Residence Hall, Fraternity and Sorority Network Acceptable Use Policy

The University provides network access to the residents of the residence halls, fraternity and sorority network (also referred to as ResNet) for educational and research use. The network access is a privilege and the service is not guaranteed. However, IT will make every effort to provide a high-level of service to its ResNet customers.

Use of University computing and network facilities must comply with all state and federal laws, University policies, Computing & Network Facilities Acceptable Use Policy, and applicable sections of the "Missouri S&T Student Handbook" Standards of Conduct. In addition, the following rules apply and provide additional details:

Physical Connection Policies

The residential network connection is intended to provide students with access to computing facilities needed for the pursuit of their academic program as allowed by software license agreements and University information access policies. The network connection is not to be used to provide network services for anyone beyond the individual students who have been granted access, to enable interconnection of University computing facilities to external networks, to provide network access to persons not authorized to use University computing or network facilities or to conduct business or sell products and services. The University reserves the right to install network filters for the purposes of preventing improper use, maintaining the stability of the campus network, or providing network security.

The student assumes responsibility for acquisition, installation, registration information and configuration of all hardware and software necessary for the connection of their computer to the Ethernet port. The University agrees to provide necessary network configuration information and maintain the operation of the Ethernet port within standard parameters. The University will provide network connection assistance on a time available basis, but does not guarantee the proper operation of any student provided computing equipment.

Only the Internet Protocol will be supported for access beyond the residence hall network. No Internet Protocol routing protocol announcements will be transmitted into or accepted from the residence hall network. The University reserves the right to disable without prior notification any network port found to have an attached station that is transmitting Internet Protocol routing protocol announcements.

Network stations (student-provided computing equipment, Ethernet card, and network software) will be configured using automatic configuration protocols, such as Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. Any system not capable of using Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol will be handled on a case-by-case basis by IT as time allows. Network station names will be assigned by the University.

The University reserves the right to interrupt network services for the purpose of performing routine maintenance deemed necessary by University personnel after providing advance notification through normal channels used to disseminate campus computing facility announcements (https://itpress.mst.edu). The University also reserves the right to make unscheduled interruptions to correct problems deemed by IT to be critical to network operation or integrity. University personnel will repair faulty network infrastructure equipment in a timely fashion within the constraints of service contracts, repair part shipments, and campus service priorities.

Student-provided computing equipment is to be connected only to the Ethernet port that is authorized for their use. The University reserves the right to disable network access without prior notification to which unregistered computing equipment is attached.

Operational Policies

The student assumes responsibility for taking reasonable precautions to prevent unauthorized use of the computer network connection. The student also assumes responsibility for the conduct of all persons he/she authorizes to use their network-connected system.

The University assumes no responsibility or liability for the security or integrity of data stored on student-provided computing equipment or transmitted over the network. The student acknowledges that attachment of their computer to a network requires appropriate measures be taken to ensure data integrity and assumes all liability for data loss directly or indirectly resulting from the network connection.

It is the responsibility of the student to keep the attached system current with all applicable patches to the operating system and all software installed on the system. IT reserves the right to externally scan systems for vulnerabilities. If vulnerabilities are detected that are considered a risk to the stability of the system or network, notification of the vulnerability will be given via email through the campus email servers and appropriate time will be allowed to patch systems, unless the situation becomes a critical issue. IT will restrict services provided to a system that is not patched or updated at an appropriate level. All possible measures will be taken to ensure access to educational resources (e.g. services and systems needed to complete course and/or research assignments). However, in extreme cases, IT reserves the right to disable such a system.

IT reserves the right to regulate traffic between ResNet and the campus administrative network to assure network stability and constrain potential security vulnerabilities.

Common level services such as Network Time Protocol, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, etc. are offered by the University and should be utilized in preference over off-campus services. Check with IT for full list of services not supported on the ResNet.

It is not acceptable to operate an unregistered station on the Residential Network. Running an unregistered station, falsifying registration information, or deliberately attempting to circumvent registration mechanisms is a serious violation of the Computing & Network Facilities Acceptable Use Policy and could make the user subject to disciplinary action.

The use of ResNet systems as servers to the Internet is not permitted. Web, File Transfer Protocol and other data hosting services should be accomplished by using the servers provided by IT.

Excessive use of the network is not permitted. Applications that consume large amounts of bandwidth, such as Peer-to-Peer software like Kazaa, BitTorrent, game servers, etc., should be avoided. If they must be used as part of education or research, they must be configured in such as way as to minimize the number of connections as well as restrict the bandwidth they consume.

The distribution of copyrighted material is subject to copyright laws. Do not share or download any material if you do not hold a clear copyright allowance to do so. It is a violation of copyright laws, both domestic and international, to distribute any material that you do not hold a clear copyright on.

 

IT will restrict network access for a system that is the cause of a problem having either operational or serious performance impact on the campus network. All possible measures will be taken to ensure access to educational resources (e.g. services and systems needed to complete course and/or research assignments). However, in extreme cases, IT reserves the right to disable network access for such a system. This action may either be manual as a result of diagnostics performed by University personnel or may be an automatic action taken by automated network management systems to protect the integrity and operational status of the network. The student must promptly take actions to fix the problem caused by computing equipment diagnosed to be faulty or that disrupts network operation. The restriction, placed on the equipment, will be lifted only after repairs have been completed to the satisfaction of university personnel. The University assumes no responsibility for problem diagnosis or repair of student provided computing equipment.

Actions which could affect the user:

Misuse of University computing facilities will be dealt with on a case by case basis. The users subject to charges of misuse will be dealt with in a manner consistent with the laws of the state of Missouri, the policies of the University of Missouri and the Bylaws of the Missouri S&T General Faculty. The Information Security Officer is responsible for making these misuses known to the appropriate University administrators. The Information Security Officer may impose temporary restrictions on the offender's computer access in order to ensure that the network remains stable and secure for all University users.

References

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