Last Updated: September 2018

Kalamazoo College provides and maintains information technology resources to support its academic programs and administrative operations. This Acceptable Use Policy ensures the integrity of information technology resources and prevents disruption to academic and administrative needs. K is committed to protecting its employees, partners, and the College from illegal or damaging actions by individuals, either knowingly or unknowingly.

Internet/Intranet/Extranet-related systems, including but not limited to computer equipment, software, operating systems, storage media, and network accounts, are the property of Kalamazoo College. These systems are to be primarily used for business purposes in serving the interests of the College, and of our employees and students in the course of normal operations. Please review Human Resources policies for further details.

Effective security is a team effort involving the participation and support of every Kalamazoo College user who deals with information and/or information systems. It is the responsibility of every user to know these guidelines, and to conduct their activities accordingly.

The purpose of this policy is to outline the acceptable use of technology resources at Kalamazoo College. These rules are in place to protect the users and the College. Inappropriate use exposes K to risks including virus attacks, compromise of network systems and services, and legal issues.

This policy applies to the use of information, electronic and computing devices, and network resources to conduct Kalamazoo College business owned, managed, leased, or otherwise provided by Kalamazoo College.

This policy applies to employees, contractors, consultants, temporaries, volunteers and other workers at Kalamazoo College.

3.1 General Use and Ownership

3.1.1      Kalamazoo College proprietary information stored on electronic and computing devices, whether owned or leased by K, the employee, or a third party, remains the sole property of Kalamazoo College. Users must ensure through legal or technical means that proprietary information is protected in accordance with the Data Protection Standard.

3.1.2      Users have a responsibility to promptly report the theft, loss, or unauthorized disclosure of Kalamazoo College proprietary information.

3.1.3      Users may access, use, or share Kalamazoo College proprietary information only to the extent it is authorized and necessary to fulfill your assigned job duties.

3.1.4      Users are responsible for exercising good judgment regarding the reasonableness of personal use. If there is any uncertainty, users should consult their supervisor or manager.

3.1.5     In the pursuit of security and network maintenance, authorized individuals within Kalamazoo College may monitor equipment, systems, and network traffic at any time.

3.1.6      Kalamazoo College reserves the right to audit networks and systems on a periodic basis to ensure compliance with this policy.

3.2 Security and Proprietary Information

3.2.1   All mobile and computing devices that connect to the internal network must comply with the Minimum Access Policy.

3.2.2   System level and user level passwords must comply with the Password Policy. Providing access to another individual, either deliberately or through failure to secure its access, is prohibited.

3.2.3   All computing devices must be password-protected with the automatic activation feature set to 10 minutes or less. You must lock the screen or log off when the device is unattended.

3.2.4   Postings by employees from a Kalamazoo College email address to newsgroups should contain a disclaimer stating that the opinions expressed are strictly their own and not necessarily those of Kalamazoo College, unless posting is in the course of business duties.

3.2.5   Employees must use extreme caution when opening e-mail attachments received from unknown senders, which may contain malware.

3.3 Unacceptable Use

The following activities are, in general, prohibited. Users may be exempted from these restrictions during the course of their legitimate job responsibilities (e.g., systems administration staff may have a need to disable the network access of a host if that host is disrupting production services).

Under no circumstances is a user of Kalamazoo College information technology resources authorized to engage in any activity that is illegal under local, state, federal, or international law while utilizing College owned resources.

The lists below are not exhaustive, but attempt to provide a framework for activities which fall into the category of unacceptable use.

3.3.1   System and Network Activities

The following activities are strictly prohibited:

1. Violations of the rights of any person or company protected by copyright, trade secret, patent, or other intellectual property, or similar laws or regulations, including, but not limited to, the installation or distribution of "pirated" or other software products that are not appropriately licensed for use by Kalamazoo College.
2. Unauthorized copying of copyrighted material including, but not limited to, digitization and distribution of photographs from magazines, books, or other copyrighted sources, copyrighted music, and the installation of any copyrighted software for which Kalamazoo College or the end user does not have an active license. Bulk downloads from data providers (journals, databases, etc.) are not permitted without explicit written permission from the publishers. Data mining fees may apply.
3. Using Kalamazoo College information technology resources for any personal money-making ventures.
4. Accessing data, a server, or an account for any purpose other than conducting Kalamazoo College business, even if you have authorized access.
5. Exporting software, technical information, encryption software, or technology, in violation of international or regional export control laws. The appropriate management should be consulted prior to export of any material that is in question.
6. Introduction of malicious programs into the network or servers (e.g., viruses, worms, Trojan horses, e-mail bombs, etc.).
7. Revealing your account password to others or allowing use of your account by others. This includes family and other household members when work is being done at home.
8. Using a Kalamazoo College computing asset to actively engage in procuring or transmitting material that is in violation of sexual harassment or hostile workplace laws in the user's local jurisdiction.
9. Making fraudulent offers of products, items, or services originating from any Kalamazoo College account.
10. Making statements about warranty, expressly or implied, unless it is a part of normal job duties.
11. Effecting security breaches or disruptions of network communication. Security breaches include, but are not limited to, accessing data of which the employee is not an intended recipient or logging into a server or account that the employee is not expressly authorized to access, unless these duties are within the scope of regular duties. For purposes of this section, "disruption" includes, but is not limited to, network sniffing, pinged floods, packet spoofing, denial of service, and forged routing information for malicious purposes.
12. Port scanning or security scanning, unless prior notification to the Chief Information Officer is made.
13. Executing any form of network monitoring which will intercept data not intended for the employee's host, unless this activity is a part of the employee's normal job/duty.
14. Circumventing user authentication or security of any host, network, or account.
15. Introducing honeypots, honeynets, or similar technology on the K network.
16. Interfering with or denying service to any user (for example, denial of service attack).
17. Using any program/script/command, or sending messages of any kind, with the intent to interfere with, or disable, a user's terminal session, via any means, locally or via the Internet/Intranet/Extranet.
18. Providing information about, or lists of, Kalamazoo College constituents to parties outside K, except as required by one’s job (e.g. Human Resources) or with prior authorization of the Chief Information Officer.

3.3.2 Email and Communication Activities

When using College resources to access and use the Internet, users must realize they represent the College. Whenever employees state an affiliation to the company, they must also clearly indicate that "the opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily those of the college." Questions may be addressed to the Chief Information Officer. The following actions are prohibited:

1. Sending unsolicited email messages, including the sending of "junk mail" or other advertising material to individuals who did not specifically request such material (email spam).
2. Any form of harassment via email, telephone or paging, whether through language, frequency, or size of messages.
3. Unauthorized use, or forging, of email header information.
4. Solicitation of email for any other email address, other than that of the poster's account, with the intent to harass or to collect replies.
5. Creating or forwarding "chain letters," "Ponzi" or other "pyramid" schemes of any type.

3.3.3 Blogging and Social Media

1. Employees must abide by the Social Media policy.

 4.1   Compliance Measurement

The Information Services team may verify compliance to this policy through various methods, including but not limited to, business tool reports, internal and external audits, and feedback to the policy owner.

4.2   Exceptions

Any exception to the policy must be approved by the Chief Information Officer in advance.

4.3   Non-Compliance

An employee found to have violated this policy may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment

• Data Classification Policy
• Data Protection Standard
• Social Media Policy
• Minimum Access Policy
• Password Policy

• No person may use, or attempt to use, any computer account(s) other than his or her own assigned account(s).
• A user should only access, or attempt to access, files in his or her own account(s), or files which have been made accessible to him or her, or files which have been made publicly accessible by the file owners.
• Each account owner or Information Provider is responsible for all computing activities involving their assigned account and will be held liable for any misuse or complaints originating due to that account’s abilities or content.
• Under some circumstances it may be necessary, for clear business reasons, to share an account among two or more personnel. In this case, the account owner or Information Provider is still solely responsible for any and all actions taken by a user of the account. Appropriate measures also need to be taken by the account owner or Information Provider to keep the account password as secure as possible.
• Any exception to the access policies stated above must be approved by the Chief Information Officer before such action is taken.

Information Services (IS) is responsible for maintenance of the data, telecommunications and video networks in College buildings, including residence halls and living learning units. This includes end-point connections in student rooms. This responsibility will occasionally require IS personnel to access student rooms. IS personnel may include either full time staff members or students hired as Student Computer Consultants (SCCs).

Maintenance of College Property and Emergency Access

In the event that access to a student room is necessary for maintenance of college property or in the event of an emergency (for example, a computer that must be immediately disconnected from the College network due to some problem with it) the following guidelines will be used to minimize the disruption to students.

1. If possible, the work will be completed via an appointment with the student resident and under the guidelines listed below in the section "Assistance With Student Computers".
2. If an appointment has not been made, the following guidelines will be used when entering a student room. "Staff" in this section refers to IS professional staff only and is not meant to include SCCs or residential hall staff.
   1. SCCs do not have keys to residence halls or living learning units and should never enter another student's room without explicit permission of the resident of said room.
   2. IS staff will knock and identify themselves. If there is no response, staff will unlock and open the door and identify themselves once again before fully entering the room. If there is still no response, the staff may enter the room to complete the work project. Staff will leave the room immediately if they find a student asleep or otherwise unprepared.
   3. Students are expected to accommodate the work schedule of Information Services staff to facilitate their attempts to meet the maintenance needs of the College. However, students may refuse immediate access if they are sleeping, dressing, or showering. Staff and students are expected to agree on an alternative time when the staff member will return to complete the work. If access is denied a second time or an alternative time cannot be agreed upon, the issue will be referred to the Chief Information Officer for resolution of the problem.
   4. IS staff may disconnect student property from College property to complete maintenance or if the student property is causing a problem. However, the IS staff member will not take any action beyond disconnection unless in the presence of the owner of the equipment and with their explicit permission.
   5. The IS staff member will leave a note in a plainly visible location indicating who was there, when they were there, and what was done in the student's room.

Assistance With Student Computers

An IS worker, who might be a full time employee or an SCC, may also at times require access to student rooms to assist students with various computer problems. Assistance with a student's personal computer will be provided under the following procedure.

1. An appointment will be made with the student needing assistance.
2. The IS worker will complete the work in the presence of the student resident.
3. Should the student resident need to leave, the IS worker should make an appointment to return and complete the work when the student is available.
4. The IS worker is not required to work in a hostile environment and may refuse assistance if they feel uncomfortable or unsafe in the environment. Report such occurrences to your supervisor.
5. The student is also entitled to a comfortable and safe environment. Please be aware of your own actions and speech in this regard. Report any potential problems to your supervisor.
6. If there is any worry that a situation may be contentious, the IS worker may want to make arrangements to have a co-worker accompany them on the appointment.

1. Overview

Administrative user accounts are required on many operating systems to perform some functions (including some software installations). Exact definitions, terminology, and permissions vary by operating system.

2. Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to outline the conditions under which an end user can apply for an administrative user account on the college machine assigned to them. The intent of the policy is to provide balance between the protection of shared college information technology resources and the occasionally unique needs of an individual.

3. Scope

This policy applies to all computing devices purchased with institutional funds (including centralized and departmental budgets, technology renewal funds, grants, and stipends). The policy applies to all such devices that have the capability of user and administrative account management.

4. Policy Details

1. By default, all faculty and staff are issued a computer with a standard user account.  This alleviates the burden and risk of handling tasks that require administrative privileges, instead allowing for Information Services to support the machine.
2. Information Services will also maintain an administrative user account on the device for purposes of support of the device.
3. By default, and in normal operations, each user will use their standard user account.
4. Information Services will support the user account and the device on which it resides. This includes software, hardware, and account support via the Help Desk, including installation in a timely manner of any additional software requested by the user that does not conflict with college network resources or legal restrictions.
5. If a user wants to take on responsibility for support of their device because of unique needs that cannot be met through the standard arrangement, they can request an Administrator account by signing the Administrator Account User Agreement. This form is agreed to and signed by both the user and Information Services prior to a user being assigned an Administrator account.
6. With an Administrator user account, the user assumes the responsibility for maintenance and support of their device as outlined in the agreement.

5.  Policy Compliance

5.1 Compliance Measurement

The Information Services team may verify compliance to this policy through various methods, including but not limited to, business tool reports, internal and external audits, and feedback to the policy owner.

5.2 Exceptions

Any exception to the policy must be approved by the Chief Information Officer in advance.

5.3 Non-Compliance

An employee found to have violated this policy may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.

6. Related Standards, Policies and Processes

• Acceptable Use Policy
• Password Policy

Disk Quotas

Each computing account will be assigned storage space (a "fixed disk quota") on one or more disk storage devices. Users who need additional storage space may apply in writing to the Chief Information Officer to have their quota expanded. The granting of such a request will depend on the availability of unused disk space on the system and the reason for the request.

Account and File Security

IS makes a strong effort to maintain the security of account numbers, passwords, directories and data. However, no computer system can be guaranteed foolproof, and it is possible that some user could gain access to another user's accounts through actions or accidents beyond reasonable control. Each user must take full advantage of password and file protection security mechanisms provided by the operating system. For example, passwords should be non-obvious, changed frequently, and not shared with others.

Account Maintenance

Each account owner or Information Provider is responsible for maintaining the account and files stored in the account. This maintenance includes but is not limited to removing old and unused files, having the account restored if necessary, making sure there are no broken links in the user’s web page(s), and changing the account password regularly by signing in at least annually to prevent other users from gaining access to the account. Accounts left unused for one year (365 days) will be considered abandoned, and will be terminated.

File Backups

IS will carry out regular backup procedures to maintain relatively current copies of all files. All central servers are backed up daily. Complete system backups are done weekly. However, recovery of any particular file or data is not guaranteed.

Notification of Changes in the Computing Environment

IS will attempt to announce all major, non-transparent changes in policies, operating procedures, hardware and software a reasonable amount of time before the change is to take place. Such announcements will be made via email or other appropriate means. Users should understand that in cases of emergency, advanced warning may not be feasible.

Allocation and Maintenance of Computing Systems

Most faculty and staff requiring computer resources have been provided with computers and site-licensed software (e.g., Windows or Mac OS, MS Office). Requests for such basic computing tools are gathered periodically by IS and reviewed for support as funding permits. Kalamazoo College students have access to several computer labs which are open during posted hours throughout each week of the academic year. All College-owned computer systems are maintained by the IS staff or through maintenance contracts with service vendors.

No department, group, or individual may contract for communications services outside what is provided or approved by Information Services. This specifically includes, but is not necessarily limited to:

• television services such as cable or satellite TV services
• Internet services such as DSL, cable, or dedicated (eg. T1 line) services
• phone services such as local wired lines and long distance services.

To appropriately manage issues of security, liability and financial commitment, these services are exclusively provided to the College by Information Services. Depending on the service, financial responsibility may be that of Information Services or shared among departments, groups or individuals as appropriate.

It is the policy of the College that all computers are purchased through the approved, designated vendors (currently Apple and Dell). If you have a specific need for a different vendor you must have VP approval and your purchase must be reviewed and processed by Don Mack.

The College desktop computers are on an approximately five-year upgrade rotation. Information Services will contact your department when the time for renewal ordering occurs. The purchase of a laptop as part of the computer rotation is subject to the laptop purchase policy.

All computers must be purchased using a purchase order number, and facilitated through Information Services. You may not use a College credit card to purchase a computer.

If you use a personal credit card to purchase a College computer you will not be reimbursed by the College.

To prevent computer viruses spreading within the Kalamazoo College Network, all computers connected to the Kalamazoo College Network are required to have a current, up-to-date antivirus application installed. This requirement includes all computers whether they be student-owned, faculty- or staff-owned, or college-owned computers.

Student Computers

There are a wide variety of antivirus products available to consumers. Products popular among K College students include free products like AVG Free (Windows, free), Microsoft Security Essentials (Windows, free), Sophos Anti-Virus Mac Home Edition (Mac, free), as well as for-fee products like those from Norton, McAfee, avast!, and Malwarebytes.

If it is determined that a student computer has a virus and it does not have an antivirus program installed, its antivirus subscription has expired or its virus definitions are more than a month out of date, the computer’s network port(s) will be disabled without warning and a $100.00 fee will be assessed to the computer owner’s College account. The network port(s) will remain disabled until the virus is verified removed by a member of Information Services or a Residential Computer Consultant (RCC). If an infected computer is connected to another network port before it is verified as free of viruses, that port will also be disabled until the system has been cleaned.

Computers Maintained by Information Services

All computers maintained by Information Services have up-to-date virus protection software pre-installed. This software is centrally managed and virus definitions are updated automatically. All college computers are also automatically scanned for viruses once a week, typically at noon on Mondays.

If a computer maintained by Information Services becomes infected with a virus, it may be necessary to remove the computer from the network (possibly by disabling the computer’s network port) until Information Services personnel can clean the computer. If you suspect your computer is infected, please unplug it from the network port and call the Information Services Help Desk at x5800.

Other Computers

Other computers such as faculty or staff personal computers or college owned computers not maintained by Information Services must also have up-to-date antivirus software installed. It is the responsibility of the person or department owning the system to purchase and maintain this software.

If it is determined that a computer has a virus and it does not have an antivirus program installed, its antivirus subscription has expired or its virus definitions are more than a month out of date, the computer’s network port(s) will be disabled without warning until Information Services personnel can verify the computer has been cleaned of all viruses and a $100.00 fee will be assessed to the computer owner’s. Any assessed fees cannot be paid with institutional funds.

Computer software and electronic transmissions of intellectual property are protected under the Copyright Act of 1976. Common violations of this policy include unauthorized use or distribution of trademarked images, photographs, artwork, video, audio, text, and data that have been created or are owned by others:

• Text and Data
• Trademarked Images - This includes corporate logos and cartoon characters
• Photographs - This includes all photographs that are not in the public domain
• Artwork - This includes scanned or computer generated artwork that is not your own
• Video - This includes video clips of movies, television shows, etc.
• Audio – This includes any audio file, including MP3, that is not your intellectual property. 
  

Plagiarism, using text and data without permission and without proper citation,  is a violation of the Honor code. Sound recording infringements are punishable by up to 5 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.

Unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material, including peer-to-peer file sharing, may subject the user to civil and criminal liabilities.

Peer-To-Peer File Sharing

Users of the Kalamazoo College network may not use peer-to-peer file sharing programs, including, but not limited to, Kazaa, Gnutella, Morpheus, Audiogalaxy Satellite, Win MX, etc. Please also refer to related policies below regarding unlawful distribution of copyrighted materials, which is also a violation of the Kalamazoo College Honor Code. 

Violators of this policy are subject to disciplinary action, including the revocation of computer account privileges for a specified or indefinite amount of time.

Use and Ownership of Software

Unauthorized copying of software is illegal. Copyright law protects software authors and publishers, just as patent law protects inventors. Unauthorized copying of software by individuals can harm the entire academic community. If unauthorized copying proliferates on campus, the College may incur a legal liability. Respect for the intellectual work and property of others has traditionally been essential to the mission of the College. As part of the College community, IS values the free exchange of ideas. Just as we do not tolerate plagiarism, we do not condone the unauthorized copying of software, including programs, applications, data bases, code, and documentation. Therefore, we expect all users of the College computing facilities to subscribe to the following statement of principle (developed by the EDUCOM Software Initiative) about intellectual property and the legal and ethical use of software:
Respect for intellectual labor and creativity is vital to academic discourse and enterprise. This principle applies to works of all authors and publishers in all media. It encompasses respect for the right to acknowledgment, right to privacy, and right to determine the form, manner, and terms of publication and distribution. Because electronic information is volatile and easily reproduced, respect for the work and personal expression of others is especially critical in computer environments. Accordingly, every user of Kalamazoo College’s computing resources is expected to avoid violations of authorial integrity, including plagiarism, all invasion of privacy, unauthorized access, and trade secret and copyright violations.

• No user is allowed to store or use private copies of licensed software (except that provided by IS) on any Kalamazoo College computer system unless the user provides IS with a copy of a license agreement allowing such possession.
• Stolen or bootleg copies of software are not allowed on any Kalamazoo College computing system.
• No user may copy, or attempt to copy, any proprietary or licensed software provided or installed by IS. This includes software on the central server systems as well as that provided for use on faculty, staff and lab computers.
• No user may install ANY software on Kalamazoo College computer lab machines without first having the express permission of IS staff and their assistance.
• The IS staff will refuse to assist or offer support to any person who is using illegally obtained or improperly licensed software. Proof of software purchase, serial numbers or OEM numbers may be required for any re-installation of software.
• All software (i.e., programs and associated documentation) developed using IS computing resources and facilities is the property of Kalamazoo College. Any exception to this policy must be arranged beforehand with the Chief Information Officer.

Members of the Kalamazoo College community share a valuable resource, our campus computing and information network.  The priority purpose for our network is to support learning and teaching.  The use of the network for other purposes, including entertainment, (music and video sharing and downloading, for example) is secondary.   This secondary use, especially if it includes unauthorized copying and/or illegal sharing or distribution of copyrighted materials, can place students and the College in legal jeopardy.  The Digital Millenium Copyright Act can hold both individuals (students and others) and colleges responsible for violations of relevant copyright laws.

College policy prohibits illegal and/or unauthorized downloading, sharing, and copying of copyrighted materials via any College network or resources. 

Students who engage in illegal use of copyrighted materials as described above will face College disciplinary action, and may also face legal action.  The College’s first response to a student who has violated the policy will be to provide a written warning and to disable the student’s network access until the problem is resolved.  A second violation will result in formal disciplinary action as well as disabling the student’s network account.  Subsequent violations may place the student’s enrollment at the College at risk.

The best preparation for understanding these issues is to become informed.  The following links and sites are excellent sources of accurate information.  Please familiarize yourself with the relevant College policies via the first two links below.  

• College copyright issues
• College computer policies
• Recording Industry Association of America

We are all responsible for using College resources responsibly.  Thank you, in advance, for your help with this matter.   

Equipment obtained through the Provost’s initial research account is the property of the faculty member’s department, purchased to enable the faculty member to carry out instruction and research as a member of the Kalamazoo College faculty. Equipment purchased through this account, including computing equipment, will be the responsibility of the department to maintain.

When faculty members who have had initial research accounts leave the College, the status of any equipment purchased under said account is negotiated with the Provost. Normally, the College retains ownership of the equipment. However, if with the departure of the faculty member the equipment is of no further use to the College, the Provost, in consultation with the department chair, may decide to let the departing individual take the equipment.

Faculty members who purchase equipment through other College research accounts (for example, accounts associated with holding an endowed chair) are responsible for the repair and replacement of the equipment. If funding for the equipment has multiple sources (e.g., a chair holder's research fund, an external grant, and College funds), the Provost and faculty member will establish in writing who is to be responsible for the repair and maintenance of the equipment.

Office computers purchased either by Information Services or through the Donna and Thomas W. Lambert Faculty Development Funds will be added to the Information Services inventory and maintained by Information Services.

Equipment purchased through external grants and processed through the College's budget belongs to the acquiring department of the College. The department is also responsible for the maintenance of this equipment. In the unlikely event that a faculty member obtains equipment via an external grant that is not processed through the College's budget, the status of the equipment should be negotiated with the Provost to determine ownership and responsibility for repair and replacement. Faculty are encouraged to seek outside funding to augment, upgrade, or replace their research equipment. The Office of Institutional Support and Research is committed to working with faculty to develop proposals for research and teaching equipment. Equipment grants usually require an institutional match, and faculty should consult with the Provost early in the process about the availability of matching funds.

Information Services supplies desktop office computers, computer teaching labs, and, in conjunction with funding from the Provost’s Office, start-up computing resources for new faculty. In addition to the above policies on equipment, which apply to hardware and software, the following policies outline additional considerations regarding computer equipment and software; library collection purchases are also addressed.

Faculty should consult with Information Services staff and obtain the Director’s signature on the internal Proposal Routing Sheet for grant proposals that involve any computer hardware or software or equipment requiring a computer interface. Information Services can help faculty identify the best hardware and software products and estimate costs for proposal budgets.

Information Services provides an array of supported software on office Macs and PCs and in computer labs and classrooms. A list of this software is available upon request. The Information Services Computer Support Policy lists additional software that IS would support if purchased, and the document "Software Blues" explains how to request new software for labs and classrooms.

Faculty are generally expected to work within the framework of the software products that the College owns and supports. When a faculty member or a department purchases unsupported software, it is the responsibility of the faculty member or the purchasing department to maintain and upgrade it.

Information Services provides several computer teaching classrooms and open computer labs, and funding for such general-use labs and classrooms resides in the Information Services budget (i.e., this funding will not normally be found in a departmental budget). It must remain, however, the responsibility of department chairs to work with the Director of Information Services, or her designee, to plan and maintain the functionality of those facilities for use in teaching and research. Individual departments are responsible for budgeting for specialized software and may need to provide knowledgeable teaching assistants or monitors to assist student users. When necessary, external funding should be sought to upgrade facilities.

If a department creates its own computer lab, it is responsible for maintenance and upgrades for hardware and software. Departments should consult with Information Services for assistance in planning such facilities.

Since 1997, the College has equipped each faculty office with a computer, software, and connectivity sufficient to support word processing, spreadsheets, e-mail, and Web access. Information Services manages a budget with a goal of a five-year replacement cycle. Departments need not make requests through the budget process to replace basic office computer hardware and software covered within the replacement cycle.

Network-based printing is also supported, with one network printer typically provided for each department. The College does not have the resources or staffing to provide and maintain printers for individual faculty offices.

If a faculty member or a department requires special computing equipment, replacements, or upgrades not normally covered by the Information Services replacement cycle, the department chair should address those needs during the annual budget process. For example, faculty in the sciences or social sciences who need more powerful computers than the standard issue to support basic instruction and research should articulate those needs through the departmental budget process. Faculty who require high-end research computers should seek external grant support.

Individuals who damage College equipment through attempts to make unauthorized repairs, whether the equipment is maintained by Information Services or by a College department, will be held financially accountable. Information Services will assist departments in identifying qualified repair persons when needed.

Summary: 

This policy provides guidelines and outlines procedures for the review, approval and purchase of all technology-related goods and services by faculty and staff of the College. It applies to the development or purchase of all information technology, including using institutional or external grant funds.

The intent is to involve Information Services early in the technology acquisition process to ensure that goals are defined and met, that the acquisition does not duplicate or contradict existing College resources, that regulatory and College requirements are met, and that compatibility with other technology and processes is realized.

I. Policy and Scope

Kalamazoo College’s purchasing policies outline the processes and procedures used to purchase goods and services for the College. Such purchases must meet the College’s needs at the lowest possible cost consistent with the quality needed for the proper operation of the various academic departments and administrative offices.  In general, purchases should be made in a manner that maximize opportunities and create the best value for each dollar expended. 

This policy provides guidelines and outlines procedures for the review, approval and development or purchase of all technology related goods and services by faculty and staff of the College. It applies to the purchase of all information technology (hardware; software; services; internet (cloud) or externally hosted systems, software and services) using institutional or external grant funds.

II. Responsibilities

Requests for purchases of technology by faculty and staff must be coordinated with the Information Services (IS) Department to ensure the reasonableness of the purchase and its compatibility with the College’s technology software, data, equipment and infrastructure.

IS is responsible for the review and acquisition of all technology hardware; software; services; and any cloud or externally hosted systems, software and/or services requested by faculty and staff.

IS will assist faculty and staff in reviewing their technology needs, participating in selection of an appropriate solution, and ensuring that technology solutions integrate appropriately with other systems on campus.

III. Definitions

Technology hardware includes, but is not limited to: desktop and laptop computers and peripherals, external storage drives (except thumb drives, CDs/DVDs, smartcards), servers, tablets/PDAs, monitors, printers, copiers, plotters, scanners, projectors, multi-media players, flat panel displays/televisions, fax machines, desk phones, cameras and network devices.

Software includes, but is not limited to, any software application that is loaded on College owned technology hardware (desktops/laptops/tablets) or delivered over the internet.

IV. Procedures

Requests for IT related purchases must be coordinated with the Business Office and pre-approved by the CIO or designee within IS. The Business Office will not process purchase orders for technology without the accompanying written or electronic approval from the Office of the CIO or designee. Technology purchases are not to be purchased on College-issued P-cards without advance approval from the Business Office and written or electronic approval of the purchase from the CIO.

Departmental/Enterprise Software Purchases:

IS must be included in review of any departmental/enterprise software, whether hosted on a desktop computer or a server. (This includes both fee-based and zero-dollar provided software.) IS will review your request to ensure the adequacy of security and support standards, interfaces with other technologies, and licensing compliance. IS will also assist you in establishing an implementation schedule and provide approximate costs for your request. Contact the Help Desk before pursuing any vendor discussions.

Internet or Externally Hosted Systems, Software and Services Purchases:

IS must be included in the review of any internet or externally hosted systems, software and services to ensure that they meet security and support standards, interface with other technologies, licenses are in compliance, schedule of implementation is attainable, etc. This includes both fee-based and zero-dollar provided services. Contact the Help Desk before pursuing any vendor discussions.

VII. Review and Approval

This policy was reviewed and approved by the President’s Staff and implemented July 7, 2020.

When navigating the settings of your college-funded iPhone or tablet, you may see a field that informs you the device is being supervised by Kalamazoo College.

Supervision allows greater control over college-owned iOS devices. In our case, we have encountered problems with returned devices still locked by a personal iCloud account. Activation lock prevents the device from being reused or repurposed.

The Help Desk will have elevated privileges when the device is physically in their possession. These elevated privileges are not accessible remotely. The college does not apply any restrictions or configuration changes to the devices beyond supervision. Supervision will allow a wipe if the device is returned with a personal account still activated. The college respects your privacy, and no information (including location data) is shared remotely due to supervision.

Supervision will be enabled on all devices allocated after 02/14/2019.

Last Updated: 11/27/2010

The President’s Staff has made a determination of the positions that require a laptop as an essential function of their job responsibilities. For those positions, a laptop is provided from the College’s central computer rotation budget on the standard rotation cycle.

For all other standard full time positions at the College, a desktop is provided from the College’s central computer rotation budget on the standard rotation cycle.

A small pool of laptops are available for short term check out through Media Services.

If faculty or staff demonstrate the necessity of a laptop to do their work, teaching, or scholarly work, and have alternate sources of institutional funding, a laptop can be purchased under the following conditions:

Approval from the appropriate President’s Staff member prior to ordering.

1. Approval from the appropriate President’s Staff member prior to ordering.
2. All purchases are made through the Information Services staff, to ensure supportability and compatibility with College standards and platforms.
3. All purchases made through the College, and using College resources (whether institutional funds, departmental funds, grants or stipends, or other) are College property and remain College property if the employee leaves and/or the computer is no longer of use to the purchaser.
4. If the laptop is to be used instead of the provided desktop, the difference between the cost of the laptop and the standard budgeted amount of the desktop is paid for by identified sources (departmental funds, grant, stipends, etc). If the laptop is in addition to the provided desktop, the full amount of the laptop is paid for through those identified sources. The use of such funds for a laptop must be consistent with any guidelines associated with those sources.
5. The replacement cycle in these cases will not be shortened from the standard cycle established for the department and institution.
6. In a situation where the person using the laptop is away from campus for a period of time (e.g. sabbatical), and this leave requires a fill-in person who needs a computer, either the laptop must be left for the fill-in, or the department/source must fund the standard budgeted amount of a fill-in computer.

Kalamazoo College is dedicated to supporting faculty integrating web-based technologies into their classes. Information Services supports Moodle as the course management system.

A. Official College Academic Courses (listed in course catalog)

1. Information Services will create Moodle sites for courses in the upcoming quarter on Monday of Week Seven of the current term and enroll instructors with “Teacher” permissions. Creation will exclude instrumental music courses, physical education, and other categories at discretion. No students will be automatically enrolled at this time nor at a later date.

2. Any instructor may request a Moodle site for their upcoming courses at an earlier time using the Moodle Requests for Imports and Course Creation form or by contacting the Moodle administrator(s). When requesting the creation of a course, please include the following information: Course Number, Section Number, Title, and the quarter the course will be taught. Instructors in instrumental music, physical education, and other categories may manually request courses as well.

3. Online academic course spaces are created, named, and assigned a Moodle short name for a specific quarter and year and are to be used only for that quarter.

4. If course content is to be copied from a previously-taught section, the instructor must provide accurate information regarding the course ID of the previously-offered section. If you are copying content from a course developed by another instructor, you must provide the Moodle administrator(s) written permission from that instructor to use his/her content.

5. Requests for courses may be submitted up to a year in advance of the quarter in which they are to be taught.

6. Courses are created as they are requested. Course requests submitted during the quarter will be honored.

7. If multiple instructors will teach a course, only one instructor should request the online course space.

B. Special Courses (not listed in course catalog)

Special courses can be requested at any time by contacting the Moodle administrator. Special course requests include, but are not limited to, research projects, committees, departments, program collaboration and college-recognized student organizations.

A. Academic Courses

1. All courses are archived and stored after the end of each quarter so the system can operate efficiently.

2. Course archives will be kept for 3 years.  Faculty may request a copy of their archive(s) on removable media. Student content will be omitted from the archive.

3. No guarantee is made that archived courses will be restorable on future versions of Moodle software. 

4. Instructors are requested to make their courses unavailable to students when they are finished with their course. Moodle administrators will make courses unavailable to students approximately 10 days after final exams end.  Instructors working on a course for an upcoming quarter are requested to keep it unavailable to students until the quarter begins.

5. A faculty member can request that a course be kept on the server beyond the traditional quarter period, for special circumstances. Instructors must contact the Moodle administrator to secure this extended access. It is important that the course remain unavailable to students, since the official course time frame has passed.

6. Final grades entered into Moodle are not considered part of the official academic record. Only grades submitted to the Registrar's office are the official academic record.

B. Non-academic / Special Courses (Clubs, organizations, committees, etc.)

These courses will be kept active until the owner requests the course to be archived or removed from Moodle. Course creators may archive their course content at any time and store it on their own computer based on the needs of the represented group. Course creators may be contacted on a yearly basis by the Moodle administrator to determine if the course is still in use.

Course content can easily be copied, renamed and used in a future quarter.

A. Importing Course Content

Faculty may request academic course content from previously-taught courses in Moodle to be imported into current or future courses.  Student content and will be omitted from the import.

 B. Copying Course Content

To copy course content from a current quarter into a future course, faculty may export content from their current section to the future section. Faculty may contact a Moodle system administrator to assist in this process.

C. Course Retention Exceptions

Faculty members who wish to use items or interactions from any course not being taught during the current quarter in professional research, publications, or accreditation portfolios (or for any other professional purpose) should make arrangements with a Moodle administrator to restore and maintain the most appropriate access to those materials. This process is initiated by contacting a Moodle administrator. Student content will be omitted from the restored site.

Use of the College Moodle requires faculty commitment to the following:

A. While using Moodle, faculty should recognize there is an ongoing risk of technical problems including, but not limited to, server and network downtime and software "bugs."

B. Faculty should keep their own local copies of all important course-related files, which may include the course grade book and any files or material that have been uploaded to the Moodle server.

C. All copyright regulations will be observed. Posting copyrighted materials to a course without the owner's permission is unethical and has legal ramifications for the instructor and the College. Please see the College policy regarding copyright and the United States Copyright Office site.

D. Faculty should make their students aware of the Moodle site and instruct them to self-enroll. Students will not be automatically enrolled or notified by the Moodle administrator.

E.  Faculty should not allow guest access to their course site unless utilizing an enrollment key.

• A faculty member wishing to have software added to microcomputers in any of the labs must supply Information Services with a copy of the program and work with the staff to prepare a series of tests to verify the software’s functionality.  The testing phase could last a day or longer.
• If a faculty member supplies the software, a copy of the software license also must be supplied for our records.  We will not load software that is not properly licensed.
• After successful tests Information Services’ offices, two weeks’ notice is needed to load the software on lab machines.
• The Information Services Department will review software requests on a regular basis to decide which packages are eligible for institutional funding.  Software to be used by many departments will receive higher priority.  Software requests for one course or one department will be reviewed and prioritized by the committee.
• While software for use by everyone on campus will be installed in all lab machines, software which will be used only by an individual department will be installed only in the labs of the building in which the department resides or in a lab agreed upon by the department and Information Services.

Supported Software

Software supported by Information Services is standard throughout the College and has been determined to be compatible with campus hardware. Training and troubleshooting assistance are usually available for supported software. However, licensing issues and limited staff experience with certain programs may limit the amount of support that can be provided. A list of software currently supported by Information Services is available on this site.

Not all software supplied with a computer is supported. Also, some supported software may require the purchase of a license by the department requiring the software. While non-supported software may be used on computers, no guarantee of their compatibility with other software can be given, nor can Information Services provide troubleshooting assistance for them. If non-supported software is determined to be the source of a computer problem, Information Services will return the computer to a working, standard configuration. This may necessitate the removal of the non-supported software.

Requests for the addition of specific software packages to the list of supported software should be directed to the Help Desk (email: helpdesk@kzoo.edu). Such requests will be considered by Information Services staff in consultation with other appropriate parties. Primary factors in making the decision include the applicability of the software to the general College community and the ability of the Information Services staff to provide support for it.

Student (on-campus) Systems

Students can obtain assistance with their computer systems from their Student Computer Consultant (SCC). The SCC will assist the student to connect their computer to the Residential Network (ResNet), allowing access to on-campus services and to the Internet. If a network connection problem cannot be solved by the SCC, it will be
referred to an appropriate Information Services staff member. Issues beyond the network connection may be addressed by the SCC if their workload permits. Students are also welcome to seek assistance from the Help Desk, but if the problem requires a room visit, the student will be referred to their SCC.

College-owned (on-campus) systems

The Help Desk (ext. 5800) provides assistance for hardware, supported software, and other computer services offered by the College. Problems which cannot be solved over the phone will be referred to the appropriate Information Services staff member.

Off-campus personal computers

The Help Desk (ext. 5800) provides telephone support for dial-in services offered by the College. The Information Services staff is unable to provide support for other problems experienced with off-campus computers or to make "house-calls".

Viruses

Information Services makes every effort to halt the spread of computer viruses. This may necessitate the isolation of an infected computer. Assistance on the detection and removal of viruses and on how to obtain detailed information about a particular virus is available from the Help Desk (ext. 5800). However, it is every computer user's responsibility to run and regularly update appropriate virus detection software.

Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is a category of information linked to a specific individual that would allow a person who does not have personal knowledge or the relevant circumstance, to identify the individual with reasonable certainty. 

It is the policy of Kalamazoo College to protect the privacy of PII that is within its control. Federal and state information privacy laws require Kalamazoo College to protect certain elements of PII, often because of the sensitivity of the data and / or its potential for misuse for fraudulent activities or other forms of identity theft. These laws may require Kalamazoo College to self-report to the state or federal government and / or provide notice to the affected individuals if the security of certain PII is breached. 

Examples of PII

Examples of Protected PII that may require legal notification of breach

• Social Security numbers 
• Credit card numbers 
• Financial account information
• Driver’s license numbers 

Examples of Other Legally Protected PII that is considered Sensitive/Confidential 

• Student Education Records 
• Grades, Transcripts, Schedules 
• Banking and personal financial information related to student financial aid that does not include account information (e.g. credit scores) 
• Employee records (e.g. human resources) 

Examples of Other Forms of PII with the potential for misuse 

• Date of Birth 
• User credentials (username and password)
• Partially redacted PII (e.g., last 4 digits of SSN) 
• Colleague ID numbers 

All electronic files that contain Protected PII will reside within a protected Kalamazoo College information system location. Protected PII is not to be downloaded or copied to any device or system.

PII will also not be sent through any form of insecure electronic communication e.g. E-mail or instant messaging systems. Significant security risks emerge when PII is transferred from a secure location to a less secure location or is disposed of improperly.

All physical files that contain Protected PII will reside within a locked file cabinet or room when not being actively viewed or modified.

When disposing of PII, the physical or electronic file should be shredded or securely deleted. For help with secure deletion please contact the Help Desk. 

Interpretation and Enforcement of Policies

The Chief Information Officer is responsible for interpreting the general computing philosophy and policies of the College and for implementing operational procedures to support the philosophy and policies.

Violations of Computing Policies

The College may take disciplinary and/or legal action against any individual user or Information Provider who violates “K” College computing and network policies.

1. Student Violation Procedures:

a. When a violation of a computing policy occurs, the Chief Information Officer will discuss the allegation with the Dean of Students.
b. The Dean of Students will take the appropriate disciplinary or corrective action. Any violation of computing policies which bears on academic dishonesty or plagiarism will also be forwarded to the Dean of Students.

2. Student Violation Penalties:

a. A violation may result in immediate loss of access to College computing resources.
b. Penalties will be determined by the Dean of Students and Chief Information Officer. Typically, penalties will result in the loss of access to College computing resources for a period of time. Restitution or a promise of future responsibility may also be requested based on the nature of the infraction.
c. Suspensions will be imposed regardless of any computer-related course work the student may have. Hence, students should be aware that a suspension of computing privileges may have serious academic consequences.

3. Staff and Faculty Violation Procedures and Penalties:

a. If a staff or faculty member violates a computing policy, the Chief Information Officer will discuss the allegation with the staff or faculty member and with their department head. Human Resources may be involved if warranted by the nature of the violation.
b. Penalties will be determined by the Provost and the Chief Information Officer.

Modification of Computing Policies

Users who have questions or suggestions about IS policies or procedures should contact the Chief Information Officer.

The Chief Information Officer will consult broadly with the College community, including with the Information Services Advisory Committee.

If an individual disagrees with a College computing policy or with an implementation of that policy, the individual should first discuss the matter with the Chief Information Officer. If the concern is not resolved, the individual may notify the Provost and the Judicial Council. The Provost may then convene an ad hoc committee to gather information, review the concern, and provide recommendations on resolving the situation. The Judicial Council will make the final decision on the matter.

Failure to Comply

IS reserves the right to deny an account or general access to computing resources to anyone who has violated the user agreement or fails to pay any required materials or maintenance fees. The terms and conditions for usage are subject to change as computing resources and user demands vary. This usage policy will be reviewed on a regular basis and users will be notified of any changes by the posting of the current policy on the IS website.

All information stored on the academic computer systems at Kalamazoo College is considered private unless purposely made available to the public by the owner.

Information Services will access private files without the owner's consent under two conditions:

• to fulfill a proper legal request
• if necessary to investigate or resolve a case of suspected system security breaches or policy violations.

 This will be carried out by the Chief Information Officer, or his designated backup.

A specific request for help in solving a system problem is implicit consent to view the files necessary to resolve the problem.

Users should be aware that data files, including system backups, may be subpoenaed in a court case.

In general, any uses of the College's computer facilities which infringe upon another individual’s right to privacy, adversely affect the user community (be it the College or Internet community as a whole), are not allowed under the terms of our software licenses, or are in violation of local, state or federal law, are prohibited. For example:

• Kalamazoo College's computing resources may not be used for any activity which is contradictory to the educational goals or operational policies of the College.
• Kalamazoo College's computing resources may not be used for any activity which violates the College's policies on academic honesty or the College’s Honor Code.
• Kalamazoo College's computing resources may not be used for any activities which intimidate, threaten or harass individuals, or which violate the College's policies concerning relationships between individuals or groups.
• Kalamazoo College's computing resources may not be used by individuals for personal profit-making or commercial purposes, or to personally support a non-profit group or organization unless special arrangements have been made with the Chief Information Officer prior to such use.
• Kalamazoo College's computing resources may not be used for personal political campaign activities nor in support of or against anyone running for any local, state or federal office.
• No person may possess or use computing equipment or programs or engage in activities which violate or hamper another person’s use of computing resources. Prohibited behavior includes but is not limited to:
  • a. using programs that attempt to control terminals, obtain another user’s passwords or acquire another user’s files,
  • b. renaming, deleting, or otherwise manipulating files without proper authorization,
  • c. handling equipment in a manner that may cause physical damage or,
  • d. knowingly distributing computer viruses.
• Unauthorized reading, copying, deletion or modification of someone else’s data or electronic mail, unauthorized use of another person’s password, or distribution of a personal account password is not allowed.
• The sending of obscene or abusive messages, chain letters, mass mailings, viruses or other forms of electronic mayhem is expressly forbidden.
• The tampering with, destruction of, or removal/theft of security devices or codes from any Kalamazoo College computing equipment is illegal and prohibited.
• Users of the Kalamazoo College network may not use peer-to-peer file sharing programs, including, but not limited to, Kazaa, Gnutella, Morpheus, Audiogalaxy Satellite, Win MX, etc. Please also refer to related policies regarding unlawful distribution of copyrighted materials, which is also a violation of the Kalamazoo College Honor Code.

Responsible Use of Sensitive Text or Electronic Material

Kalamazoo College selects resources in a variety of formats to support the educational mission of the College. In addition to these resources, the college provides unfiltered access to the Internet. When using the College's resources or accessing Web sites in public places, students may encounter sensitive materials that have the potential to offend members of our community.

When viewing materials of this nature for academic purposes, please be responsible. To use sensitive materials responsibly entails that it not be used in ways that taunt, ridicule, demean, frighten or in other ways injure others. If someone is using sensitive materials for academic purposes within your viewing or hearing range, you have the right to ask that person(s) to use those materials in a way that will not interfere with your work.

Please contact the Chief Information Officer if you believe that your rights have been violated.

This policy pertains to individual uses of sensitive materials for academic purposes in public places (library, computer labs, etc.). For a more complete description of acceptable and prohibited uses of Kalamazoo College's computer facilities, please see section III of the policy document - General Computing and Network Use Policies.

The College employs students to work with IS as Computing Assistants. Their general role is to provide answers to questions about the use of computer resources and operations. The Computing Assistants are also responsible for the general well-being of computing facilities and are expected to help the IS staff implement computing policies. The Computing Assistants are not tutors and are not expected to help other students write programs or to give substantial help with computer-related homework assignments.

Kalamazoo College Video Use Copyright Policy

As a private, independent, four year Liberal Arts institution that educates individuals to think critically, to act responsibly, and to “be light,” Kalamazoo College recognizes the importance of intellectual property to the creation and dissemination of knowledge. In acknowledgment of its ethical and legal obligations the College strives to comply with copyright laws and licensing agreements in the responsible use of information for teaching, learning and administration of the College. To that end the College has adopted a Video Use Copyright Policy that seeks a balance between the need to easily access and use information for scholarship and the right of the copyright owner to exercise reasonable control over its use.

Films/videos may be shown at a single location on campus as part of the curriculum of a unit-bearing course during regular class time or alternately scheduled class time, or during a college sanctioned teaching session.  Viewing must be limited to those students enrolled in the course or registered to participate in the college sanctioned teaching session; the faculty member teaching the course or leading the college sanctioned teaching session, as well as teaching assistants and/or media services specialists who are supporting the faculty in the showing of the film/video, may also be present.

Possession of a film or video does not confer the right to show the work. The copyright owner specifies, at the time of purchase or rental, the circumstances in which a film or video may be "performed".  For example, videocassettes from a video rental outlet usually bear a label that specifies "Home Use Only".  However, whatever their labeling or licensing, use of these media is permitted in an educational institution so long as certain conditions are met.

Section 110 (1) of the Copyright Act of 1976 specifies that the following is permitted:  Performance or display of a work by instructors or pupils in the course of face-to- face teaching activities of a nonprofit educational institution, in a classroom or similar place devoted to instruction, unless, in the case of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, the performance, or the display of individual images is given by means of a copy that was not lawfully made...and that the person responsible for the performance knew or had reason to believe was not lawfully made.  Additional text of the Copyright Act and portions of the House Report (94-1476) combine to provide the following, more detailed list of conditions [from Virginia M. Helm, “What Educators Should Know About Copyright,” Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation, 1986]:

   1. They must be shown as part of the instructional program.
   2. They must be shown by students, instructors, or guest lecturers.
   3. They must be shown either in a classroom or other school location devoted to instruction such as a studio, workshop, library, gymnasium, or auditorium if it is used for instruction.
   4. They must be shown either in a face-to-face setting or where students and teacher(s) are in the same building or general area.
   5. They must be shown only to students and educators.
   6. They must be shown using a legitimate (that is, not illegally reproduced) copy with the copyright notice included.

Further, the relationship between the film or video and the course must be explicit. Films or videos, even in a "face-to-face" classroom setting, may not be used for entertainment or recreation, whatever the work's intellectual content.  Please note:  compliance of Copyright Law relating to video use goes hand-in-hand with our college policy on academic honesty.

All video screening events open to the greater college community; for departmental and administrative offices; for student organizations; held in a public space; and/or are not part of a specific class or classes require a Movie Copyright Compliance Site License, commonly known as Public Performance Rights (PPR).  PPR are mandated by Federal Copyright Laws and the entire Kalamazoo College Community is obliged to comply with those laws. 

In addition to use in classrooms, videos that are owned by the College may ordinarily be viewed by students, faculty or staff at workstations or in small-group rooms in the Library. These videos may also be viewed at home (e.g., in a dorm room), as long as no more than a few friends are involved.  Larger audiences, such as groups that might assemble in a residence hall living room or lounge, do require explicit permission from the copyright owner, or PPR.  The Library's online catalog bibliographic record includes the note "Public Performance Rights" for videos in our collection that were purchased with PPR or have passed into the public domain. Faculty, staff, and students may show a video outside of the classroom and open the program to the greater Kalamazoo College community if they arrange for purchase of PPR. 

Faculty and staff wishing to pursue the purchase of PPR may contact Media Services at kmedia@kzoo.edu or at campus extension 7138.  Media Services will then make the necessary contact(s) to purchase PPR for the film. The faculty, staff, or department who is requesting PPR will be responsible for the cost involved. PPR costs vary widely from $100-700 depending on how recent, and/or how popular, is the requested video.  Also, under these arrangements it is not permissible to charge any audience member a fee for viewing the video for which public performance rights were obtained.  A minimum of 2 weeks notice is necessary to arrange for purchase of PPR.

Students wishing to pursue the purchase of PPR for Student Organization events should contact The Office of Student Involvement.

Copying videotapes without the copyright owner's permission is illegal. An exception is made for libraries to replace a work that is lost or damaged if another copy cannot be obtained at a fair price [Section 108 of the Copyright Act of 1976].  Licenses may be obtained for copying and off-air recording. Absent a formal agreement, "Guidelines for Off-the-Air Recording of Broadcast Programming for Educational Purposes", an official part of the Copyright Act's legislative history, applies to most off-air recording [from Virginia M. Helm, supra]:

1. Videotaped recordings may be kept for no more than 45 calendar days after the recording date, at which time the tapes must be erased.
2. Videotaped recordings may be shown to students only within the first 10 school days of the 45-day retention period.
3. Off-air recordings must be made only at the request of an individual instructor for instructional purposes, not by staff in anticipation of later requests.
4. The recordings are to be shown to students no more than two times during the 10-day period, and the second time only for necessary instructional reinforcement.
5. The taped recordings may be viewed after the 10-day period only by instructors for evaluation purposes, that is, to determine whether to include the broadcast program in the curriculum in the future.
6. If several instructors request videotaping of the same program, duplicate copies are permitted to meet the need; all copies are subject to the same restrictions as the original recording.
7. The off-air recordings may not be physically or electronically altered or combined with others to form anthologies, but they need not necessarily be used or shown in their entirety.
8. All copies of off-air recordings must include the copyright notice on the broadcast program as recorded.
9. These guidelines apply only to nonprofit educational institutions, which are further expected to establish appropriate control procedures to maintain the integrity of these guidelines.

Certain public broadcasting services (Public Broadcasting Service, Public Television Library, Great Plains National Instructional Television Library, and Agency for Instructional Television) impose similar restrictions but limit use to only the seven-day period following local broadcast [Virginia M. Helm, supra].

The College negotiates for closed-circuit distribution rights, if possible, when purchasing access to satellite broadcasts or obtaining works on videotape. Without explicit permission for closed-circuit distribution, network transmission of a video is not permissible unless "Classroom Use" structures are met.

The following policies apply to both official and personal Web pages unless explicitly stated otherwise within the policy.

A. The Kalamazoo College Web site is an official publication of Kalamazoo College. All text and graphics included on the official pages are copyrighted and should not be reproduced without written permission from an appropriate College official unless it is saved in an area explicitly made available for common use, such as a common images repository.

B. The purpose of the Kalamazoo College Web site is to further the mission of the College by providing information to many constituents electronically. It plays an important role in maintaining the strong reputation the College enjoys. Therefore, the content and structure of official pages must adhere to College guidelines and standards.

C. Content of all pages on the Kalamazoo College Web site must reflect the goals of Kalamazoo College; must comply with the Honor System; must conform to federal and state laws, licenses, contracts, and copyrights, and the policies of Kalamazoo College; must adhere to College standards; and may not be used for commercial purposes.

D. Materials that are owned by others may not be published on Kalamazoo College Web pages without the expressed permission of the owner. Assume that materials published on the Web by others are protected by copyright unless a disclaimer or waiver is expressly stated. Computer software and electronic transmissions of text or imagery are protected under the Copyright Act of 1976. Common violations of this policy include unauthorized use of such things as trademarked images of cartoon characters as well as photographs, artwork, text and data that have been created or owned by others.

E. A signed computer user agreement form must be on file, and web accessibility training must be successfully completed, before a user will be granted access to update web content for a department, committee, organization or auxiliary program.

F. Kalamazoo College reserves the right to unlink, without prior notice to the author, any page that does not conform to the accepted policies and guidelines.

G. Violation of Web site policies may result in revocation of Kalamazoo College Web publishing privileges and disciplinary action by Kalamazoo College or other legal action.

H. Administration of these policies is the responsibility of the Chief Information Officer.

I. If a page has been temporarily suspended for a violation of policies, the author may appeal that decision to the Chief Information Officer.

J. Web sites maintained on non-central College systems, including third party vendor or departmental servers, will be held to the policies and guidelines set forth for centrally based Web sites. The College has the authority to shut down such a site if it violates the pertinent policies and guidelines.

Last Update: March 5, 2019