IS-1002 Information Technology Use Administrative Directive

Central New Mexico Community College (CNM) promotes and provides Information Technology (IT) resources that enhance educational services and facilitate job performance and CNM operations. These resources are shared by CNM students, CNM employees and the public at large. All persons using these systems share the responsibility for seeing that they are used in an effective, efficient, ethical, and lawful manner. The purpose of this administrative directive is to define acceptable and unacceptable uses of these resources and to delineate the rights of CNM and technology users.

Acceptable Uses

• Instructional projects and homework as assigned to all students
• Business-related communication among CNM community members
• Mobile device access to CNM’s networks which is compliant with CNM’s policies and procedures
• Academic pursuits
• Research such as grants, contracts, course-related work, etc.
• Educational services such as instructor websites, Distance Learning, testing and assessment
• Operational purposes such as payroll, purchasing and student registration
• Management and operational communication (CNM Express, The Source, email, web, telecommunications, distribution)
• Use of email lists for academic or CNM work-related use
• Incidental personal use which does not adversely impact the college, employee productivity or other users’ access to resources

Unacceptable Uses

• Transferring misleading messages and/or masking the origin of a message
• Violation of Intellectual Property Law (IP Law)
  • The owner of a copyrighted work owns the rights to reproduction, modification, distribution, public performance and public display of these works.
  • This includes, but is not limited to, Copyrights and/or Patents as described in the Employee Handbook.
  • The user who violates IP Law may be subject to liability to owner for actual damages, statutory damages, profits, court costs and attorney fees.
  • The user who violates IP Law may also be subject to criminal fines and/or imprisonment.
• Engaging in prohibited or illegal activities
• Compromising your or another’s user account information (usernames and/or passwords)
• Divulging sensitive or restricted information
• Violating another’s privacy
• Compromising system or network integrity
• Adversely affecting employee productivity as determined by the employee’s supervisors or department management
• Accessing  obscene or pornographic material
  • The exception to this provision is accessing such material for legitimate academic purposes directly related to the course content.
  • Under no circumstances shall child pornography be accessed. 
• Use that violates CNM’s policies, procedures, or values

Rights and Responsibilities of CNM

• CNM owns and operates the network and reserves the right to restrict or limit access at CNM’s discretion under this administrative directive.
• Access to CNM’s technology resources is a revocable privilege.
• CNM reserves the right to monitor systems and/or networks for compliance.
• CNM is subject to Audits, both internal and external, of its systems and networks for compliance with applicable best practices, regulations, and other applicable laws.
• CNM reserves the right to initiate a system and/or network forensic investigation at the direction of the Human Resources Department or the Office of the Dean of Students.
• CNM reserves the right to protect the integrity of its IT resources as follows:
  • ITS may block the network transmission of known attacks, malware and data flow to and from disreputable addresses as defined by several third-party databases while maintaining message integrity.
  • ITS may block other content under the direction of the CNM Executive Team.

College Liability

• CNM does not warrant IT resources to perform to any specifications
• CNM cannot protect individuals against malicious or inappropriate information
• CNM is not obligated to monitor networks or systems for compliance to this administrative directive
• CNM is not responsible for locally stored data (outside CNM’s Data Centers)
• CNM attempts to ensure the privacy and security of its systems and networks, but CNM makes no guarantee or representation that any account, electronic mail or voice mail is private

User Liability

• Users are personally responsible for maintaining backups of all data not stored on the network, such as the local desktop or documents directories
• Users may be held personally liable for data breaches which occur due to their own negligence

Enforcement

Any employee who is suspected of engaging in conduct prohibited by this administrative directive may face disciplinary action up to, and including, termination.  If it is determined that an employee has accessed obscene or pornographic material in violation of this administrative directive, the result will be termination of employment.  Any student suspected of violating this administrative directive may face disciplinary action.  Any third party found to have engaged in conduct prohibited by these standards may be barred from CNM property. Any person who engages in unlawful conduct in violation of this administrative directive may also face legal action in accordance with federal, state, and local law.

Reference Materials

• Employee Handbook 4.03, Sexual Harassment 
• Employee Handbook 9.03, Discipline
• Employee Handbook 12.17, CNM Technology Use Policy
• Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act 1974
• Governing Board Handbook 9.10, Information Technology Use Policy
• Student Code of Conduct