Senate Document
SD 91-5
(Amended & Approved, 12/9/1991)
(Amended, 4/12/1999)
(Amended, 12/10/2001)
Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne
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Academic Computing and
Information Technology Advisory Subcommittee
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Educational Policy Committee
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Ethical Guidelines for Computer Users at IPFW
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To the Presiding Officer for Implementation
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Resolved, that the Fort Wayne Senate approve the following
statement containing ethical guidelines for students using IPFW computing
resources.
Ethical Guidelines for Student Computer Users
The
IPFW Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct (hereafter, the
Code) sets forth general policies and procedures governing the use of
university facilities by students. The purpose of these guidelines is to
interpret these policies and procedures specifically for students using the
university's computing facilities.
University
computer resources are designed to be used in connection with legitimate,
university-related purposes.The use of
university computing resources to disseminate obscene, pornographic, or
libelous materials, to threaten or harass others, or otherwise to engage in
activities forbidden by the Code is subject to disciplinary action as specified
in the Code.
Intellectual
Property Rights and Responsibilities
Central
to an understanding of the rights and responsibilities of student computer
users is the notion of intellectual property. In brief, this concept holds that
materials stored in electronic form are the property of one or more rightful
owners. Like any other property, electronically stored information, whether
data or programs, can be stolen, altered or destroyed, misappropriated, or
plagiarized. Such inappropriate activities violate the Code and are subject to
disciplinary action as set forth in the Code.
Access
Rights and Responsibilities
The
use of lab, e-mail, web and other computing resources should be focused on
facilitating individual or small-group interaction; other uses—for
example, using computer resources to conduct a commercial enterprise or private
business—constitute theft from the university subject
to disciplinary action as specified in the Code. Similarly, the introduction of
information which interferes with the access or information of others—forexample, the introduction of programs of a type
commonly called "viruses" or of nonacademic, network-game simulations—is subject to disciplinary action. E-mail
should not be used for junk mailings.
Junk-mail,
including chain mail, wastes system resources and the time of those who receive
it. Neither should e-mail be used to forge a message so as to have it appear to
come from another user. All such inappropriate use of e-mail is subject to
disciplinary action, including—but not limited to—loss of e-mail account.
Certain
university-controlled computing resources are openly available to all students on
a first-come, first-served basis; access to other resources is limited—often only by means of posted notices—to
students in certain disciplines or specified courses; access to still other
resources is carefully controlled by such means as user IDs and passwords.
Students are responsible for adhering to the spirit and the letter of these
access controls. Violations of access rights can be interpreted under the Code
as theft of university services whether or not those services have been
separately billed.
Students
are also responsible for ensuring the confidentiality of access rights under
their control. For example, release of a password, whether intentional or
inadvertent, invites misuse by others and may be subject to disciplinary
action.
General
Rights and Responsibilities
Despite
access controls imposed, system failures may occasionally make it possible for
students inappropriately to read, use, copy, alter, or delete information
stored electronically on a university computer system. Students are responsible
for not exploiting such system failures and for reporting them to proper
university personnel so that corrective steps can be taken.
The
University strives to maintain a quiet, library-like environment in its
computer labs in order that lab users can use their time productively and with
minimal distractions. Proper use of computer resources follows the same
standards of common sense and courtesy that govern the use of other public facilities.Improper use violates those standards by
infringing upon others' ability to fulfill their responsibilities.
All inappropriate uses of computing resources
should be reported to proper authorities for possible disciplinary action.