Privacy Statement | Spalding University Policy Guide

1.4.2: Privacy Statement

The University’s computer systems, including hardware, software packages residing on the University network or University computers, internet and e-mail access and the University’s telephone system are the sole property of the University and shall be used primarily for University purposes. All information transmitted by, received in or from or stored in these systems is the sole property of the University, and the University reserves the right to access such information for any reason at any time, with or without notice.

Users of the University’s computer systems shall have no expectation of privacy or confidentiality with respect to information contained on or transmitted to or by any University communications system. Internal and external personal communication using University systems should be kept to a minimum. No internal or external e-mail or voicemail shall be created or sent which may violate the University’s policies prohibiting harassment and/or discrimination. Violation of this policy shall constitute grounds for disciplinary action up to and including termination or expulsion. Any individual who becomes aware of misuse of the University’s computer or telephone systems shall promptly notify the Human Resources Director and the Corporate General Counsel.

The University complies with the Gramm Leach Bliley Act (GLBA). GLBA is a law signed in 1999, which applies to financial institutions and includes privacy and securtiy provisions designed to protect consumer financial data. The GLBA Privacy Rule (16 CFR 313) enforces serveral requirements related to handling nonpublic personal information. Colleges and univerisities are deemed to be in compliance with the GLBA Privacy Rule if they are in compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Spalding University complies with FERPA. The University's FERPA Policy can be found in section 1.1.3 of this Policy Guide.

Except for ordinary work-sharing and educational purposes, it is forbidden to access or attempt to access the documents, directories, folders, e-mail or voicemail of any other University employee or student. Anyone who is found to have inappropriately accessed or attempted to access any of the foregoing will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination.

Except as necessary for faculty research, visiting illegal, adult, pornographic, gambling or other inappropriate websites is strictly prohibited. The University reserves the right to determine which sites are inappropriate in its sole and absolute discretion. The University reserves the right to monitor employees’ internet usage and may suspend or revoke any employee’s internet or e-mail access at any time.

Employees and students may not illegally copy material protected under copyright law or make that material available to others for copying. Employees and students are responsible for complying with copyright law and licenses that apply to software, files, graphics, documents, messages and other material users wish to download or copy. Only legally licensed software may be used on University computers. Should an employee or student wish to download any material onto a University computer for which a license is required, prior written permission must be obtained and a copy of the license agreement must be filed with the University’s Department of Information Technology. Employees may not use University computers to download games or other entertainment software, including wallpaper and screen savers, or to play games over the internet. Any software not approved for use on any University computer will be removed by the IT Department.