Responsible Division: Center for Information Technology Services (User Services)
Responsible Office: Center for Information Technology Services
Issue/Revision Date: September 22, 2017

Summary

In support of its educational mission, Alcorn State owns and maintains a number of information technology resources. These resources include a high-speed local area network, access to shared network software and storage space, public computing facilities, support services, and access to the Internet. Access to these resources is granted to all Alcorn State University faculty, staff and currently-enrolled students. By sharing and using these resources, users accept full responsibility for their actions and agree that they will use these resources in an ethical manner. In addition, individuals are also subject to federal, state, and local laws governing many interactions that occur on the Internet.

Because this is an academic community, the faculty, students and staff of Alcorn State University honor intellectual property, respect the privacy of data, and respect the rights of others. As a carrier of information, Alcorn does not subject users’ files to prior review. However, the University does make its best effort to educate the community in responsible use and respond when violations are pointed out.

Policy Statement

  1. University resources are provided solely for the education and research mission of Alcorn State and may not be used for commercial or for-profit purposes. Users who express opinions and positions through the University’s IT resources must make clear that these opinions and positions are those of the individual who posts them, not of the University. Because the University is the owner of all IT resources granted to users, the University reserves the right to deny use to those who have used them in an irresponsible manner. Offenders may also be subject to disciplinary action through existing structures for faculty, students and staff of the University, as laid out in the relevant University Handbooks.
  2. People who use both on-campus and external network media (including any communication performed on the network for any purpose) must do so responsibly, in a manner that constitutes respectful behavior as laid out in the Faculty, Student and Staff Handbooks. It is unethical not to adhere to this type of behavior, even when communicating with people outside the Alcorn State community. For example, no form of harassment, as defined in the Student, Faculty and Staff Handbooks, will be tolerated within any media. In addition, all communications must include the sender’s identity (e.g., email address, username, etc.), unless the service explicitly invites anonymous communication. If someone requests you stop communicating electronically with him/her, you are required to do so immediately.

Responsibility

Students accessing “social networking services” such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and others should carefully read the terms and conditions set forth by such services. Students are solely responsible for the content of their sites; neither CITS nor Alcorn State University assume any responsibility for what students place there. Inappropriate material placed on social networking sites is subject to Alcorn State’s Responsible Use Policy, the student conduct policies/process(es) and the University’s harassment and grievance procedures.

Contact Information

-Contact the CITS Helpdesk for more information: (601) 877-6182