St. Paul’s Technology Department

Acceptable Use Policy For Users Of St. Paul’s

Technology Resources And Academic Network

        In support of its academic mission, St. Paul’s encourages student access to its technology and information resources. This statement seeks to provide general guidelines regarding the acceptable use of technology and information resources by the administration, faculty, staff and students at St. Paul’s. The underlying philosophy is that all members of the St. Paul’s community who make use of its resources must act responsibly and ethically and must agree to be responsible for the integrity of those resources.

        St. Paul’s reserves the right to restrict or deny access to its technological resources to those users who do not comply with its policies. Violations of this policy may also subject the user to appropriate disciplinary penalties. All accounts and files on the St. Paul’s network (including email) are considered the property of St. Paul’s and should not be considered confidential. School personnel have access to these accounts and will monitor them.

        While every effort will be made to provide reliable service, St. Paul’s will not be held responsible for delays, loss of data or service interruptions. All users should have contingency plans if the system is off-line and all users are responsible for backing up their own files.

 

        The following represent specific examples of violations of the Acceptable Use Policy:

 

        Vandalism - Physically or electronically damaging, modifying or removing hardware, software, or data.

 

        Security - Accessing programs or data without authorization, circumventing or attempting to circumvent logon  procedures or security, accessing another user’s account or reading another’s e-mail.

 

        Theft of services - Incurring on-line charges, setting up fraudulent accounts, making fraudulent on-line  purchases.

 

        Copyright Infringement – Copying, downloading, sharing or distributing materials which are the property of others.

 

        Speech - Possession, distribution or transmission of  inappropriate materials.

 

        Harassment - Using the schools technological resources to harass or threaten others.

 

        Academic Honesty - Copying of another’s assignments and submitting them as your own, allowing another to access your account to copy assignments.

 

        St. Paul’s believes that users should have access to telecommunications resources and participate in telecommunications projects. However, there are some inherent risks. While system administrators or faculty will monitor most on-line activities and the school will employ appropriate filtering devices, parents should note that diligent users might discover controversial or inappropriate materials. St. Paul’s believes that the educational value of these worldwide network resources far outweigh the possibility that some users might be able to procure materials which are inconsistent with our educational goals. While St. Paul’s will take reasonable measures to prohibit access to inappropriate materials, the school cannot totally restrict access to these materials and will not be held responsible if a user acquires them. It is also understood that parents are responsible for the supervision of the student’s on-line activities when not in the school setting.