College of the Rockies
Guidelines for use of Technology Resources
Revised September, 2002
College of the Rockies
Guidelines for the Use of Technology Resources
January 1998
General Statement
College of the Rockies is committed to ensuring a working and learning environment in which all persons treat others with humanity and respect. Each student or staff member having access to, or using any college technology resources is required to use such resources in an ethical and responsible manner.
The technology facilities and services provided by the College are intended for teaching and learning, research, and college administrative purposes. Their use is governed by all applicable College policies, as well as applicable Canadian federal, provincial and local laws and statutes, including the Criminal Code of Canada, the B.C. Civil Rights Protection Act and by the B.C. Human Rights Act. These are supplemented by the acceptable use policies established by those networks to which the College's campus network is interconnected, the Internet, which includes, for example, PLNet, BCnet, CA*net and NSFnet.
The user bears the primary responsibility for the material that he or she chooses to access, send or display. The user must use technology in a responsible fashion. This requires that the user:
Follow the College student and staff conduct policy
Acknowledge that the use of College technology resources is considered a privilege granted by the College.
Respect the legal protection provided by copyright and license to programs and data.
Respect the privacy of others by not tampering with their files, passwords, or accounts, or representing others when messaging or conferencing.
Use only computer IDs or accounts and communication facilities that the user is duly authorized to use, and use them for the purposes for which they were intended.
Respect the integrity of computing systems and data; for example, by not intentionally developing programs or making use of already existing programs that harass other users, or infiltrate a computer or computing system, and/or damage or subvert the software components of a computer or computing system, or gain unauthorized access to other facilities accessible via the network.
- Not physically tamper with computing equipment by removing cabling, cases, or attached peripherals
Use computing and communications facilities in a manner that is consistent with the ethical principles set forth by the College and with accepted community standards.
Use the College's technology resources for College-related work (except with the approval of an appropriate College officer) when using College computer labs.
Use the College technology resources at their own risk. The College does not assume responsibility for the theft, loss or damage of users data or personal property.
Students, must either complete, or receive recognition for completion, of the Basic Computer Skills component of the Orientation to Learning Resources course before computer lab access will be granted. Some variations apply at regional campuses.
Students, must either complete or receive recognition for completion of the Library Skills component of the Orientation to Learning Resources course before Library services will be available.
Are responsible for all usage of their accounts and, therefore, must keep their passwords and access confidential. Passwords or access are not to be given to anyone else for any reason. College staff and students must use appropriate security measures when using the College's technological resources.
Any user who becomes aware of improper use of computing resources, or any action that could compromise computer systems operations or security, is expected to report that fact to Computing Services.
Computer software is protected under provisions of the Copyright Act. It is not permissible or legal, to use software or documentation obtained in violation of Copyright law or in a manner which contravenes software license provisions.
Must not knowingly introduce computer viruses onto College equipment
Violation of these guidelines or applicable College policies is considered unethical and possibly unlawful. In accordance with established College practices and procedures, including the student code of conduct policy, violations may result in the restriction or revocation of technology privileges and/or future discipline and/or legal action by the College.
The College may, in the course of routine maintenance or if there is a suspicion that these guidelines have been violated, examine all files in a user’s personal directory or email in their email account.
The College will suspend the technology privileges or take disciplinary action as appropriate, with anyone contravening these guidelines. For students, this disciplinary action may include denial of technology and access privileges, and expulsion from a program, and in more severe cases the College.
Use of the College's technology resources denotes that the user has read and understands the College's Technology Use Guidelines and also denotes acceptance of the stated terms of use.
Abuse of the College's technology resources should be reported immediately to either Doug Wheeler 489-2751, loc. 382, or by e-mail: . or to Gord Walsh, 489-2751, loc 295 or by e-mail: .
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Network and E-mail Accounts
Network accounts and e-mail accounts are available to all full time College of the Rockies students, part time students on the Cranbrook campus and all College staff. Access to the students' e-mail accounts is available after the students have completed the Basic E-mail Skills component of the Orientation to Learning Resources Course. The student will not be required to take the Basic E-mail Skills component, and will receive automatic completion, if they have completed any of the following:
Has or will be taking, in the current semester: COMP 80, COMP 90, or COMP 153; or The Computer Support Technical Program; or Applied Computer Certificate; or applicable courses in the Applied Business Technologies Program.
Has taken COTR's Internet Basics. Proof of certificate is required for completion.
Listserv lists have a tendency of sending the subscriber a lot of e-mail. Users are permitted to subscribe to a maximum of two Listserv lists.
When the students' academic year is completed, the students' e-mail accounts are automatically disabled/discontinued.
Users' e-mail accounts will be monitored for use of disk space and to ensure adherence to the College's Technology Use Guidelines. Users will be notified of abuses and can be subject to disciplinary action. Users will receive email messages when their allotted disk space usage approaches their limit. Once the limit is reached they will automatically be informed and they will be prohibited from sending email. They will still be able to receive email, but will have to delete unnecessary email in order to be able to send. User email space quotas may be increased in special circumstances.
Students and staff are not permitted to broadcast or send e-mail messages on the College's e-mail system that are of a commercial, abusive, racist, threatening, obscene or sexually or otherwise harassing nature. The College may provide online discussion forums where issues that may be of interest to the college community can be discussed.
E-mail accounts are assigned to facilitate on-line communication to compliment students education and training while at the College of the Rockies. All staff and students must use the e-mail system in a positive and constructive manner.
Users’ files will not be accessed unless required for systems maintenance or security reasons, or with permission of the user of appropriate College authority.
Remote access to the college e-mail accounts is available for all College staff and students via the Internet.
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Internet Access
Internet access is provided at the College as follows: College staff have access to the Internet from their offices/departments. Student access to the Internet is through computer labs, Learning Support Centre, and the Library on the Cranbrook Campus and from the computer labs in our Regional Campuses. The community may access the Internet through public computer-stations in the Cranbrook Campus Library on a first come first serve basis. Users under the age of 16 must have permission from their parent/guardian to access the Internet from the Library computer-workstations.
Users who download files from the Internet are responsible for the storage of those files.
Staff and students are not to install software downloaded from the Internet on any College computers. This includes games, utilities, shareware and drivers.
It is expected that students accessing the Internet do so in the context of the learning outcomes of their course. Staff accessing the Internet are expected to do so in the context of their job requirements.
Students doing work of personal nature will be asked to give up their computer space for students needing to use the computer for College related work.
Staff andstudents are not to download, display on monitors, or print obscene, threatening or harassing materials.
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Electronic Publishing
College of the Rockies recognizes that the College's computing and networks may be used for electronic publishing (i.e. home page development) by divisions, departments, program areas, staff, student groups and individual students. Student home pages are supported and published based on the learning outcomes of the course(s) being taken.
The following general rules apply to the development and publication of home pages:
Users cannot provide links to other Internet sites that do not comply with applicable College policies or the use of Technology Resources Guidelines.
Users are responsible for their personal home pages. The personal home pages of College of the Rockies students and staff do not in any way constitute official College content. The views and opinions expressed in these pages are strictly those of the pages authors and comments on the contents should be directed to page author.
Authors can not contain copyrighted materials without the copyright-owners' consent.
Authors can not contain pictures or videos of people without the copyright-owners' consent.
Author's home pages can not contain obscene, threatening or harassing materials.
Author's home pages will be reviewed and monitored by the College before they are published on the College's web-site. The College reserves the right to refuse to publish any home pages that do not conform to the College's policies or guidelines.
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Computer Lab Rules of Conduct
The following rules of conduct must be followed when using the College's computer labs.
Do not enter a lab where a class is taking place without prior permission of the instructor.
No smoking, food or beverages are allowed in the labs.
A valid College identification card must be shown to gain access to the computers in the Lab outside of class time.
Users must check their disk for viruses before they are used in the College's computer labs.
Please report any hardware or software problems to the Lab Monitor or Information Technology Services. Do not attempt to fix problems yourself.
Please do not store or install files/data on the College's network or computer hard drives. This includes any personal software or shareware. Users are responsible for ensuring proper backup of files on their disks is completed.
In respect to others:
- work quietly
- conduct group discussions outside the lab
- work efficiently: for example have your work ready before entering the labs
Please follow the sign-in procedures in the labs.
Lab assistants will provide support, but are not available for one-on-one instruction. Basic Computer Skills courses are available at not cost to students. As well, other computer skills courses are available through the Community Development and the Learning Centre.
The use of laptop computers is available in specifically designated labs providing the laptops are not attached to any lab peripherals.
Failure to comply with these rules may result in loss of privileges.
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Remote Dial-in Access
to the Cranbrook Campus
College of the Rockies supports remote/dial-in access to the Cranbrook campus for the following:
- Students or staff participating in online programs (i.e. using Web-CT) and those staff that require dial-in access because of their responsibilities (i.e. IT Services) are provided with dial-in access to the College's Cranbrook network. For more information and details on how this access is provided, please contact IT Services.
- All staff, students and general public can access the College's home page via the Internet which provides access to a variety of information and support services such as the Library catalogue, Learning Centre, Access Centre, etc.
The College home page is available for Internet users to browse at
- Unless otherwise stated above, all staff and students are responsible for acquiring their own direct home Internet access.
- Students enrolled in Online courses are responsible for acquiring their own direct home Internet access.
- Dial-in access is not available at any regional campus or other College site.
- Access to the College's e-mail server is available via the Internet for all College staff and students at
- Access to the College’s student or staff intranet is available via the intranet for all College staff and students.