Introduction
As a student at the Dammam Community College (DCC), you will have many opportunities to become competent in the use of information technology. If you are set on a career in Accounting, Marketing or Computer & Information Technology , you will already be aware of the importance of computing to your success.
The DCC IT can help you be more productive as a student: to register for classes, to send messages to your teachers and friends, to browse the Internet for collecting useful information and to conduct the general business of student life. The College makes information technology available to you in many and varied ways:

• The DCC web page is an electronic, campus-wide information system that contains information to help you register for classes, add/drop courses and keep up with campus events, and more.

• You can publish and exchange information on the Internet by using newsgroups and the World Wide Web.

• PC’s are available for general use at locations across campus.

• Students can download class notes and materials.

• Classrooms are equipped with video and data outlets for network access.

• A dial-in service is available to faculty and staff who live off-campus.  

Who Owns What?

 You do NOT own your computer account, but you do have exclusive access to this account. The College owns the account and gives you, and only you, the privilege of using it.
We use the possessive word "your" a lot, but this does not always mean "ownership." In some cases, it means "exclusive use."

You may own a personal computer or workstation. You will make the decisions about how that equipment will be used, unless it is connected to the campus network. The College owns the network and there are policies that may affect the way you configure your PC.

You may own a software license. Your license usually allows you to possess ONE copy of this software for your own use. It is a violation of your software license agreement to make copies of the software you purchase without permission. You should read and abide by your software license agreement. You also may NOT make a copy of software a friend has purchased.

You own any electronic messages you receive and any electronic files you create. You must not let anyone else use your access code and password to see your files.

The College owns the central computers, departmental computer labs, the general-purpose PC labs, the computers it places on its employees' desks and all the software it has installed on them. The College determines who may use these resources and how they may use them.

The College owns the College network - The College determines who is authorized to use its network. This means that students living on campus who connect their PCs to the campus network may NOT run their computers as multi-user machines, giving others login access to the network.

The Internet Community

What is the Internet?
The Internet isn't a thing; it isn't an entity; it isn't an organization.... no one owns it; no one runs it. It is simply everyone's computers, connected...a world controlled by no one...like a newspaper without editors - or rather, with millions of editors.

What does all this have to do with you and computer competence?
The College extends to students the privilege of using its computers and networks to exchange messages with your friends and teachers on campus, your friends at other schools, even your parents. You can share in the exchange of ideas through electronic news groups on thousands of subjects, reading what others post, and posting your own thoughts and information. You can use web browsers and other Internet tools to search and find needed information and to publish information about yourself.

And we call THIS a community?
Yes! We must make it a community. On any venture to a frontier that you might join, you would need to follow a code of behavior that would enable you to survive in the wilderness.

The College extends the privileges of the Internet to its faculty, students and staff, with the stipulation that they be good citizens. You may have heard the term "network" used to mean getting to know people and providing support to others who need it. Think of the Internet as this kind of network - an emerging community - something you want to get into, rather than on to. The Internet has its own stern code - responsibility and rational self-government. Those who are responsible users of the College's computing resources are members of a community of scholars; those who are not responsible don't get in.

How Can I Be a Good Internet Citizen?
You must be able to choose for yourself to do what is right and not to do what is wrong.

KNOW what it means to be responsible. You must be trustworthy.

BE AWARE of the thousands of others who rely on the College's computers to do their work. Consider how your computer behavior will affect them and choose what you know is right.

UNDERSTAND that College policies that address academic dishonesty, including theft, plagiarism, disruptive conduct, and misuse of materials and property, must guide your computing activities, just as they guide your activities in the classroom or elsewhere on campus.

DON'T send electronic messages to people you don't know or who don't need to get your message. This is a nuisance.

DON'T use College computing resources to send chain mail. This is a waste of computing resources and a nuisance. It offends members of the community.

DON'T let other students, relatives or any other person gain access to the College's computing resources through the access code given to you. This corrupts the integrity of computing resources by destroying accountability.

DON'T use access codes that belong to someone else.

DON'T play games. You are not authorized to use your account to play games.

UNDERSTAND what you are authorized to do. Know what the College's purpose is in making these computing resources available to you.

DON'T MISUNDERSTAND. Your access to computing resources is a privilege, not a right. It is a privilege that the College extends to students who are trusted to make responsible use of computing resources.


The E-Mail Etiquette
You can expect that e-mail messages you exchange in doing your job are confidential because the College does not monitor student use of e-mail. You should be aware, however, that e-mail messages are written records that could be subject to review with just cause.
 
College policies prohibit certain kinds of e-mail messages. Policies prohibit harassment, campaigning and soliciting, for instance. Chain mail is an irresponsible use of resources and, therefore, a violation of policy. These policies pertain to e-mail just as they do to any other College resource and are enforced when brought to the attention of the administration.
 
In spite of policy, e-mail messages are vulnerable to hackers when they know the owner's password.

• Remember, the e-mail messages you send become the possession of the receiver. They can easily be re-distributed by recipients.

• Delete messages that should not be preserved.

• Resist the temptation to send chain mail, even when it promises you fame and fortune.

• Realize that College policy and good passwords provide good but not complete assurance of the privacy of your e-mail messages. When the confidentiality of a message is of the utmost importance, only a person-to-person conversation may be sufficiently secure.

• Don't use College computing resources for campaigning or soliciting.
  

Misuse of Computing Facilities
The Internet community is under siege from outlaws. Very often the outlaws are newcomers to the Internet, not yet aware of its tradition of rational self-government. For fun, out of meanness, seeking notoriety or because they fall into bad company, some people attack computing systems. They:

• steal other people's passwords;

• disrupt computer systems and networks;

• send forged electronic messages;

• post messages that vilify and threaten other people;

• invade the privacy of others.

Students who do these things at DCC will lose computing privileges and be subject to suspension or expulsion from the College.

A user should choose a password that combines letters, numbers and special characters. Whether you use your access code and password, or not, it is your responsibility to keep them secure. Do not let anyone talk you into "sharing". Don't write down your password. Don't tell your friends - or anyone - what your password is.

Hackers make the system stop working or perform poorly. You should realize that it is not a sign of genius to find out how to be disruptive.

Many students and teachers do not want others seeing their messages or coursework or research. On computers, you can control who can see your files by protection codes. Use these codes as you would use locks to keep your files private.  


Misuse of E-mail  

• Students are expected to be courteous and respectful in their e-mail communications in accordance with established codes of ethics and the common rules that have evolved regarding e-mail, sometimes referred to as Netiquette.

• Students must not send chain letters or “spam”. These types of messages are an irresponsible waste of computing resources and an inconsiderate nuisance.

• Students must not send offensive, demeaning, insulting or intimidating e-mail messages, or anything that harasses or disparages others. Sending such messages can result in disciplinary action.

• Students must not violate copyright laws, trademark laws, or other laws in sending e-mail messages, publishing web pages or posting to newsgroups and discussion lists.

• Students may use the College’s institutional mail lists only with appropriate authorization.
  

Approved Disciplinary Sanctions for Abuse of IT Privileges

Dammam Community College provides state-of-the-art facilities in information and communication technologies. In addition to advanced computers deployed in academic buildings, the provision of e-mail and Internet access to students is intended to promote knowledge and skills. Students are expected to ensure high ethical standards in utilizing these services with genuine commitment to practices that commensurate with the values of the Islamic society, and the excellence desired by this College. To promote the optimum use of these educational resources and to benefit from the services provided, it is essential to outline policies and procedures with appropriate disciplinary actions in the event of violations.

A student who violates these policies will be subject to disciplinary action by the DCC IT Disciplinary Action Committee and/or the Student Affairs Committee, which may include loss of computing privileges, suspension and/or expulsion.

The disciplinary actions listed below will be the general framework used for handling all violations and will be reviewed annually to ensure better compliance.

Approved Penalties 

Remarks:  

(1) In case of repeated violation by the student after being warned, more severe punishment will follow including stopping access to all computing resources and possible recommendation to the Student Affairs Committee to suspend the student from the DCC for a specified period.  

(2) DCC IT will have formed a monitoring cell to ensure the proper use of the computer, network and IT facilities.  The cell will be charged with continuous follow-up to detect and report violations, and proactively prevent the circulation and proliferation of prohibited material using DCC IT resources.