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Haverford College
Administrative Computing

Policies for Administrative Computer Use

This document has been created to formally state the policies regarding responsible and authorized use of computers in administrative departments at the College. These guidelines serve as an addendum to the Acceptable Use of Information Technology Resources Policy.

Summary:



  • Equipment is intended for staff use only.
  • A desktop computer has been provided in your work area to enable you to perform the duties as required by your department. Each machine is a College resource, expensive to maintain. As such, it may not be used by anyone other than departmental personnel. Use of this equipment by children of staff must be under the close supervision of their parent; installation of software for use by children of staff as well as any modification of the system by children of staff is strictly prohibited. Back to Top


  • Your administrative account is for personal use only. Passwords may not be shared.
  • Separate user accounts with unique passwords have been created for all staff members and departmental student accounts, as needed. Under no circumstances should you share your password with anyone else or allow any other individual to access your own account. To ensure security of the administrative database, passwords must be changed every four months. You should choose a password that other people will be unable to guess. Back to Top


  • Other people's accounts and the files contained within them are their own private space and property.
  • You should not try to log into anyone else's account or read their electronic mail. A person's files are his or her own personal property, whether they reside on a floppy disk, a hard drive, or a server. Just because the person may have left his or her files where others can access them does not mean that others are welcome to open and read them. Do not copy other people's files and present them as your own. Back to Top


  • Administrative Computing approves the purchase of and will install all hardware and peripherals for departmental computers.
  • In order to monitor and maintain all of the administrative equipment efficiently, Administrative Computing must be consulted for all hardware and related peripheral purchases. The installation of all hardware and peripherals will be performed by someone from the Administrative Computing staff who will, in turn, ensure that the equipment is functioning properly, connected to the network and covered under the administrative maintenance plan. Tampering with a college machine may damage it or nullify its warranty. Back to Top


  • Administrative Computing approves the purchase of and will install all software for departmental computers.
  • Administrative Computing must be consulted when selecting and purchasing software applications. All software will be installed by the Administrative Computing staff. Normally, only College-supported software applications may be used on departmental computers. However, there are times when non-supported packages are required by your department. In these cases, Administrative Computing must be consulted prior to purchasing the software and when the software has been delivered and is ready for installation. Back to Top


  • Unapproved software is not to be installed or downloaded onto departmental machines.
  • Unapproved software, purchased for your own use and not required in your daily work activities, may not be installed or downloaded onto college machines. Often these packages interfere with the processing speed of a computer and can create conflicts with other work-related applications, requiring your support staff to waste valuable time diagnosing and fixing the problem. Student workers in administrative offices must not be permitted to install or download programs/games from the Web onto College equipment nor should they be permitted to modify the system in any way while working for the College. Back to Top


  • It is illegal to use copyrighted software unless you have purchased a copy.
  • Your software purchase buys you a single license for the program; it doesn't entitle you to share copies with friends, family, or other staff members. Also, you may not copy software from the Computing Center unless you find it in the folder marked "Public Software" on the Academic Computing Server. If you are unsure whether a piece of software can be copied freely or whether it is copyrighted, please ask the Computing Center staff. Back to Top


  • It is illegal to make unauthorized copies or to share copies of copyrighted audio and video materials.
  • Current technology easily allows your computer to duplicate and distribute copyrighted video images, audio recordings and other digital materials. Using popular and freely distributed file sharing programs such as KaZaA, Gnutella (Morpheus, LimeWire, Gnucleus, Bearshare), Aimster, iMesh, and many other programs to download copyrighted music and video material, in almost every case, places you in violation of College policy and US law. Sharing or distributing copies of copyrighted audio and video recordings is also a violation of College policy and US law. Back to Top


  • You are responsible to help curb the spread of viruses.
  • Unfortunately, viruses are a fact of life wherever there are computers. Your virus software is configured to update its anti-virus definitions automatically. Do not disable it! On rare occasions, Administrative Computing may distribute updates to be installed immediately, circumventing the auto-update feature. In this case, the responsibility rests with you to make sure that you perform the virus update on your own system. Back to Top