Revision Adopted by President’s Cabinet 12/12/23
Purpose
This policy establishes that East Georgia State College and its users have an obligation to abide by standards that support the appropriate and ethical use of the college’s information technology resources. The use of these resources is a privilege granted by East Georgia State College to authorized users only. This policy defines acceptable technology and information use practices, promotes an understanding of responsible use of EGSC IT resources, seeks to protect IT resources, and preserves the relevant policies, regulations, and laws. The policy is not intended to be exhaustive, and East Georgia State College reserves the right to limit, restrict, or extend privileges and access to its information technology resources.
Policy Statement
East Georgia State College IT Resources must be used in accordance with applicable licenses and contracts, and according to their intended use in support of the College’s mission.
All users must comply with federal, state, and local laws, as well as East Georgia State College policies and University System of Georgia policies, when using East Georgia State College IT Resources.
The following sections define the acceptable uses of East Georgia State College IT Resources.
Acceptable Use
Employees and student employees - With the exception of incidental personal use, as defined below, ESGC IT Resources must be used only to conduct the legitimate business of the College (e.g., scholarly activity, academic instruction, research, learning, business operations).
Incidental personal use of East Georgia State College IT Resources by EGSC employees is permitted if the personal use does not interfere with the execution of job duties, does not incur cost on behalf of the college, and is not unacceptable as defined in the Unacceptable Use section below.
Students - East Georgia State College students may use the designated student wireless network for recreational and personal purposes to the extent that such use is not unacceptable as defined in the Unacceptable Use section below and does not adversely affect network service performance for other users engaged in academic, research, or official business activities.
Unacceptable Use
EGSC employees, including students acting as employees, are prohibited from the following actions when using EGSC IT Resources:
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- Unauthorized use of IT Resources for commercial purposes or personal gain
- Transmitting commercial or personal advertisements, solicitations, or promotions
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All users are prohibited from using EGSC IT resources in a manner which results in a violation of law or policy or potentially adversely affects network service performance. Examples of Unacceptable Use include, but are not limited to, the following:
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- Activity that violates federal, state, or local law
- Activity that violates any EGSC or Board of Regents policy
- Activities that lead to the destruction or damage of equipment, software, or data belonging to others or the college
- Circumventing information security controls of EGSC IT Resources
- Releasing or installing malware
- Intentionally installing malicious software
- Impeding or disrupting the legitimate computing activities of others
- Unauthorized use of accounts, access codes, passwords, or identification numbers
- Unauthorized use of systems and networks
- Unauthorized monitoring of communications
- Unauthorized use of file sharing sites and file repositories that have not been approved by the EGSC IT department and executive leadership.
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This list is not complete or exhaustive. It provides examples of prohibited actions. Any user in doubt about the acceptable use of EGSC IT Resources should contact Cyber Security for further clarification and assistance at abuse@ega.edu.
Scope
All EGSC IT resource users are covered by this policy.
Policy Terms
East Georgia State College IT Resources – EGSC owned computers, networks, devices, storage, applications, or other IT equipment. “EGSC owned” is defined as equipment purchased with either College funding (including sources such as Foundation funds etc.)
Enforcement
Any East Georgia State College employee found to have violated this policy may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment. Students of East Georgia State College found to have violated this policy may be subject to academic disciplinary action, (including being suspended from East Georgia State College for a period of time to be determined by the College's senior administration.) Other users (e.g., participants in East Georgia State College's continuing education programs and the like) found to have violated this policy will be asked to withdraw from the specific program(s) with no reimbursement of program fees or monies paid to participate in the program(s).
Depending upon the scope of the incident, all individuals found to be in violation of this policy may be subject to penalization under local, state and/or federal laws and regulations.
If user suspects that they are a victim of a violation of this policy, then the violation may be reported directly to the EGSC Cyber Security team by sending an email to abuseFREEOMNIUPDATE.
