All users of University of Puget Sound electronic resources have the responsibility to use information technology in an effective, efficient, ethical, and lawful manner. The ethical and legal standards that must be maintained are derived directly from standards of common sense and common decency that apply to the use of any public resource.
Violations of any conditions will be considered to be unethical and may possibly be unlawful. In accordance with established university practices, violations may result in disciplinary review which could result in legal action.
The following list, though not comprehensive, specifies some responsibilities that accompany computer use, be it on centralized computing hardware or any other Puget Sound electronic resource.
General Responsibilities
1. Use of resources must be employed only for the purpose in which they are intended. University of Puget Sound supported computing includes authorized research and educational and administrative activities. Our personnel and computing resources cannot be used for commercial purposes, monetary gain, or unauthorized research.
2. Computer users must not search for, access, copy, or publicize directories, programs, files, disks, or data not belonging to them unless they have specific authorization to do so. Programs, subroutines, and data provided on Puget Sound central computers cannot be downloaded or taken to other computer sites without permission. Programs obtained from commercial sources or copied from other computers may not be used unless written authority to use them has been obtained. Puget Sound equipment or software may not be used to violate the terms of any license agreement.
3. Individuals should not encroach on others' use of electronic resources. This includes:
- using electronic resources for non-academic activities or other trivial applications such that it prevents others from using these resources for their primary intended purpose;
- sending frivolous or excessive messages or mail either locally or over the Internet;
- using excessive amounts of storage; printing excessive copies, files, or data; or
- running grossly inefficient programs when efficient ones are available.
4. Individuals must not attempt to modify system facilities or attempt to crash the system. Nor should individuals attempt to subvert the restrictions associated with computer accounts, networks, or computer software protections.
Use of any technology services provided by the University of Puget Sound constitutes acceptance of this and all other technology-related policies.