HC Computer and Network Use Policies

In conjunction with administrators, the Information Technology department has established the following policies for computer, Internet and email usage. For more information on IT resources, go to the IT helpdesk page on myHesston.

HC Computer and Network Use Policies

Hesston College provides network accounts to all current students and employees of Hesston College. A network account provides access to the local area networks, cloud services from Google and Microsoft, a personal ‘home’ network drive (H:), web portal access for myHesston and Moodle (learning management), and access to the wider Internet.

Students at Hesston College have several options for computer and software access across campus including computer labs, classrooms and the library. Computers on campus offer a variety of software including: MS Office, Adobe Creative Suite, Internet/Email access, and more. Wireless Network/Internet access is available in all buildings.

As the Hesston College network is considered to be an extension of the Hesston College Community, conduct should be consistent with the rules and expectations laid out by the Campus Community Standards. In addition, conduct on the Internet must conform to any rules or policies encountered while on 3rd party networks.

The use of the college network implies your acceptance of these policies. Failure to follow these policies can result in the termination of your account and/or the suspension of your Network/Email privileges. If you have any questions regarding these policies, call the IT Help Desk at +1.620.327.8103 or email Helpdesk@Hesston.edu.

  1. As a Hesston College user, you are assigned a personal HC network account, which includes integrated accounts for Moodle (our learning management site), G Suite (formerly Google Apps - providing access to email, calendaring, cloud storage, etc.), and Microsoft Office 365 (online Office, local office for installation on personal devices, cloud storage, etc.). You are expected to check your email account on a regular basis, as it is the primary college communication channel and you may receive information that will need to be read in a timely manner.

  2. You may not allow anyone else to use your HC account or know your password. Do not write down your password. You will be held accountable for all activity or mail sent from your account. You may not use someone else's account, even if you have their permission. When you leave a campus computer, you must log off first—even if you plan to return shortly. Remember to treat email/Moodle sessions on public/campus computers with caution, as others can still possibly access your session unless you explicitly log out.

  3. Hesston College IT department purchases, supports, and manages all college owned computing devices. Personal device (computers, mobile, etc.) configuration required for accessing Hesston College network resources is provided online and by our HC IT Help Desk at no cost.

  4. Hesston College lab computers are configured to erase any local data upon logoff. This is employed so that all users experience a fresh session, no matter what machine they log in on. However, this also means that any documents saved on the hard drive of a lab computer will be erased when the user logs off. Any documents that the user has created/edited must be saved on their network drive, emailed, or copied to a USB device if they are to be retained. This is applicable to all computer labs on campus, except the Friesen Center Mac lab.

  5. The use of misleading, defamatory, abusive, obscene, profane, threatening, racially or sexually offensive, or illegal material is strictly prohibited as per the Campus Community Standards. This includes accessing areas on the Internet containing any of the above through a college-provided internet connection. Keep in mind that all traffic is logged locally by HC IT and by remote service providers.

  6. Never falsify email--this type of forgery can result in serious criminal penalties and disciplinary action. All messages must correctly identify the sender. In addition, the subject line is important and should always be used to summarize the content of your message. Emails with blank subject lines are often blocked by Spam filters. Emails with vague or generic subject lines are often blocked or ignored by recipients.

  7. Be respectful of other users. Do not send rude, offensive or harassing Emails. If someone asks you to stop sending them Email, you must comply. “For Sale” and commercial or third party businesses promotions and advertisements are not allowed in email. Keep in mind that large email attachments are taxing for the network infrastructure and consume your G Suite storage limits. The Google email system does not allow attachments bigger than 25MB (you’re required to attach and share a Google Drive file). Messages sent to multiple recipients should not have attachments exceeding 1MB, as this impacts delivery and storage for destination users and is inconsiderate.

  8. Copyrighted material may not be sent or received by email or any of the Internet protocols unless you have written permission from the copyright holder. This includes but is not limited to sending or receiving pirated software and/or copyrighted music/video that you have not purchased. Please see the Hesston College Policy Regarding Network Distribution of Copyrighted Material for more detail.

  9. "Server" and "Peer-to-Peer" type programs (such as LimeWire, Torrents, FTP servers, Web servers, etc.) are expressly prohibited. The Hesston College IT Dept. implements measures to block, monitor, report, and limit access to these programs in order to insure network integrity.

  10. "Hacking" into other computers (accessing services/resources without permission), whether college servers, other student computers, or computers on the Internet will not be tolerated and will be grounds for account suspension/termination and legal/disciplinary action up to and including expulsion and criminal/civil penalties. If you do encounter a security vulnerability on a college server, you are expected to inform the Hesston College IT Dept. as to the nature and severity of the problem.

  11. “Cloud” services (Dropbox, OneDrive, Box, Evernote, etc.) are not supported by HC IT. Students are free to use such services, keeping in mind the student is responsible for data use, security, backups, etc. Employees may use such third-party services for personal use only. Supported alternative file storage and transfer systems include your network home drive (H:), Google and Microsoft drives (included in your HC G Suite and Office 365 accounts), flash drives and other removable media.

  12. Google Drive (integrated with your G Suite account) is available for cloud-based storage to enable file access both on and off campus. Keep in mind it may have performance implications for large files, and is not backed up directly by Hesston College IT.

  13. As a Hesston College user, you have access to a personal network storage space, accessible from any campus machine. This is known as your ‘H-drive’. Your H-drive is only accessible by you, and is useful for storing private college-related material. Keep in mind that this H-drive has a 500 MB storage limitation and is not accessible from your home computer, or any other that is not connected to the campus network, unless you request assistance from the HC IT Helpdesk in configuring access. Please be aware of this when you plan time away from campus.

  14. Computer storage can and will break, sometimes beyond reasonable repair or recovery. The Hesston College network drives/servers are redundant, backed up regularly, and are recoverable from multiple physical locations in case of an emergency. There are no precautions or backups in place to restore any data that might be lost on an individual computer. If professional (ie: 3rd party) data recovery is required, the user will be expected to pay any resulting expenses.

  15. The Google spam filter actively works to intercept “junk” and malicious email before it reaches your inbox. While the filter catches an overwhelming majority of these messages, occasionally an unwanted email will slip through to your inbox. It is important to remember that the Hesston College IT Dept. will never ask for your account information in an email. Any message that requests your username and/or password is a scam. Also, any email from the IT department will always be identified as the ‘Hesston College IT’ department, along with the name of whoever is in contact with you. General administrative terms and a lack of specifics are indications of spam. Spam messages like this can be deleted.

  16. Any attachments (especially .zip files, .exe files, or faxes) should be treated with caution, as scammers often try and pose as generic departments in an attempt to have you initialize a virus. If in doubt, call and confirm the legitimacy of the email before opening any suspicious attachments. If you have opened a suspicious attachment, be it on a college or personal device, inform HC IT Help Desk immediately.

  17. With many mobile devices serving as email and scheduling tools, users may want to use their personal cell phones/tablets to receive Hesston College email, calendar notifications, and other data. You are encouraged to reference online help material provided by HC IT (at IT.Hesston.edu) to assist in device configuration, but support is available through the HC IT Help Desk should it be needed.

  18. Printer Policy. There is a charge for printing to college printers: $.05 per sheet for black and white and $.25 for color. All personal printing is charged directly to your personal account through PaperCut.

Hesston College Dormitory Computer Connectivity Policies

The Hesston College Computer and Network Usage Policies apply to all Hesston College student network accounts (e.g. Hesston College e-mail, network sign on, Internet, etc.), regardless of where the account is accessed from. Computer connectivity from the Hesston College dormitory is an extension of the Hesston College network, thus all conduct from the dormitory must be consistent with Campus Community Standards, the Hesston College Campus Computer Usage Policies, and these Hesston College Dormitory Computer Connectivity Policies.

  1. Unauthorized activity:

Immediately report any questionable activity, whether from, to or through a computer in a Hesston College dormitory, to Information Technology at ext. 8103. Any dormitory connection suspected in gaining unauthorized access to other student computers, campus computer systems or Internet computer systems, or violating any relevant policies is subject to being disconnected at the discretion of Information Technology and disciplinary action by Student Development.

  1. Viruses and spyware:

It is required that you have anti-virus software for your Windows computer and keep it up to date. If you suspect your device may be infected, you are required to attempt to address the issue, and may request assistance from the HC IT Help Desk (at an hourly fee.)

  1. Personal WiFi:

Personal Wi-Fi “Hot-Spots” (either through a cell phone or a similar mobile device, or for WiFi-enabled Printers) are not necessary and are discouraged from use on the Hesston College campus as they can cause interference with campus wireless services. If you would like assistance with connecting to the campus networks or configuring your wireless printer, please contact the HC IT Help Desk.

  1. Electrical:

The campus dormitory electrical outlets are not protected from electrical spikes or brown outs. You may want to consider protecting your computer system (i.e. all components connected to it by cables, phone lines and network cables) from electrical spikes such as lightning strikes, by using surge suppression or UPS hardware.

Policy review

These Hesston College Policies will be reviewed every three years at a minimum, as part of the Student Development policy review process conducted by the Student Development Department Policy Review Committee in collaboration with Information Technology.