Responsible Use Policy
Network Policy
Email
Web Publishing
Violations
Glossary
The policies listed here govern the use of computers and networks by members of the Wentworth Institute of Technology (WIT) community. As a user of these resources, you are responsible for reading, understanding, and abiding by this document. This document protects the consumers of computing resources, computing hardware and networks, and system administrators.
A note on common sense: Anytime you log onto a network or access the internet, you are in a public forum. Same goes for email. Though from the dark confines of a room in the pale, seductive glow of the monitor, it may seem very private and secure, it is not always or even often the case. The point of a network and the internet is connection, participation in a far-flung community. When making use of the resources of Wentworth, we simply need to remember that resources are shared, that we are partaking in a community act, and conduct ourselves accordingly.
Network Policy
Access:
Network access is a privilege granted by Wentworth.
Users will have unrestricted access to the WWW and Internet.
The system may not be used to access or download any illegal material.
Users will comply with all pertinent state, federal, and local laws, and Wentworth Policies.
The system may not be used to attempt in any way to breach this network or any network's security
Users must comply with any age restrictions on internet material.
Any electronic communication made via Wentworth’s internet connection will fall under the email policy as well as under any applicable policies stated herein.
Commercial Use:
No commercial use shall be made of network resources without express permission of Wentworth administration: this includes sales, advertising, and soliciting.
Privacy:
Wentworth makes reasonable effort to insure privacy and security for user accounts and workstations.
Wentworth shall have the authority to examine files, passwords, and account information to protect the security of Wentworth computing resources and its users.
All users will respect the privacy of others. No user will attempt to access accounts or information not specifically his or her own.
Hacking: Unauthorized Connection to Computer Systems and/or Networks:
Hacking, spamming, spoofing, attempting to break in, or breaking into any workstation, server, mass storage device, or ancillary hardware connected to the Wentworth network or any foreign network connected to the Internet by students, faculty or staff while connected to the Wentworth network is a violation of Wentworth policy and will result in disciplinary action. Further, Wentworth does not condone, sponsor nor support such activity and holds no liability for any possible legal action brought against any student, faculty or staff found to be in violation of this policy by Wentworth, outside agency or party.
Email Policy
Scope:
This policy is applicable to all persons and organizations holding Wentworth email user accounts, including, but not limited to, faculty, staff, students, guests, conferees and/or agents of Wentworth. This policy statement does not amend, modify, supersede, conflict with or nullify any policy currently in place with the exception of any policy expressly regarding the use of electronic e-mail.
User Notification:
Logging onto the Wentworth Network implies agreement to abide by this policy. Questions or concerns regarding any facet of this policy shall be directed to the appropriate Divisional Vice President or Department Head for clarification.
The Purpose of this Policy:
This Policy clarifies the applicability of law and of other Wentworth policies to electronic mail, one of the communication services on Wentworth Campus. It also defines new policy and procedures where existing policies do not specifically address issues particular to the use of electronic mail.
The primary purpose of Electronic Mail is to facilitate the academic mission of Wentworth within the Wentworth environment, and secondarily, to provide electronic communication world-wide via the Internet.
Privilege of Use:
The use of our local network and the Internet for email is a privilege granted by Wentworth to members of its community. It is not a right, and the privilege is contingent upon compliance with this policy.
Compliance with Campus Policy & Law:
All email must be in compliance with campus policies as stated in faculty, staff, and student handbooks. Any use of email which is in violation of stated campus policy, state, or federal law shall be deemed in violation of email policy.
Any violation of this policy may result in curtailment or loss of email privileges, and will be subject to any existing disciplinary procedures of Wentworth. Violation of state and federal law may also subject users to prosecution by state and federal authorities. In any such prosecution or investigation, Wentworth will cooperate with authorities
Privacy:
The confidentiality of electronic mail cannot be assured. Such confidentiality may be compromised by applicability of law or policy, including this Policy, by unintended redistribution, or because of inadequacy of current technologies to protect against unauthorized access. Users, therefore, should exercise extreme caution in using email to communicate confidential or sensitive matters.
Wentworth mail systems are not private communication networks. Although it is not the common practice of Wentworth to access email accounts, Wentworth reserves the right to access and to review information transmitted or stored on its equipment with or without notice. Users do not have a privacy right in materials created, sent, received, or maintained on these systems. Administrators of the campus computer network will access user accounts only at the direction of the Office of the President.
Passwords are only intended to prevent unauthorized access to email. They do not grant implicit privacy rights.
Wentworth will not use this policy to infringe upon the confidentiality and candor of the teaching/learning relationship when the campus network is used for the transmission of course-related materials for instructional purposes.
Email is legally the property and thus responsibility of Wentworth and therefore Wentworth maintains the right to see that all users comply with policy and the law.
Accessing or attempting to access an email account other than your own, or attempting to breach computer or network security measures is forbidden.
Copyright:
It is expected that use of email will be in compliance with copyright laws. Material protected by copyright will not be transmitted, whether text, image, or software, when that transmission is in violation of the copyright.
Clear Identification of Users:
Spoofing, or misrepresenting your identity or giving false or misleading email addresses, is forbidden. Mail originating from the Wentworth campus members will be clearly and consistently identified as such.
Chain Letters:
Chain letters are not to originate from campus computers nor be forwarded through them. This includes the ever-popular "virus warning" chain letters.
Global Mailing:
Global messages are those sent to all members of the campus community. Mailings on the campus email system are to be addressed only to those concerned. Thus global messages must be of concern, campus-wide, to faculty, staff, and students.
Global mailings should properly come only from administration, faculty, staff, and chartered student organizations.
Global mailings will clearly identify the sender by department or organization.
Anyone sending inappropriate global or widely broadcast mailings will receive a warning from an administrator of the system, an explanation of the problem and policy, and a notification that further abuse will result in curtailed emailing privileges. "Curtailed privileges" means removal from the campus system for a period of one week. Any abuse of the system beyond that could be grounds for longer penalty.
Commercial Use:
Wentworth Electronic mail services may not be used for commercial purposes for personal gain: sale, solicitation, advertising of goods or services. Any commercial use of Wentworth email must be under the auspices of Wentworth.
Mailing Lists:
If you subscribe to an electronic mailing list, you are responsible for determining the purpose of the list before subscribing. You will be viewed as soliciting materials delivered by the list as long as the material is consistent with the list's purpose. If you send materials to a mailing list which are not consistent with the purpose of the mailing list, you will be viewed as having sent unsolicited materials.
Spamming--Unsolicited Broadcast mail:
Broadcasting unsolicited messages or sending unwanted mail, is expressly prohibited. This includes personal announcements, solicitations, or use of email to harass, intimidate or otherwise annoy another person, such as This also applies to material originating from this campus but sent to other sites or persons on the Internet.
Violations of Policy:
Violations of email policy will be referred to the appropriate adjudicating body of Wentworth. Email privileges may be suspended immediately pending review. Violations of campus policy will be referred to the judicial committee. Penalties may range from warning, temporary suspension of email privileges, to permanent revocation of privileges. Violations of law will be reported to the appropriate legal authorities.
Web Publishing Policy
The Purpose of this Policy:
This Policy clarifies the applicability of law and of other Wentworth policies to all materials published on network web servers. It also defines new policy and procedures where existing policies do not specifically address issues particular to web publishing.
The primary purpose of web publishing at Wentworth is to facilitate the academic mission of Wentworth within the Wentworth environment, and secondarily, to provide electronic communication world-wide via the Internet.
Privilege of Use:
The use of our local network and servers for web publishing is a privilege granted by Wentworth to members of its community. It is not a right, and the privilege is contingent upon compliance with this policy.
Public Web Server:
All use of Wentworth's servers for publication must comply with published polices which may be found at www.wit.edu/helpdesk, and with published guidelines on student and professional conduct. Student conduct guidelines are published in the "Wentworth Student Handbook," available from the Dean of Students Office and online at http://www.wit.edu/StudentHandbook/ .
Material published on the public server is the responsibility of the publisher.
Pages will contain mailto links addressed to the page owner for comments and questions pertaining to the contents of the page, and a mailto link to the webmaster@wit.edu.
Copyright & Intellectual Property:
No copyrighted material will be published on our servers without express permission of the holder of the copyright.
The above restriction applies to both material mounted from our network or mounted as an inline inclusion in a publication.
Upon notification from the holder of a copyright of the suspicion of copyright infringement, the suspect material will be removed as quickly as possible until proper permission has been ascertained.
All rights to intellectual property published on Wentworth's WWW site and on the public server are retained by the owner of that property unless those rights are transferred to the college.
Commercial Use:
Web-publishing accounts may not be used for commercial purposes for personal gain: sale, solicitation, advertising of goods or services.
Compliance with Campus Policy & Law:
All web publications must be in compliance with campus policies as stated in faculty, staff, and student handbooks. Any use of web servers which is in violation of stated campus policy, state, or federal law shall be deemed in violation of Wentworth policy.
Any violation of this policy may result in curtailment or loss of publishing privileges, and will be subject to any existing disciplinary procedures of Wentworth. Violation of state and federal law may also subject users to prosecution by state and federal authorities. In any such prosecution or investigation, Wentworth will cooperate with authorities.
Procedures for Violations
Minor infractions of this policy, when accidental, such as consuming excessive resources or overloading computer systems, are generally resolved informally by the unit administering the accounts or network. This may be done through electronic mail or in-person discussion and education.
Repeated minor infractions or misconduct which is more serious may result in the temporary or permanent loss of computer access privileges or the modification of those privileges. More serious violations include, but are not limited to unauthorized use of computer resources, attempts to steal passwords or data, unauthorized use or copying of licensed software, repeated harassment, or threatening behavior. In addition, offenders may be referred to their sponsoring advisor, department, employer or other appropriate office for further action. If the individual is a student, the matter may be referred to Student Affairs for disciplinary action.
Any offense which violates local, state, or federal laws may result in the immediate loss of all Wentworth computing privileges and will be referred to appropriate offices and/or law enforcement authorities.
The administration of Wentworth retains the right to immediately suspend network access to users if serious infraction of policy is alleged, pending appropriate judicial review.
Glossary
Access - means to gain entry to or communicate with a computer system or computer network by using a computer terminal or similar device.
Computer equipment or hardware - means central processing units, microprocessors, data storage and other computer memory devices, and computer terminals or similar devices.
Computer services - means data input, data output, data processing or data storage by or in a computer system or computer network.
Computer network - means two or more computer systems connected so as to permit the exchange or sharing of data between or among them.
Computer program or software - means a set of computer-readable instructions or statements which when executed by a computer system causes the computer system or the computer network to which it is connected to perform computer services.
Computer system - means computer equipment or hardware connected together and operating under the control of one or more computer programs.
Data - means information stored in a computer system or on electronic media or processed in a computer system.
Injury - means addition, alteration, damage, deletion, destruction, denial of access with respect to data in or functions of a computer system or computer network.
Without authorization - means without the permission of or in excess of the permission of an owner, lessor or rightful user or someone licensed or privileged by an owner, lessor or rightful user to grant such permission.
Guest - means, anyone granted Wentworth Computer Network privileges.
Internet - means a global network connecting millions of computers. As of 1998, the Internet has more than 100 million users worldwide, and that number is growing rapidly. More than 100 countries are linked into exchanges of data, news and opinions Each Internet computer, called a host, is independent. Its operators can choose which Internet services to use and which local services to make available to the global Internet community.
Spamming - means Electronic junk mail or junk newsgroup postings. Any unsolicited mass mailing.
Spoofing - means using a false or concealed identity to send mail or access a system.
World Wide Web - means a system of Internet servers that support specially formatted documents. The documents are formatted in a language called HTML (Hypertext Markup ) that supports links to other documents, as well as graphics, audio, and video files. Not all Internet servers are part of the World Wide Web.
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