ADMIN-103: Computing and Electronic Communication Use Policy

Impact Area: SUNY Morrisville (Morrisville campus, Norwich campus, EOC)

General Subject Area: Information Technology

Author: Vice President for Administration and Finance

Policy Summary

It is everyone’s responsibility to use computing resources and facilities ethically and legally. End users are expected to act with honesty, integrity and respect for the rights, privileges, and privacy of the College Community. End users are expected to abide by all applicable federal and state laws and rules, including College policies and SUNY policies. As you exercise your access to computing resources, please keep the following college-wide policies in mind.

SUNY Morrisville computing facilities are a resource for members of the campus community and are to be utilized for work consistent with SUNY Morrisville’s mission statement.

Computing facilities may not be used to produce services in exchange for personal financial gain. The use of computing resources for ANY personal business including solicitations is prohibited.

Use of computing resources to harass, abuse, or intimidate another person is prohibited. Computing resources and facilities may not be used to send, copy, or acquire any content in any form that contains the works of others and that is not susceptible to copyright infringement.

Identity and Password Maintenance

Every SUNY Morrisville student, faculty, and staff member will be issued an official SUNY Morrisville logon identity for access to computing resources while enrolled or employed at SUNY Morrisville. In addition, all students, faculty, and staff are assigned an official college email designated as belonging to the “@morrisville.edu” domain. Logon identities for faculty and staff will be disabled at termination of employment for any reason from SUNY Morrisville. Retirees and Emeriti may continue to have access to their official SUNY Morrisville email for a period of six (6) months after and access to all other resources removed on their final day of employment. After successful graduation, Alumni will continue to have access to their official Morrisville email for a period of one year from the date of the last day in their final semester. Undergraduate logon identities having an unregistered status for the duration of two consecutive semesters, excluding winter and summer, will be disabled after the drop/add deadline within that second semester. Newly accepted students who have not finalized their enrollment by the end of the drop/add deadline will be disabled and purged. Use of logon identities for access to resources by anyone other than the assignee violates security best practices and is strictly prohibited.

Logon identity passwords must be kept secure utilizing the following enforced password rules:

  • Must never be transmitted to others (This includes not giving out your username and password in response to phishing attempts by email.)
  • Must be changed on initial login
  • Must be changed at least every six months
  • Must not contain any part of the logon name
  • Must not contain parts of the person's full name that exceed two consecutive characters
  • Must be at least eight characters in length
  • Must be complex containing alphanumeric, upper/lower case and include special characters
  • Will have ten (10) password history enforced

Limitations on Users' Rights and Expectations

All official forms of electronic communication including but not limited to email, are not personal and private; end users shall have no expectation of privacy. SUNY Morrisville owns all accounts, message content and the controls that provide access to them. SUNY Morrisville Administration may, for legitimate business purposes and continuity, access the content of end user mailboxes and messaging portals. At its discretion, SUNY Morrisville may also adjust the routing and transport of messages so to support the continuing operation of the college, its business, and meet any compliance obligations for archival. The College also reserves the right to investigate if there is reasonable cause to believe that an end user has violated this policy or other applicable policies, SUNY policies and/or federal and state laws and regulations.

Official College Communications sent by any official electronic platform are subject to the same public information, privacy and records retention requirements and policies as other official College communications. Any messages sent or received in conjunction with agency business may:

  • be releasable to the public under the Freedom of Information Law.
  • require special measures to comply with the Personal Privacy Protection Law.

All messaging content, including personal communications, may be subject to discovery proceedings in legal actions.

Violation or abuse with these and other policies will result in appropriate disciplinary action.

Contact

Server name is stg.morrisville.edu