Social Sciences: Access to Higher Education (SWAP)

 
The purpose of this policy is to ensure the proper use of the Newbattle Abbey College email system and make users aware of what Newbattle Abbey College deems as an acceptable and unacceptable use of its email system. The College reserves the right to amend this policy at its discretion. In case of amendments, users will be informed appropriately.

Legal Risks

Email is a business communication tool and users are obliged to use this tool in a responsible, effective and lawful manner. Although by its nature email seems to be less formal than other written communication, the same laws apply. Therefore, it is important that users are aware of the legal risks of email: namely Data Protection, FO1, Copyright etc.

• * If you send emails with any defamatory, offensive, racist or obscene remarks, you and the College can be held liable.
• * If you forward emails with any defamatory, offensive, racist or obscene remarks, you and the College can be held liable.
• * If you unlawfully forward confidential information, you and the College can be held liable.
• * If you unlawfully forward or copy messages without permission, you and the College can be held liable for copyright infringement.
• * If you send an attachment that contains a virus, you and the College can be held liable.

By following the guidelines in this policy, the email user can minimise the legal risks involved in the use of email. If any user disregards the rules set out in this Email Policy, the user will be fully liable and Newbattle Abbey College will disassociate itself from the user as far as legally possible.

Legal Requirements

The following rules are required by law and are to be strictly adhered to:

• * It is strictly prohibited to send or forward emails containing libellous, defamatory, offensive, racist or obscene remarks. If you receive an email of this nature, you must promptly notify your Guidance Tutor if a student or your Line Manager if a member of staff.
• * Do not forward a message without acquiring permission from the sender first
• * Do not forge or attempt to forge email messages.
• * Do not send email messages using another person’s email account without permission from the account holder.
• * Do not copy a message or attachment belonging to another user without permission of the originator.
• * Do not disguise or attempt to disguise your identity when sending mail.

Personal Use

Although the College’s email system is meant for College use, the College allows the reasonable use of email for personal use if certain guidelines are adhered to:

• * Personal use of email should not interfere with your studies or your work.
• * Personal emails must also adhere to the guidelines in this policy.
• * Personal emails should be kept in a separate folder, named ‘Private’. The emails in this folder should be deleted weekly so as not to clog up the system.
• * The forwarding of chain letters and junk mail is strictly forbidden.
• * Employees/students should only use email for personal use in their own time.
• * Employees/students should not waste college resources by contacting large numbers of people either simultaneously, by entering a large number of addresses on a single email or by sending a large number of emails for non college purposes.
• * All messages distributed via the College’s email system, even personal emails, are subject to this policy.

System Monitoring

You must have no expectation of privacy in anything you create, store, send or receive on the College’s computer system. Your emails can be monitored without prior notification if the College deems this necessary. If there is evidence that you are not adhering to the guidelines set out in this policy, the College reserves the right to take disciplinary action, including termination of your email account and/or legal action.

Retention and Disposal

The College’s Retention and Disposal procedures which dictate the length of time records should be held and then destroyed should also be used to determine an e-mails record life cycle.

Staff and students are responsible for managing e-mail records in a manner that ensures their integrity and guards against inappropriate loss or destruction.

Email Accounts

All email accounts maintained on our email system are the property of the College. Passwords should not be given to other people.

Review of Policy

This policy will be reviewed every 3 years or whenever changes affect it.

Before using computers, equipment or services of Newbattle Abbey College (hereinafter called the “Service”) you must first agree to abide by its rules and regulations. The rules below are in force to ensure that the Service is being used for College supported activities only, in accordance with the purchase agreements for our hardware and software, and with the Copyright (Computer Software) Amendment Act 1985.

The Data Protection Act 1984 requires that personal data may only be held in accordance with the registration of such data and that any person or body who holds un-registered data is liable to severe penalties by law. The data collected in this form will only be used for the purpose of account administration within the College, and will not be disclosed to any external sources.

You should be aware that e-mail messages remain the property of Newbattle Abbey College and that it may be necessary to intercept traffic for security purposes. You should also be aware that as part of our security procedures and of our security auditing, ICT staff will be able to monitor where you have been on the internet, what pages you have opened, what pictures you have looked at and/or downloaded. This activity is monitored to maintain the integrity of the system and ensure that the Colleges’ legal obligations and requirements are being met.

Any person or persons using the facilities of the Service shall be deemed to have read these rules and agreed to be bound by them.

 

For special cases where the rigid application of these rules would adversely affect a particular College supported activity, then Newbattle Abbey College must be consulted beforehand and any dispensation agreed in writing.

 

Any deliberate transgression of these rules and regulations may result in disciplinary action against the user and a claim for payment of any penalty imposed upon the College as a consequence of the transgression.

 

The use of the computer facilities at Newbattle Abbey College is seen as a necessity. Failure to abide by these rules and regulations could result in the withdrawal of computer services from yourself and your user account being closed. Where your actions are of a serious nature and/or contravene the aforementioned legislation and policies, and/or bring the College into disrepute, you may be suspended from the College pending a full investigation.

 

If you have a technical problem with the ICT equipment you should email the fault to IT Support.

 

The route for complaints or comments about the Service or appeals against withdrawal of Service should be in the first instance to the Administration Manager. You may appeal against this decision to the Depute Principal and if you are still dissatisfied the final level of appeal is with the Principal whose decision is final.