Technology Services July 26, 2007

Electronic Mail Policy

The electronic mail (email) system, like all other college property, is meant for the business purposes of the college.  The following policy is intended to maintain an ethical and amicable working environment and to meet the requirements governing the use of College resources. Treat electronic mail just as if you were writing a letter or memorandum.  Check spelling and grammar.  Always be courteous and thoughtful of others.  Remember that electronic mail is like a letter and does not convey your tone of voice, expressions, or body language.   

• Confidentiality

Generally, sensitive information should not be sent by electronic mail.  (For example, personal information such as medical condition, disciplinary action, etc. should not be conveyed by electronic mail.) Electronic mail is treated like other college records and is retained in accordance with the state and federal laws.  Messages that contain confidential information should never be sent by email. 

• Business Records

All electronic mail is considered to be business records of the College.  Accordingly, they may be obtained by subpoena and used in administrative, judicial, or other proceedings.

• Privacy

While you have a personal, private password, personal passwords can be overridden and thus the director of campus technology support services can gain access to all electronic mail messages.   Systems management personnel may gain access to data while:

§         performing routine operations or pursuing apparent streams or user problems.

§         protecting the integrity of the College's computing system and the rights and property of the college.

§         protecting the rights of individuals working in collaborative situations where information and files are shared.

Systems personnel are required to report apparent improper or illegal activities that they discover. No guarantee of complete privacy is made or implied by this policy.  Electronic mail messages retained in your mailbox (either on the server or on your workstation) would be regarded as readily available and would have to be supplied if requested.   In the courts, electronic mail is discoverable.

• Solicitation

Electronic mail shall not be used to solicit for outside business ventures, personal parties, social meetings, membership in personal organizations, political causes, religious causes, or other matters not connected to the business of the college.  In addition, employees may not use electronic mail to advertise personal articles for sale. 

• Harassment, Intimidation or Annoyance Mail

Inappropriate or offensive messages such as racial, sexual, or religious slurs are prohibited.  Violation of this policy will lead to discipline, which may include termination of employment.  Use of mail to harass, intimidate or otherwise annoy another person, such as broadcasting unsolicited messages or sending unwanted mail, is expressly prohibited. This also applies to material originating from this campus but sent to other sites or persons on the Internet.

• Mailing Lists

If you subscribe to an electronic mailing list, you are responsible for determining the purpose of the list before subscribing. You will be viewed as soliciting materials delivered by the list as long as the material is consistent with the list's purpose. If you send materials to a mailing list which are not consistent with the purpose of the mailing list, you will be viewed as having sent unsolicited materials.

• Limitations on the Availability of Resources

All members of the college community should recognize that electronic mail use may be limited for reasons related to the capacity or security of the system, or as required for conducting college business. In accordance, the following policies apply.  Employees may not:

• permit anyone else to use your account. You will be held responsible for any correspondence originating from your account.
• edit or alter another’s person’s email message and forward it to another person or group.
• send a campus wide mailing or a mailing to extremely large groups of people without first checking with your senior administrator.
• send chain letters. If you receive a chain letter from off campus, delete it. If it was sent to you from someone on campus, please forward the message to the director of campus technology support services for administrative action.
• post messages to large numbers of news groups.
• post chain letters or money making schemes to any news group.

Students, faculty and staff are responsible for understanding and observing these and all other applicable policies, regulations and laws in connection with their use of college campus technology resources.