College I.T. Policies

The College recognises the need for students to have access to the Internet and related technologies such as the World Wide Web and electronic mail. However, the use of these technologies also brings with it responsibilities on both the user and the provider.

All registered network users will be provided with access to the Internet through the college network. Staff and students may use this link for education purposes only and within the guidelines given below. The usage will be monitored by the College and action will be taken again individuals found to be breaching the guidelines.

Guidelines

1. Users may access the Internet from all open access computer systems at any time during the day for educational purposes only.
2. Users may not use the Internet for:
   • The creation or transmission (other than for properly supervised and lawful research purposes) of any offensive, obscene or indecent images, data or other material, or any data capable of being resolved into obscene or indecent images or material.
   • The creation or transmission of material which is designed or likely to cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
   • The creation or transmission of defamatory material.
   • The transmission of material that infringes the copyright of another person
   • The transmission of unsolicited commercial or advertising material either to other organisations, or to organisations connected to other networks, deliberate unauthorised access to facilities or services accessible via the College network.
3. Users must not eat or drink near any of the computer systems used within the college.
4. Users must not connect any device to a computer system without permission from the IT Support department.
5. Any items connected to a computer are done so entirely at the owners risk and the cost of any damage caused by use of such devices will be recovered from the student.

In order to provide a safe and secure environment for staff and students to use the college IT facilities, all users are required to provide a password when they log onto the services provided by the college network. 

All new users to the college will be prompted to change their initial password on first login to something unique to them. Your unique password must meet the following conditions: 

• Be at least 10 characters in length. 
• Contain lower case letters, upper case letters and numbers. 

We recommend that you do not use obvious or common passwords. Many simple or compromised passwords are blocked by our system. Combine multiple words or phrases you find easy to remember to create a long, secure password, avoid family names, birthdays, pets, etc. 

Keep Your Password Safe 

Staff and students must not: 

• Allow others access to their password or user account 
• Use the combination for college user ID and password on any other system 
• Write down or record their password 

If a password is entered incorrectly in quick succession, then the account will be temporarily locked. You will need to visit or contact IT Support to unlock your account. If a user suspects that their password has been compromised, then they should change it immediately and inform the College IT Support staff. The college has no restrictions on use of password management systems. However, you may not install additional password managers on college-managed computers. 

Multi-Factor Authentication 

To further secure college systems you will be asked to set up multi-factor authentication after choosing your unique password. This will require you to type in a code sent to your phone or to set up an authentication app.