SOFTWARE POLICY
1. Introduction
1.1 New College Swindon policies restrict the software that may be installed on College computers in order to ensure the appropriate use of ICT equipment, protect the integrity of the local network, and maximize available resources.
1.2 New College Swindon policies place limitations on the copying and transfer of copyrighted materials. Respect for intellectual labour and creativity is vital to academic discourse and enterprise. This principle applies to works of all authors and publishers in all media. It encompasses respect for the right to acknowledge, the right to privacy, and the right to determine the form, manner, and terms of publication and distribution. Because electronic information is volatile and easily reproduced, respect for the work and personal expression of others is especially critical in computer environments.
1.3 Violation of authorial integrity, including plagiarism, invasion of privacy, unauthorized access, and trade secret and copyright violations, may lead to disciplinary action under the College disciplinary and dismissal procedure.
2. Software Purchasing
2.1 All software must be purchased through ICT Support with the written agreement of the ICT Manager. This includes any external purchases such as Web Hosting / sites, online tools, etc.
3. Workstations and Laptops
3.1 Software shall not be installed, loaded or run on any ICT equipment that has not been approved for installation by the ICT Manager. Staff who wish to have software installed on their office computers other than the standard applications listed below (Appendix 1) must submit a request in writing to the ICT Manager.
3.2 As part of the regular inventory process Information Technology Services staff will perform a periodic audit of software installed on college machines in order to assure compliance with all relevant policies. Unauthorized software will be subject to immediate removal, even if stored in the Users My Documents.
3.3 Access to the New College Swindon computers or computer-related equipment is limited to current New College Swindon students and staff members with valid College identification cards. Visitors may use the rooms as part of officially sanctioned College events.
3.4 Computer or computer-related hardware installed in the New College Swindon sites should not be disconnected or moved. Additional equipment should not be connected to any of the existing computer equipment in the rooms.
4. Specific Classroom Policies
4.1 Educational software will be installed by special request in the classrooms only if it meets technical compatibility and licensing requirements.
4.2 The New College Swindon classrooms are intended for instructional and official use. Commercial or business use of ICT equipment is prohibited at all times. Academic use takes precedence over recreational use: students using the computers for recreational purposes will be asked to relinquish their machines if students are waiting to do class work.
4.3 The printers in the rooms are intended to serve the individual-copy printing needs of New College Swindon users, not as a replacement for photocopy machines.
4.4. No food or drink is allowed in the classrooms.
4.5 In order to maintain a studious environment in the rooms speakers are not connected to classroom machines, and for health reasons headphones are not provided. Students who wish to use applications requiring audio must provide their own headphones.
4.6 The Library Workstations are reserved for walk-in use by students at all times and is not available for reserved classroom use.
4.7 Software to be installed for instructional use at Departments request must be given to the ICT Support Department a minimum of 3 months before the start of the term for which the software will be used. A copy of the installation media along with related documentation will be retained by the ICT Manager as long as the software is installed in the rooms.
4.8 Lecturers are responsible for testing software to be used in the rooms in order to insure that it is working as desired, and for providing information to students on the use of the software. Because of the range of special-purpose instructional software installed in the classrooms, ICT Support Staff may not be able to assist students in the use of special-purpose software. Lecturers who need assistance from ICT staff with testing and training should submit that request along with the initial reservation.
5. Licensing and Copyright
5.1 All users of New College Swindon computer facilities are expected to understand and comply with the copyright laws as they apply to computer software and its documentation, and to refrain from creating or using illegal copies of software on New College computing equipment.
5.2 New College Swindon’s Software Policy provides additionally that:
• Only properly licensed software shall be installed on College computers.
• All software and data files stored on college-owned computer equipment must be consistent with the College’s Acceptable Use policy and must not introduce technical problems that interfere with the proper functioning of other programs.
5.3 Additionally, all installed software must fall into one of the following categories:
• It is in the public domain.
• It is covered by a licensing agreement with the software author, authors, vendor or developer, whichever is applicable.
• It has been donated to the college by the author, authors, vendor or developer and a written record of the contribution is on file in the office of the ICT Manager.
• It has been purchased by the College and a record of that purchase is on file with the ICT Manager.
• It has been purchased by the user, approved for installation by ICT Support, and a record of a that purchase exists and can be produced by the user upon demand.
• It is a demonstration version of the software being reviewed by the user in order to reach a decision about possible future purchase or request for contribution or licensing.
• It has been written or developed by a current employee of New College Swindon for the specific purpose of being used in conjunction with their contracted responsibility at the College.
5.4 Software shall not be used on New College Swindon computers or computer equipment in such a way as to be deemed inconsistent with the applicable copyright laws or licensing agreements.
5.5 New College Swindon computers or computer systems shall not be used for copying, storing, or transferring to others copyrighted or proprietary files, including multimedia and other data files as well as applications.
5.6 Peer-to-peer file sharing applications shall not be used on College-owned computers or on the College network except as necessary for use in conjunction with the user’s job responsibility and with the knowledge and approval of ICT Support.
5.7 When software is to be installed on a disk sharing system or computer network, efforts will be made to secure this software from being illegally copied.
5.8 Archival or backup copies of application or data files may be made only as specified by applicable license agreements.
5.9 The legal or insurance protection of New College Swindon will not extend to College employees who violate copyright laws or specific conditions of applicable software.
6. Hacking
6.1 The College has a ‘Zero Tolerance’ policy when it comes to the making, supplying or possession of any software or hardware that can be used for unauthorised access into computer networks and other ICT systems.
6.2 Any breach of this will lead to disciplinary action being taken against those staff or students involved. As this is now a criminal offence the Police will be informed of anyone who falls under this heading, where there is evidence that they have intent to use the software for criminal acts.
6.3 Use or possession of such tools by the ICT Department must be logged with the ICT manager and used within the guidelines of the System Administrators Charter.
7. College Supported Software
7.1 A list of Software supported by the college is available on request from the ICT Manager.
8. Core System Updates
8.1 These are to be scheduled with the ICT Support Department and Agreed by the ICT Manager.
8.2 A minimum of one months notice is need to be given to staff prior to an update, this if for all central systems such as EBS, Proachieve, PICS, Spirals, etc.
8.3 Updates must be carried out by a member of the ICT Support Team, where a third party is involved in the process, a member of the Team must be with them for all parts of the install, and written notes must be supplied by the third party of any work carried out.
