IMT Staff Rights & Responsibilities

IMT Staff Rights and Responsibilities (PN0025)
(Approved in Cabinet June 12, 2001)

The IMT staff generally must do whatever is necessary to carry out its responsibility to maintain effective operation of Florida Memorial University computer facilities.

The IMT staff has the responsibility to make every reasonable effort to maintain the privacy of user files, electronic mail and printer listings.

Student files as kept on IMT facilities are considered “educational records” as covered by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (title 20, Section 1232 (g) of the United States Code, also referred to as the Buckley Amendment). However, this does not preclude disclosure of these files to University officials with a legitimate educational interest. Whenever appropriate and possible, the IMT staff will first seek prior approval from appropriate individuals before any disclosures are made.

In the normal course of examining and repairing system problems and when investigating instances of improper use of IMT facilities, the IMT staff may need to examine users’ files, electronic mail and printer listing.

Investigations that discover improper use may cause the IMT staff to: a) limit the access of those found using facilities or services improperly; b) disclose information found during investigation to University or law enforcement authorities; and c) initiate disciplinary action as prescribed by University policies and procedure.

In order to protect against hardware and software failures, backups of all data stored on IMT systems are made on a regular basis. The IMT staff has the right to examine the contents of these backups to gather sufficient information to diagnose and correct problems with system software or to investigate instances of improper use of IMT facilities.

With reasonable cause for suspicion, the IMT staff has the right to monitor any or all aspects of a system to determine if a user is in violation of the policies set forth in this document.

The IMT staff may alter the priority or terminate the execution of any process that is consuming excessive system resources or degrading system response with or without prior notification.

The IMT staff may, with or without prior notification, remove or compress disk files that are not related to Florida Memorial University’s mission or are consuming large amounts of disk space.

The IMT staff may terminate login sessions that have been idle (unused) for long periods of time, in order to free resources. This applies particularly to limited resources such as dial-in connections.

The IMT staff has the responsibility to provide advance notice of system shutdowns for maintenance upgrades or changes so those users may plan for periods of system unavailability. However, in the event of an emergency, the IMT staff may shutdown a system with little or no advance notification. Every effort will be made to give users the opportunity to save their work before the system is taken out of service.

IMT staff members have the responsibility to report any violations of Florida Memorial University policy, state law or federal law pertaining to the use of Florida Memorial University computer facilities to the appropriate authorities whenever violations are discovered. The IMT staff may refuse or restrict access to any person who has violated the policies set forth in this document or who has violated the policies of other computer facilities belonging to Florida Memorial University.