Union College Acceptable Use Policy
April 26, 2001

The following policy contains the governing philosophy for regulating the use of Union College’s computing and networking facilities and resources. Use of these facilities and resources is a privilege granted solely to Union College faculty, staff, and registered students. Exceptions apply to those individuals outside the College who are authorized to utilize services that have been made available through Union College. All users must act responsibly and maintain the integrity of these resources. The College reserves the right to limit, restrict, terminate or extend computing privileges and access to its resources.

The use of computing and networking resources at Union College is to be: 1) consistent with the educational mission of Union College, 2) for purposes of, or in support of, education and research, or 3) related to administrative and other support activities of the College.

Those who do not abide by the policies listed below should expect at least suspension of computer privileges and possible disciplinary action under standard Union College rules for misconduct and existing judicial, disciplinary, or personnel processes.  Policies will be enforced by system administrators, the Office of Computer Services, and other appropriate officials.

The computing resources of Union College include but are not limited to the College’s network, its Internet connection, and computing systems. Anyone using these resources is expected to abide by the policies contained in this document. These policies also apply to the use of personally owned computers that are connected to the College’s network.

In the event of suspected, alleged, or actual illegal activity, Union College will cooperate with applicable law enforcement authorities for potential civil or criminal investigation or prosecution.

Union College reserves the right for authorized personnel to monitor use of computing and network facilities and resources for purposes to include troubleshooting hardware and software problems, preventing system misuse, assuring compliance with Internet Access Service Agreements and Union College’s Acceptable Use Policy, and complying with legal and regulatory requests for information.

Responsibilities and Use

In addition to the above, the following policies pertain to the use of the College’s Residence Hall Network (ResNet):

  1. Only one computer may be registered to each individual student at any given time.  An exception will be made for a separate wireless connection.

  2. Only one IP address will be assigned to each registered student. Residents may NOT have multiple IP addresses per computer. Those also using a wireless connection may be issued a separate IP address.

  3. IP Addresses may NOT be registered to domain names outside of Union College. (example:  registering your IP to something like www.company.com)

  4. Residents will be held responsible for all activity originating from their registered computer. This includes all actions taken by guests using a connection registered under your name.

  5. Users may set up servers (World Wide Web, FTP, etc.) as long as non-WWW servers are password protected (not anonymous). Servers must not cause excessive traffic, interfere with the stability of the network in anyway, or be performing illegal activities. Users may not use hubs, switches, or any other network equipment. The registered computer must be directly connected to the Union College ResNet network.

  6. The registered computer cannot be set up to act as a bridge, router, or gateway.

  7. The registered computer cannot be set up in any way that interferes with the stability of the network.


Posted by J. Douglass Klein, last modified 04/26/01 .