The University of Missouri Acceptable Use Policy applies to computer and network usage by University of Missouri faculty, staff and students. In addition, the University posts guidelines for acceptable use of campus computing and networking facilities. Each student, faculty, and staff member is expected to follow these guidelines and other applicable rules and regulations when using Internet services.

If a member of the University community, or the Internet at large, feels it necessary to report an abuse of acceptable use guidelines or state or federal law, he or she may direct the report to abuse@mst.edu. The report will be forwarded to and reviewed by the Missouri S&T Computing Misuse Review Team. Representation on the Review Team includes, but is not limited to, the Director of Networks and Computing Services (IT), the Assistant to the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, the Chief of University Police, the Chief Investigations Officer for University Police, and an Electronic Resources Librarian from Curtis Laws Wilson Library.

Incidents suggesting bodily harm or other severe consequences should be reported immediately to University Police, police@mst.edu or (573) 341-4300, or other law enforcement agencies.

The following are indicative, but not necessarily inclusive, of the general guidelines used by the Review Team:

• Incidents involving University students are referred to the Assistant to the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs.
• Incidents involving University faculty or staff are referred to the appropriate administrator.
• All University students are expected to follow the University of Missouri Student Standard of Conduct in their Internet usage.
• All University faculty and staff are expected to follow the applicable codes of conduct and University business policies and procedures in their Internet usage.
• Chain Letters:
  • Recipients are encouraged to delete chain letters, and to optionally send a reply to the sender requesting they stop sending them.
  • If the sender is generating multiple complaints, a member of the Review Team will send a warning message, referring to the university's email policy.
• Mass email or Spamming:
  • If either incoming or outgoing mass email jeopardizes the function or response of the email servers or network, immediate action will be taken by IT staff. This may include deleting email from the mail spool, shutting off Internet access to specific sites, or any other reasonable and required means to preserve email services to the campus.
• Harassment, Stalking, Other Legal Issues:
  • Any case requiring investigation by law enforcement is referred to University Police.
• Offensive, Annoying, or Unsolicited Messages:
  • Recipients are encouraged to respond to the sender requesting they stop sending this type message.
  • If sender is generating multiple complaints from multiple recipients, a member of the Review Team will send a warning message, requesting the sender stop.
• Usenet Newsgroup Postings:
  • The only intervention provided for Usenet postings is for incidents which warrant a legal investigation.
• Hacking/Cracking:
  • Unauthorized access to another user's account and/or files generally requires investigation by IT to identify the origin of the access, and then is referred to the appropriate university official(s) for further investigation and resolution.
  • Forged origin of email, when source is identifiable, results in a warning message to the sender.
  • Depending on the severity of the incident, unauthorized access to a system or server requires investigation by IT to gather evidence and to take necessary security precautions, and then is referred to the appropriate university official(s) for further investigation and resolution.
  • Any of various bombing or port scanning or other potentially invasive methods are unacceptable. If such activities prevent a system from being able to use the Internet, depending on the severity of the situation, a warning message may be sent to the originator, and/or further disciplinary action is taken.
• Commercial Use:
  • Commercial use on Web pages, by email, by Usenet postings, or any other method is not allowed to be originated by University students, faculty or staff on University computing facilities for non-University related business. Violators are generally sent a message to refrain from such use. Commercial use originating from external sources is discouraged, but in general cannot be prevented.
• Violation of Copyright, Distribution of Licensed Software:
  • Depending on the nature of the situation, most first offenders are issued a warning to remove the materials from the distribution point. If offender does not comply with the warning in a timely manner, access will be removed by Review Team, and/or further disciplinary measures may be taken.
  • The University of Missouri complies with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 and all reports to abuse@mst.edu of alleged copyright infringement are then reported to the University of Missouri Digital Millennium Copyright Act agent. See University of Missouri Digital Millennium Copyright Act Agent for more details.
• Excessive Use of Internet Resources or Bandwidth:
  • Any use of Internet facilities which results in diminished performance of shared resources may result in immediate action taken by IT in order to maintain and/or restore shared resources. Further incidents may result in disciplinary action and/or restriction of services.

Note: All IT policies and procedures are subject to annual review.