Law School Computing Guidelines
Charter
- Information Services provides computing services to the Anheuser-Busch
Hall School of Law at Washington
University in St. Louis (WU). IS services are available to all graduate,
faculty, and staff of the Law School, as well as non-Law School students
taking Law School courses. IS services are available for academic computing
only. Academic computing includes course-related computing and non-course
related computing necessary to fulfill the Law School's mission. Academic
computing does not include (a) computing related to commercial activities or
(b) computing related to non- Law School activities.
Services
- Access to IS services are granted to any person who opens a computer
account. Proof of enrollment may be required to open an account. The account
will remain open as long as the student is enrolled in Olin. Students from
other schools are eligible only while enrolled in Olin classes. Each account
will have a unique username and password.
The computing account provides the following benefits: (1) access to
computer labs; (2) an email account; (3) allocation of on-line storage
space; (4) printing; (5) remote dial-up access. Limits may be assigned to
system resources such as disk storage or printing. Use of resources above
limits may result in a nominal charge. The various benefits may each have
their own set of guidelines. It is the user's responsibility to review all
appropriate guidelines and policies before accessing resources.
Policies
- Official University Policies
- All Activities using the Law School Resources Must Conform to all Washington
University Computing Policies (including but not limited to the Washington
University Computer Use Policy), the Washington University Policy on
Sexual Harassment, and all other appropriate policies, laws, and
regulations.
- Guidelines apply to all users.
- These policies apply to faculty, staff, and students equally, unless
otherwise noted.
- Users are responsible for all activities initiated from their
accounts
- Never share your password with anyone. Change your password regularly.
Choose a password that is difficult to guess and includes a mix of letters
and numbers. How
to change your password.
- Users are responsible to stay informed
- IS makes every effort to keep the user community informed of system and
policy changes through a variety of means including email and the Computer
Support page. It is the users' responsibility to read on-line system
messages and electronic mail messages as such information may seriously
impact their computing plans.
- Users are not entitled to unlimited resources
- A user must not tie up more than a single station or modem; operate
excessive numbers of sessions; initiate multiple intensive jobs on shared
computers; etc.. Large, CPU-intensive jobs should be restricted to late
evening and early morning. IS reserves the right to terminate any
unattended computing activity on a workstation or any computing job tying
up excessive quantities of shared resources. IS may impose a nominal
charge for the use of resources beyond defined limits.
Students: Student accounts are limited to 20 MB of
on-line disk storage. If necessary, requests to increase quota limits can
be sent to the Compute Support
for review by the Dean of IS. Modifications to quotas will be made only
for legitimate academic purposes. Students will be asked to remove
non-academic files before any additional storage will be provided.
Staff & Faculty: Although there are no specific
quotas in place for faculty and staff accounts, users are expected to use
their best judgment in making efficient use of available storage. Users
may be asked to remove certain files if necessary to ensure resource
availability.
- Users are not entitled to execute arbitrary programs
- Program development on IS computers is restricted to software that is
needed for Law School education. The execution of software not provided by
the IS is permitted only when the execution of the resulting code is not
detrimental or disruptive to system uptime or normal system activities.
Users may not provide access to software which can be used to violate IS
rules. Permanent installation of software (including games) on IS machines
without authorization is prohibited.
Students: Users may not install or attempt to install any
software to systems in the computer labs, lounges, or other public places.
Software may not be installed on the user's on-line disk storage space,
unless the program was developed as part of an Olin class. IS will remove
any programs found in a user's on-line disk storage space.
Staff & Faculty: Users may install software on their
personal workstations as long as all licensing and legal requirements are
met and the presence of the software does not interfere with normal system
operations. IS may ask for verification that software may be legally
installed if found on a machine and may remove it if verification cannot
be provided.
- Users may not access other users' data without authorization
- Standard permissions on accounts restrict access to on-line disk storage
to the owner of the data. By controlling the access permissions on stored
data, account holders can make some data available for access to other
users. Additionally, IS can set up groups to allow users to share
information in a more convenient fashion.
- Tampering with hardware or software is prohibited
- Users shall not tamper with, open, or remove hardware without prior
authorization from the Dean of IS or the Manager of Networking & and
Operations. In addition, users shall not tamper with system software
including unauthorized access of system accounts and modification of
system software. Finally, users shall not use Olin equipment or software
to tamper with or break into other computer systems on the network.
- Software piracy is prohibited
- Users shall not copy software for use on any non-Olin machine without
written permission from the Dean of IS. This includes a user's personal
computers, other non-Olin computers located at Washington University, or
computers located off-campus. Users shall not download/install/use pirated
software using Olin computers or personal computers connected to the Olin
network. Violators will have their accounts revoked and may be subject to
School, civil, and/or criminal penalties. See EDUCOM's
Using Software: A Guide To The Ethical and Legal Use of Software.
- Account Auditing & Monitoring
- System auditing tools may be used to determine resource usage (including
file sizes and types), trace data-integrity anomalies, and identify system
abuse. Under normal situations, all accounts are subject to the same level
of auditing. Monitoring of any subset of the user community at an elevated
level shall be authorized by the Dean of the IS.
- User Privacy
- Users should be aware that user files, email messages, and computer
activities are not completely private. In addition to user files and email
messages that are stored in a user's home directory, user files, user
email messages, and system activity logs are backed up and stored on tape
for a period of up to one year. Therefore, deleting user files and email
may not delete all copies. Olin reserves its right, as owner of the
network and the computers in question, to examine, log, capture, archive,
and otherwise preserve or inspect any message transmitted over the network
and any data files stored on University-owned computers. In addition,
depending on the source or destination, copies of your email may sit on
uncontrolled machines and your internet activities may be logged on
non-university machines. If a user is suspected of violations of
University policies or guidelines regarding computer and email use, that
user's privacy is superseded by the University's requirement to maintain
the network's integrity and the rights of all network users. In the event
of criminal or legal investigations, Olin may also be required to provide
copies of email messages to the appropriate authorities.
- The Dean of IS has the right to limit any activity
- The Dean of IS has the right to limit any activity that he or she deems
detrimental to the efficient operation of the Law School systems. This includes
revoking user access to Law resources. Users may appeal any decision to
the Dean of the Information Resources.
Enforcement
- Reporting Complaints
- Complaints by any user receiving electronic transmissions, or complaints
concerning any other violation of these policies, may be submitted to Dean
of Information Services or the Network
and System Administrator
- Minor Infractions
- Minor infractions of these policies, when accidental are generally
resolved informally. Administration may contact the party or parties
involved through electronic mail informing them of the infraction, or may
schedule in person discussion and education sessions to resolve the
infraction. Every attempt will be made to resolve the infraction at this
level and to prevent further infractions.
- Repeated Infractions and Serious Misconduct
- Repeated minor infractions or serious misconduct may result in the
temporary loss of computer access privileges or the modification of those
privileges to prevent the party or parties from further violations pending
appropriate action. Offenders will be referred to their sponsoring
advisor, department, employer, or other appropriate University office for
further action. If the individual is a student, the matter may be referred
to the Office of Student Affairs for disciplinary action. Temporary or
permanent loss of computer access privileges may result, as determined by
the appropriate disciplinary overseers. (More serious violations include,
but are not limited to unauthorized use of computer resources, attempts to
steal passwords or data, unauthorized use or copying of licensed software,
repeated harassment, or threatening behavior.)
Any offense which violates local, state, or federal laws may result in the
immediate loss of all University computing privileges and the offence will
be referred to appropriate University offices and/or law enforcement
authorities. If necessary, such instances may result in the suspension of
computing service until the matter is resolved. Users are advised that
anyone who tampers with computer equipment, computer software, or computer
data may be subject to civil and/or criminal penalties.
Users may appeal any decision to the Dean of the School of Law.