purposes related to the college’s mission of education, research, and public service. All classes of computer service users may use computing resources only for purposes related to their studies, their instruction, the discharge of their duties as employees, their official business with the college, and other college-sanctioned activities. The use of Southern’s computing resources for commercial purposes is permitted only by special arrangement with the appropriate computing center or computer system administrator.

Security
The user is responsible for correct and sufficient use of the tools each computer system provides for maintaining the security and confidentiality of information stored on it. For example:

• Computer accounts, passwords, and other types of authorization are assigned to individual users and should not be shared with others.
• The user should select an obscure account password and change it frequently.
• The user should understand the level of protection each computer system automatically applies to files and supplement it, if necessary, for sensitive information.
• The microcomputer user should be aware of computer viruses and other destructive computer programs, and take steps to avoid being their victim or unwitting vector.

Legal Usage
Computing resources may not be used for illegal purposes. Examples of illegal purposes include:

• Intentional harassment of other users.
• Intentional destruction of or damage to equipment, software, or data belonging to Southern or other users.
• Intentional disruption or unauthorized monitoring of electronic communications.
• Unauthorized copying of copyrighted material.

Ethical usage
Computing resources should be used in accordance with the high ethical standards of the college community as described in the Code of Student Ethics and the Academic Handbook. Examples of unethical use follow; some of these may also be illegal.

• Violations of computer system security.
• Unauthorized use of computer accounts, access codes, or network identification numbers assigned to others.
• Intentional use of computer telecommunication facilities in ways that unnecessarily impede the computing activities of others(randomly initiating interactive electronic communications or e-mail exchanges, overuse of interactive network utilities, and so forth).
• Use of computing facilities for private business purposes unrelated to the mission of the college or college life.
• Academic dishonesty(plagiarism, cheating).
• Violation of software license agreements.
• Violation of network usage policies and regulations.
• Violation of another user’s privacy.
• Transmission of copyrighted or pornographic materials.

Facilitative usage
Southern’s computing resource users can facilitate computing in the Southern’s environment in many ways. Collegiality demands the practice of facilitative computing. It includes:

• Regular deletion of unneeded files from one’s accounts on central machines.
• Refraining from overuse of connect time, information storage space, printing facilities, or processing capacity.
• Refraining from overuse of interactive network utilities.

Sanctions
Violations of the policies described above for legal and ethical use of computing resources will be dealt with seriously. Violators will be subject to the normal disciplinary procedures of the college and, in addition, the loss of computing privileges may result. Illegal acts involving Southern’s computing resources may also be subject to prosecution by state and federal authorities.