Policies for use of Medical Sciences Computing Resources

Medical Sciences Department official policy for use of computers is based on the official Indiana University policy, published on the web at:  http://www.indiana.edu/~uitspubs/iu001

 I. Policies for use of Medical Sciences Computers.

MedSci computers support the business and educational purposes of the department. Incidental and reasonable personal use of MedSci computers, e.g. the Internet or Email, is permitted, unless such use violates published policies for appropriate use, or interferes with performance of an employee’s duties. Use of MedSci computer equipment for personal or MedSci related activities, such as conferences, is permitted with prior approval of the IT Director.

Medical Sciences faculty and staff should not use MedSci computers for the following purposes. They are incompatible with the purpose the computers are provided, and could risk legal liability:

·        MedSci computers shall not be used to access obscene or pornographic materials, during work hours or after work hours. Violations of this policy could result in disciplinary action. Information Systems staff will remove any such materials incidentally observed on computers during the performance of their normal computer support and maintenance duties

·        Only Information Systems staff should move computers or modify the configuration of a computer. The location of each computer is linked to the data jack assigned it in a support inventory maintained by Information Systems. IT staff must be consulted before any computer is connected to the campus network using a wired connection to a Medical Sciences wall jack.

·        Only Information Systems staff should install software on computers with the exception of lab computers. This policy prevents accidental installation of dangerous or malicious software, prevents installation of non-licensed software, and insures all software works with and does not cause problems with either the department’s or the university’s network configurations.

·        Personally owned computers of MedSci staff otherwise qualified to use IU computing resources may be connected to the university network after review by Information Systems and determination by Information Systems that the machine meets university and MedSci security requirements. Any personally owned workstation attached under this policy must run in restricted user mode, and be configured so that it cannot be rebooted to a local administrator account by the user while attached to the network. Exceptions will be made on a case by case basis.

·        Users should not allow Internet sites to install adware, spyware, or file sharing software. Gator, Hotbar and Kazaa are programs which track user activity, and risk opening the computer as a file share to the rest of the Internet as well as potential civil and criminal liability. Information Systems is currently developing configurations to prevent installation of these.

II. Key Policies from Indiana University Official Policy on Use of IU Computers

These are selected key policy statement. For links to IU policies with full detail see:

http://www.itpo.iu.edu/policies.html

“Any device connected to the Indiana University telecommunications plant (data or voice) must conform to all applicable IU policies, regardless of the ownership of the machine. This may include periodic scanning of the device for security vulnerabilities, where after response may be required of the owner and/or action may be taken by University staff commensurate with the identified problems. In addition, the device may be subject to review of storage contents or monitoring by University staff, as authorized by applicable policies.” Per Email by University ITPO, 2002-08-16.

“Unless otherwise specified in this policy, use of Indiana University technology resources is restricted to purposes related to the university’s mission of education, research, and public service. Access to University technology resources is a privilege granted to University faculty, staff, and students in support of their studies, instruction, duties as employees, official business with the University, and other University-sanctioned activities. Access to technology resources may be granted to individuals outside of Indiana University for purposes that directly support the missions of the University.”

“The system administrators of departmental and individual computing resources are responsible for the security of information stored on those resources, for making appropriate information on security procedures available to users of those systems, and for keeping those systems free from unauthorized access.”

“Free expression of ideas is central to the academic process. IU computer system administrators will not remove any information from individual accounts unless the appropriate system administrator finds that:

·        The presence of the information involves illegality (e.g., copyrighted material, software used in violation of a license agreement).=

·        The information in some way endangers computing resources or the information of other users (e.g., a computer worm, virus, or other destructive program).

·        The information is inappropriate, because it is unrelated to or is inconsistent with the mission of the University, involves the use of obscene, bigoted, or abusive material on IU resources”

III. Support for Computing in Medical Sciences

The latest machine provided to each faculty and staff as part of the UITS Lifecycle Replacement Program will receive hardware and software support. Departmental servers, laptops maintained in classrooms or in the office for general use, and printers attached to faculty and staff workstations will also be supported. This support will include the standard build of Windows (or other operating system if the computer is not Windows compatible), Office, and selected other programs installed and configured at delivery. The department will assume costs for maintenance and repair of both hardware and software. All other computer support will be subject to charges for all support. No computer support will be provided off-site.