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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:
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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.
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You can publish and exchange information on the
Internet by using newsgroups and the World Wide
Web.
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PC’s are available for general use at locations
across campus.
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Students can download class notes and materials.
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Classrooms are equipped with video and data
outlets for network access.
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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.
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Remember, the e-mail messages you send become
the possession of the receiver. They can easily
be re-distributed by recipients.
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Delete messages that should not be preserved.
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Resist the temptation to send chain mail, even
when it promises you fame and fortune.
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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.
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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:
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steal other people's passwords;
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disrupt computer systems and networks;
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send forged electronic messages;
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post messages that vilify and threaten other
people;
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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
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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.
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Students must not send chain letters or “spam”.
These types of messages are an irresponsible
waste of computing resources and an
inconsiderate nuisance.
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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.
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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.
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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
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Violations |
Penalties |
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1. Access to internet sites
contravene ethical values (pornographic
sites)
1.1 Repeated entry into pornographic
sites to obtain pictures or films and
dissemination of such material through
the DCC either via e-mail or placed on
the shared/public files. |
(1) Discontinue
computer ID for computing facilities or
Internet services of the College for at
least one month and not more than one
semester.
(2) Written
undertaking not to commit such offence
in the future. DCC IT will take a
written undertaking and a copy of the
undertaking will be kept in the
student's file in Student Affairs.
(13) The publication
of the violation in DCC News without
mentioning names.
(4) Based on the
extent of violation the possibility of
transferring the case to the Student
Affairs Committee, that will identify
his accountability or transfer the case
to competent bodies outside the DCC. |
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2. Violation of the rights and
privacy of others (personal or moral)
2.1 Inappropriately acquires user
accounts and passwords of others.
2.2 Sends electronic messages that can
be generalized as false propaganda,
harm, demean, threaten others or incite
others to do so.
2.3 Circulation and transmission of
articles containing materials not
commensurate with the values of the
Kingdom or the DCC.
2.4 To use DCC computing facilities for
promotions or advertising, or
business.
2.5 Violations of copyright and
intellectual property, and abuse of
trademarks. |
(1) Discontinue
computer ID for computing facilities or
Internet services of the DCC for at
least one month and not more than one
semester.
(2) Written
undertaking not to commit such offence
in the future. DCC IT will take a
written undertaking and a copy of the
undertaking will be kept in the
student's file in Student Affairs.
(13) The publication
of the violation in DCC News without
mentioning names.
(4) Based on the
extent of violation the possibility of
transferring the case to the Student
Affairs Committee that will identify his
accountability or transfer the case to
competent bodies outside the DCC.
Note that the
violations of intellectual property
rights, including copyright, are
governed by a special law. |
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3. Theft of computer equipment and
accessories
3.1 Theft devices, equipment and
accessories from computing facilities,
or participating in, or inciting such
activity, or hiding equipment. |
(1) When a student
abuses computing resources, all of his
computing privileges will be suspended
immediately to protect the computing
resources and to assure reliable service
to the rest of the community. This will
continue until the issuance of the
recommendations of the Student Affairs
Committee.
(2) Based on the
extent of violation the possibility of
transferring the case to the Student
Affairs Committee that will identify his
accountability or transfer the case to
competent bodies outside the DCC. |
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4. Destroy computer systems,
devices and networks, or degrade the
efficiency of their performance
4.1 Deliberate damage or tampering
with the devices, equipment and
accessories installed in computing
facilities.
4.2 Deliberately sending destructive
computer Viruses/Trojans/Worms to
systems, networks and devices.
4.3 Deliberate influence on the
performance of computers and networks of
the DCC or affect the speed or decrease
the efficiency of transport loads across
the networks. |
(1) Discontinue computer ID for
computing facilities or Internet
services of the DCC for at least one
semester and not more than one academic
year.
(2) Written undertaking not to commit
such offence in the future. DCC IT will
take a written undertaking and a copy of
the undertaking will be kept in the
student's file in Student Affairs.
(13) The publication of the violation in
DCC News without mentioning names.
(4) Based on the extent of violation the
possibility of transferring the case to
the Student Affairs Committee that will
identify his accountability or transfer
the case to competent bodies outside the
DCC. |
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5. Violations affecting the
national integrity of the DCC
community
5.1 Design and publish Web pages,
including links to sites or materials or
information inconsistent with the proper
use of the network, DCC regulations and
values of higher education.
5.2 Participation or hosting or
supervision of sites or forums affecting
the national integrity of the DCC
community.
5.3 Disseminating wrong or inaccurate
or distorted information about the DCC
through the use of DCC computer network. |
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.
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