INDIANA SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND AND
VISUALLY IMPAIRED
Policy: The purpose of this policy is to define the responsibilities and appropriate use of the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ISBVI) computer technology that includes the use of the Local Area Network (LAN), internal electronic mail (E-mail) and the Internet for employees, contractors, volunteers, and students. In today’s workplace and school environment, employees and students have come to rely on technology as an integral and essential tool to perform their duties and responsibilities. In particular, adapted assistive technology for students who are visually disabled is a most essential and necessary tool for academic and vocational success. With such technology, students who are visually disabled have gained increased accessibility to previously inaccessible information allowing them to be more competitive and inclusive in school and work settings. While the Internet provides vast, diverse, and unique resources to benefit students in expanding their knowledge and enhancing their education, unfortunately, it also affords access to information that is not appropriate, and therefore requires appropriate controls to be enacted.
This policy is designed to ensure that employees, contractors, volunteers, and students 1) have the opportunity to access and benefit from technology in their work or learning activities; and 2) are provided notice that inappropriate use of the technology will result in consequences.
It is ISBVI policy to 1) encourage use of technology as an essential tool in the classroom and workplace; 2) make adaptations and accommodations for persons with disabilities to allow full access and benefit for students and staff members; 3) supervise the use of technology made available to students, contractors, volunteers, and staff members to ensure that it is used appropriately; and 4) require students and staff members who use ISBVI’s LAN and the Internet to acknowledge that they received a copy of, and training on, this ISBVI Board policy and accompanying ISBVI Administrative Directives and Procedures.
This policy requires that staff members, contractors, volunteers, and students:
1) Use the assigned technology, LAN, or Internet only for official state business or learning activities consistent with specific job or school responsibilities and for the purpose of conducting personal business as long as such use is infrequent, of short duration, does not interfere with the performance of assigned duties and made on the employee’s personal time, and is not for the purpose of generating financial or personal gain;
2) Use only software owned, licensed, or being evaluated by ISB to conduct state government business or learning activities;
3) Will not engage in unauthorized access of any forms of electronic files or jeopardize the LAN or the Internet security, and will not permit others to use the LAN or the Internet which the state has provided them;
4) Refrain from using the technology, LAN, or Internet whenever they are uncertain if an activity is appropriate or permissible and secure written clarification and approval before proceeding;
5) Be aware that their inappropriate use of the technology, LAN, and/or the Internet could result in disciplinary action being taken against them as an employee, contractor, volunteer, or student and that the state retains the right to pursue prosecution when misuse of its information and computing resources are suspected to be in violation of law;
6) Be aware that all information they place on or retrieve from the LAN, and/or the Internet, including E-mail accounts and the facilities of the Internet, may be subject to the Access to Public Records Act, Indiana Code 5-
14-3. Unless exempted by law, information placed on or retrieved from the Internet is a public record and, therefore, eligible for public disclosure;
7) Acknowledge that the State has the right to monitor their use of the LAN
and the Internet including communications occurring through it;
8) Are required to report to a school administrator misuse of the LAN or the Internet, such as, but not limited to pornography, unethical or illegal solicitation, political information, product advertising, misuse of copyrighted material, racism, sexism, inappropriate language, or any electronic vandalism to harm or destroy data of another user or agency;
9) Understand that students are required to use the school email system for all electronic communications with contacts outside of the ISBVI campus, unless otherwise authorized through the Information Technology Director. Webmail, instant messaging, client / server email connectivity (ie. POP, SMTP, IMAP, etc), social networks (Facebook, MySpace, etc.), and other such means are strictly prohibited, again unless otherwise authorized through the Information Technology Director.
10) Understand that while staff is authorized to access their web based email for appropriate personal use, they may not use personal email to convey sensitive or confidential information that is within the scope of school business. Only the school email system may be used to communicate such information, as it provides the ability to secure outgoing messages.
11) Refrain from the use of CD, floppy disk, flash drive, or any other removable media for transfer or backup of sensitive or confidential information, unless the media is authorized through the Director of Information Technology as reasonably encrypted and password protected. Any unsecured or secured media that has been misplaced, lost, or stolen should be immediately reported to the Director of Information Technology.
13) Understand that you may only listen to music on school computers when it is played directly from a CD or file directly stored on removable media such as a flash drive. Under no circumstances can music be downloaded (“ripped”) or played via streaming Internet sources, except where formally authorized through the Information Technology Director.
14) Except where authorized through the Director of Information Technology, passwords are never to be shared and must be changed under any circumstance in which a breach has occurred. This is to maintain the integrity of confidential electronic files and email.
15) Acknowledge that the use of the ISBVI technology, LAN, and the Internet is a privilege, not a right, and that inappropriate use may result in cancellation of the privilege;
16) Are expected to abide by accepted rules of network etiquette.
The ISBVI Board directs the ISBVI Superintendent to ensure staff, contractor, and volunteer compliance with this policy by:
1) Developing ISBVI Administrative Directives and Procedures to implement the ISBVI Board Policy on Technology, Local Area Network, and Internet Policy which shall serve as notice to staff,
contractors, and volunteers, and clearly delineate and detail their responsibilities, expectations, and procedures to follow;
2) Providing employees, contractors, and volunteers written notice and documenting their awareness and receipt of this ISB Board Technology, Local Area Network, and Internet Policy and accompanying ISB Administrative Directives and Procedures;
3) Providing initial and periodic on-going training to employees, contractors, and volunteers on the ISB Board Technology, Local Area Network, and Internet Policy and accompanying ISB Administrative Directives and Procedures.
Notification per Settlement with State of Indiana 9/28/00 Date Notice Provided
Reviewed and Approved: 1/11/10
Staff Name: ____________________________________________________
(printed)
Staff Signature: ______________________________________________________
Department: _________________________ _____________
Date signed
Implementation of ISBVI Board Policy
These administrative directives and procedures are designed to accompany ISBVI Policy O-07 Technology, Local Area Network, and Internet Policy to 1) provide notice to ISBVI staff members, students, volunteers and contractors (User) of their duty to comply with this policy; and 2) assist them in doing so by clearly delineating their responsibilities, expectations, and possible consequences for non-compliance. The User will be provided a copy of, and training on the ISBVI Board policy and implementation directives and procedures. The ISBVI administration will maintain a record that indicates the User receipt of these documents and the training received.
The User acknowledges that:
1) acceptable use is defined as:
a. any use for the purpose of conducting official state business or learning activities consistent with specific job or school responsibilities.
b. any use for the purpose of conducting personal business as long as such use is infrequent, of short duration, does not interfere with the performance of assigned duties and made on the employee’s personal time, and is not for the purpose of generating financial or personal gain.
c. any use that does not disrupt or jeopardize the use of the network by others and does not change the setup of the software or hardware.
2) unacceptable use is defined as:
d. any use that is deemed to be pornographic, unethical, racist or sexist in nature.
e. any use for the purpose of conducting personal business related to an outside commercial activity that has the potential for personal gain or monetary benefit.
f. any use for the purpose of conducting political or union activity.
g. any use that does disrupt or jeopardize the use of the network by others and does change the setup of the software or hardware.
3) he or she is required and expected to:
h. not permit others to use the LAN, the Internet or computer resources which the state and ISBVI has provided them.
i. refrain from using the LAN, Internet or computer resources whenever they are uncertain if an activity is appropriate or permissible and secure written clarification and approval from the System Administrator before proceeding.
j. report to the System Administrator or their immediate supervisor misuse of the LAN or the Internet, such as, but not limited to pornography, unethical or illegal solicitation, political information, product advertising, misuse of copyrighted material, racism, sexism, inappropriate language, or any electronic vandalism to harm or destroy data of another user or agency.
k. abide by accepted rules of network etiquette.
i. Be polite. Use appropriate language.
ii. Do not reveal passwords or personal information.
iii. Do not use the electronic
resources provided to you in any way that would disrupt the use of
the network by others.
iv. Log off from network at the end of the work day or shift.
v.
Log off from network when
leaving work area for an extended period of time, such as, but
not limited to lunch, meetings, smoking breaks, etc.
4) agrees and understands that:
l. only software and hardware owned, licensed or being evaluated by the State can be used by User. Use of personal or a third party's hardware or software at ISBVI is strictly forbidden unless prior written approval has been obtained from the System Administrator.
m. all software licensed, developed or being evaluated by the State cannot be copied, shared, distributed, disclosed, sub-licensed, modified, reverse engineered, rented or sold.
n. all information placed on or retrieved from the LAN, and/or the Internet, including email accounts and the facilities of the Internet, may be subject to the Access to Public Records Act, Indiana Code 5-14-3. Unless exempted by law, information placed on or retrieved from the Internet is a public record and, therefore, eligible for public disclosure.
o. the State and/or ISBVI has the right to monitor their use of the LAN and the Internet including communications occurring through it.
p. violators will be subject to the guidelines of Indiana State Personnel Progressive Discipline.
q. from time to time circumstances may require that this agreement be modified by ISBVI to reflect any changes in technology. The User will be notified in writing of any changes and will be required to adhere to such changes.
By signing this agreement, the User acknowledges that he or she has read, fully understands and agrees to abide by each of the above stated sections as a condition of being granted access to use ISBVI’s technological resources.
My signature below indicates my acceptance of the terms of this agreement.
Employee Name: __________
(Printed)
Department: ___________________________________________
Employee Name: ________________________________________ Date: _____________
(Signature)
Legal Reference:
The ISBVI Board directs the ISBVI Superintendent to ensure staff, contractor, and volunteer compliance with this policy by:
1) Developing ISBVI Administrative Directives and Procedures to implement the ISBVI Board Policy on Technology, Local Area Network, and Internet Policy which shall serve as notice to staff, contractors, and volunteers, and clearly delineate and detail their responsibilities, expectations, and procedures to follow;
2) Providing employees, contractors, and volunteers written notice and documenting their awareness and receipt of this ISBVI Board Technology, Local Area Network, and Internet Policy and accompanying ISBVI Administrative Directives and Procedures;
3) Providing initial and periodic on-going training to employees, contractors, and volunteers on the ISBVI Board Technology, Local Area Network, and Internet Policy and accompanying ISBVI Administrative Directives and Procedures.
Notification per Settlement with State of Indiana Date Notice Provided
Adopted by ISBVI Board: 10/16/2006
Legal Citations: ______________________________
Reviewed by ISBVI Legal Counsel: _________________________ _____________
Date signed
ISBVI Superintendent: __________________________ _____________
Date signed
ISBVI Board Chairman: _________________________ _____________
Date signed