Policy for Responsible Computing and Use of College Resources

These areas are intended to be a workplace and the following rules are designed to safeguard the equipment and environment:

1. Food, candy, and smoking are not permitted in the teaching labs, classrooms, library and learning center. Only water bottles which have screw-on lids are permitted, provided they are closed while the student is working.
2. Only current GBC students and employees are permitted network access in these areas.
3. Inappropriate language or offensive behavior is not permitted and will not be tolerated.
4. These areas are working environments not student lounges or game rooms. Therefore, noise will not be tolerated, and students may be asked to leave.
5. Phone calls are not permitted in these areas.
6. Students are permitted to sign in to only one PC at a time.
7. Illegally copying software is prohibited and violators may be prosecuted.
8. Downloading and sharing copyrighted material (software, music or video files, etc.) without permission is a federal offense. Downloading or sharing copyrighted materials may result in the loss of network access privileges.
9. Users should use cloud storage (OneDrive for Business) to save their work. Any work saved on the hard drive will be deleted automatically at sign out/reboot in the teaching labs, classrooms, library and learning center, Cyber Café, kiosks, and student access computers located in college offices.
10. Users are expected to clean up their workstation space upon leaving, i.e. dispose of trash, pick up printed documents, and push in chairs.
11. Any signed in/locked computer located in the library and learning center unattended for more than thirty minutes may be rebooted.
12. Printing is limited to the requirements for a student’s GBC coursework. Students are not permitted to print textbooks in part or their entirety. Users should conserve paper by saving the information to a file (on cloud storage, etc.) and reading it later. More information about student printing is available on the Technology tab of Campus Web.

1. Food and drinks are permitted in the Café.
2. Only current GBC students and employees are permitted network access in this area.
3. Inappropriate language or offensive behavior is not permitted and will not be tolerated.
4. Students are permitted to sign in to only one PC at a time.
5. Illegally copying software is prohibited and violators may be prosecuted.
6. Users should use cloud storage (OneDrive for Business) to save their work. Any work saved on the hard drive will be deleted automatically at sign out/reboot.
7. Users are expected to clean up their workstation space before leaving, i.e. clean up any spills, dispose of trash, and push in chairs.
8. Any signed in/locked computer located in the Café unattended for more than thirty minutes may be rebooted.

GBC Email serves as the official means of sending information to students by faculty and staff. These messages are always sent to the GBC Email address.

1. Students and employees are responsible for maintaining their official GBC Email accounts and are expected to check them on a frequent and consistent basis.
2. Students and employees have the responsibility to recognize that certain communications may be time critical.
3. Inappropriate language should not be used in email messages.
4. Email is not to be sent to the entire student population.
5. Sending junk email, unsolicited or offensive email is not permitted and will not be tolerated.
6. Students are responsible for maintaining their mailbox size below 100 MB, i.e., empty the Deleted Items folder and delete old and junk email. File attachments increase the mailbox size; therefore, students and employees are advised to save or share them using OneDrive for Business and delete the email message.
7. The GBC Email account is provided by the College for educational purposes only. The College does not provide this account for any other personal or commercial use.

Technology services provided by the College are for educational purposes only. The College does not provide these services for any other personal or commercial use.

1. All users must change their initial password to a personalized, secure, and strong password as a security measure. Refer to detailed instructions posted on the Technology tab of Campus Web.
2. All activities of College Network Accounts are governed by having the account password, so it is important that GBC Network Account and/or passwords are not given to anyone (including family members). GBC staff and faculty – including OIT staff members – will never ask any GBC network user for their password.
3. It is important that all network users protect GBC Network Account username and password information as they would their social security number. Do not place them in an easily accessible place, e.g., on a desk in a dorm room or office.
4. Any GBC network user will be held accountable for any abuse of technology resources associated with their GBC Network Account.
5. Users are not permitted to sign into the GBC network and/or technology resources using anyone else’s GBC Network Account.
6. Users are also not permitted to sign in the GBC network and/or technology resources and then allow someone else to use their signed-in session.
7. Appropriate language should be used in all computing activities, including email messages, online posts, chat, audio and video communications, etc.
8. Excessive media streaming, running a server application, or other activities that place a heavy load on the College network are not permitted.
9. Users should be aware that the computer systems are the property of the College and that email messages, internet usage history, any other computer files, diagnostic logs, and other network traffic are subject to review at the discretion of the College. In the case of harassment complaints, illegal violations, or a network security incident (including but not limited to hardware, software, or attacks by hackers), OIT staff members are authorized to inspect and remove any information, files, or diagnostic data necessary to investigate complaints, resolve the incident, or protect the network systems and the information they contain. In this situation, OIT staff members are obligated to treat any information they might see, that turns out to be unrelated to the problem, as strictly confidential. In addition, email messages are subject to subpoena or otherwise discoverable in litigation.
10. All data in the College’s computer and communications systems – including documents, images, recordings, other electronic files, and chat messages – are the property of the College. No individual should have any expectation of privacy for data recorded or transmitted over the College’s systems.
11. GBC technology resources may not be used to create, share, or transmit material that is derogatory, defamatory, obscene or offensive. Such material includes – but is not limited to – slurs, epithets or anything that might be construed as harassment or disparagement based on race, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, or religious or political beliefs.
12. Users must follow local, state, and federal laws and regulations pertaining to computing activities. In cases involving fraud, forgery, extortion, copyright violations, intimidation, humiliation, etc., violators may be legally prosecuted and may be subject to immediate loss of all computing privileges and network access at Goldey-Beacom College.
13. GBC technology resources may not be used to solicit or contact others for commercial purposes, causes, external organizations, chain messages, or other purposes not related to academic or work-related tasks associated with the College.
14. Users are responsible for reporting any activities which they believe to be in violation of these policies. To report such incidents, email [email protected].

1. The internet is an open forum for many subjects, opinions, and ideas, both appropriate and inappropriate to the educational values and/or goals of the College. Therefore, it is up to the users of the internet to be responsible, selective, and wise when dealing with people, topics, opinions, and/or ideas found on the internet that do not serve the educational purposes of the College. Offensive materials on the internet, including but not limited to adult sites and pornography, are not to be accessed through the College’s network using any personal computer located at the College or connected to the College network. Anyone accessing these pages may be asked to discontinue doing so, may be asked to leave, may have their network access suspended, and may be subject to disciplinary actions.
2. Goldey-Beacom College is not responsible for any offensive or inappropriate material that is found on the internet.
3. The use of the internet for non-class assignments in the labs, library, and Cyber Cafe is permitted, provided a workstation is not needed by a student with a class assignment.

GBC Campus Wi-Fi is provided for use by current students and employees only.

1. Only currently enrolled students and staff and faculty currently employed by Goldey-Beacom College have access to GBC Campus Wi-Fi. Up-to-date anti-malware software must be installed on all PCs connected to the network. All Wi-Fi devices must support WPA2 encryption. Administrator privileges may be required to complete the connection process.
2. The use of bridges, hubs, routers, switches or other network equipment which could interfere with GBC Campus Wi-Fi is not permitted on Campus.
3. Users are not permitted to share or tether their GBC Campus Wi-Fi connection to another device.
4. Users are not permitted to connect their personal device to GBC Campus Wi-Fi using another user’s GBC Network Account.
5. Users are required to follow the guidelines for the usage of the College’s network and the internet when using GBC Campus Wi-Fi.
6. Misuse of GBC Campus Wi-Fi or not following the approved policies may result in losing complete access to the GBC network.
7. All network users are responsible for the integrity of their own individual devices. It is each person’s responsibility to make certain that their device is secured against viruses, worms, hacker attacks, and other intrusions. Further, they are responsible for all uses of their device and will held accountable for network traffic originating from their device or traced back to their device’s IP address.
8. Users should be aware that connecting to GBC Campus Wi-Fi gives the College the right to investigate cases of harassment complaints, illegal violations, copyright infringement, or network problems, in which the OIT staff members may need to review email messages, internet usage, and other files on any device(s) configured for use on GBC Campus Wi-Fi.

The College provides currently enrolled students and employees access to various online services operated by third parties on behalf of the College. These include – but may not be limited to – Canvas, Panopto, Microsoft 365, OneDrive for Business, Teams, Yammer, and Zoom.

1. Only currently enrolled students and staff and faculty currently employed by Goldey-Beacom College have access to such third-party services as Canvas and Panopto.
2. Users are required to follow the guidelines on the usage of the College’s network and the internet when using these online services.
3. Access to such online services is provided to currently enrolled students for the purposes of completing their coursework, and to current employees for their work-related activities. These services should not be used to post personal information, share personal files, or for any other non-academic/work purposes.
4. Users are solely responsible for all content posted and files shared using their account.
5. Misuse of these online services or not following the approved policies may result in losing complete access to the online services.
6. Users should be aware that using these online services gives the College the right to investigate cases of harassment complaints, illegal violations, copyright infringement, or network problems in which the OIT staff may need to review service usage, files stored in OneDrive for Business, Teams communications, Zoom recordings, network traffic, and any other files or data connected to the usage of these online services.

The College provides third-party online audio and video-conferencing services – including Zoom, and Microsoft Teams – to support the faculty and staff in their college work responsibilities and to provide students with needed resources for their GBC classes. Zoom is the primary supported service for holding and attending online meetings at GBC, including any use of audio, video, chat, collaboration, and content sharing within such meetings.

Currently enrolled students, and all staff and faculty currently employed at the College have free access to a Zoom account using their GBC Network Account. This policy defines the proper use of Zoom at the College:

1. Any GBC user signing in to Zoom – or any other audio and video-conferencing software or services (from here on referred to as “Zoom”) – will be assumed to understand and agree with all applicable College policies.
2. Any use of Zoom must be compliant with all applicable elements of GBC’s Policy for Responsible Computing and Use of College Resources, including all items listed in the section about Use of Third-Party Online Services Operated on Behalf of the College.
3. Any use of Zoom by GBC employees must be compliant with all applicable elements of the College’s Information Security Policy.
4. If a meeting session will be recorded, the host user must inform all individuals participating in the meeting in advance that the session is being recorded.
5. If a meeting session was recorded, the recording – and its content – must be compliant with any applicable College policies regarding digital content. Such recordings may be shared only with users authorized to view the content.
6. Users must not use, present, or share any content that is in violation of local, state or federal laws or GBC policies.
7. Users are required to obtain consent from appropriate parties prior to including, recording, or sharing any content containing sensitive information (e.g., intellectual property, copyrighted material, etc.).
8. Zoom must not be used to share, present, record or distribute confidential or proprietary College information, Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Protected Health Information (PHI) or other regulated data without prior authorization from the College. While Zoom has been certified for use with meetings that include such data, users are responsible for ensuring all regulatory requirements are met while sharing, presenting, downloading, and storing related electronic documents. Users should also be aware that all regulatory requirements – including FERPA and HIPAA – apply to the use of such data when using Zoom.
9. Participants in online meetings that involve the use of video or audio conferencing – and related cameras and microphones – must ensure that those devices cannot inadvertently record sensitive, proprietary, confidential, or inappropriate documents, images, materials, sounds, or other content located in the vicinity of the participants.
10. Online audio and video conference sessions should only be established to trusted participants and partners, including any external users invited to such meetings.
11. GBC will not assume responsibility for content that is reported or discovered to be in violation of any aforementioned policies or laws. Any recorded content will be removed pending review, and appropriate action taken if necessary.

GBC network users shall not damage, destroy, misuse, or otherwise endanger the College’s computing and information resources. This section is intended to aid in interpreting the policies stated above and should not be interpreted as complete or exhaustive. Examples of conduct in violation of the approved policies include:

1. Using software or materials known to have been obtained in violation of copyright law or a valid license provision.
2. Copying and providing to others any copyrighted material or licensed program contents, unless allowed under the fair-use doctrine or explicitly permitted by the copyright owner.
3. Disrupting, hindering, or damaging the service, use, or ability of others to access or use any College computer, facility, equipment, software, network, or other technology resource, including email.
4. Accessing resources on the College’s network using a different GBC Network Account other than the one assigned.
5. Providing any person with access to the assigned GBC Network Account, or in any way allowing others access to a device, network, or service under one’s account.
6. Creating, modifying, reading or copying files (including email) in any areas to which the user has not been granted access.
7. Disguising one’s identity in any way, including the sending of fraudulent email messages, removal of data from system files, and the masking of process names.
8. Sending harassing or abusive messages via any digital means.
9. Sending emails that advertise products or advertising services.
10. Using College facilities to gain unauthorized access to computer systems on or off Campus.
11. Use of College resources for unauthorized or commercial purposes.
12. Attempting to interfere with the normal operation of computing systems in any way or attempting to circumvent the restrictions associated with such facilities.
13. Using any College computer, facility, equipment, software, network, or other technology resource, including email, to commit or attempt to commit acts prohibited under applicable federal, state, or local laws.

1. Students violating policies concerning copyrighted material will be informed of the immediate loss of both their GBC Campus Wi-Fi connection as well as access to various other College network resources, should such activities continue.
2. Students violating policies concerning excessive noise and not responding to the request by college staff to reduce the noise level may be asked to leave the area. Continued abuse of this policy will be reported to the Dean of Students and may result in the loss of the computing privileges for the area where the violation occurred.
3. Any student found in violation of any of these policies may be subject to the loss of their access to one or all of the College technology resources for a period of time and will be reported to the Dean of Students for disciplinary action.
4. Any illegal violations may result in the immediate loss of the use of all GBC technology resources and will be reported to the Dean of Students.
5. A student’s GBC Network Account will be immediately locked and referred by the Office of Information Technology to the Dean of Students in the event of a network threat related to that account.

The Office of Information Technology may change or amend this policy from time to time. When changes are made, they will be announced to the GBC College Community. As with all matters of law and ethics, ignorance of the rules does not excuse violations.