The Ph.D. Program strongly encourages the exchange of ideas and information among all members of its community. The tools of communication can be a means of intellectual, social, cultural, emotional and moral growth, but they also can be a means of harassment and destructiveness. Therefore, we both facilitate the free flow of information as well as encourage civility, adherence to legal strictures, and enforcement of our own policies and standards. Members of the Ph.D. Program are expected to exercise responsibility, respect the rights others, use computing resources ethically, and operate within the bounds of the law and of Antioch's policy and standards.
Although all members of the Ph.D. learning community are encouraged to respect the right of privacy of others, the program can make no assurance of the right of privacy to its students, faculty or staff.
It should be noted that the Ph.D. Program cannot protect individuals against the existence or receipt of material that may be offensive to them except in cases of violation of the law or of the program's standards, and then only where technically feasible. Individuals using electronic communications, particularly the WorldWideWeb, may willingly or unwillingly encounter or receive material that they find offensive. Antioch assumes no responsibility for the content of electronic communication other than those that are officially distributed by the Ph.D. Program faculty and staff. We will, of course, enforce the rules and policies of the Ph.D. Program and Antioch University, whenever the actions of a student or employee violates the rules or policies.
Prohibited Behavior
Behaviors considered to violate program policy with respect to computer systems and use include, but are not limited to, the following:
* Sending harassing, intimidating and/or threatening messages through electronic mail or other means;
* Intentionally intercepting, disclosing or using any electronic communication to which authorized access is not explicitly provided; electronic communication includes mail directed to or from an individual, and those messages intended for public consumption (news groups, bulletin boards, broadcast messages);
* Providing others with access to one's personal computer account(s), or gaining or attempting to gain access to the personal computer accounts, files, or electronic information of others or to accounts, files or systems to which authorized access has not been granted;
* "Hacking" or related behavior attempting to compromise Antioch's computer security;
* Creating or releasing computer viruses or engaging in other destructive or potentially destructive programming activities;
* Disruption of network traffic by recklessly or intentionally overloading the system or otherwise denying or restricting the access of others by transferring music, video, or graphic files not related to the academic work of the program; otherwise interfering with the normal operations of computers, systems or peripherals;
* Modifying, altering or otherwise tampering with systems hardware or software unless explicitly authorized to do so;
* Copying for oneself or distributing to others commercial or other copyrighted software or proprietary data which has not been placed in the public domain by the owner or been distributed as freeware;
* Use of Antioch's computers, systems and/or services to perpetrate fraud, misrepresentation or illegal activity;
* Use of Antioch's computers, systems and/or services for commercial purposes such as advertising, marketing, bartering or otherwise conducting business activities for personal or unauthorized financial gain;
* Any act chargeable as a violation of local, state or federal law, whether or not civil authorities bring charges
(This policy has been modified from the Computer Systems Policy of Fielding Institute, 2000)
Network & Email Procedures
All Ph.D. Program faculty and students are provided with a registered individual FirstClass account. FirstClass is the software to be used for all program communication. Students are expected to check for messages and review relevant public areas as required by the program, ProSeminar, and individual advisor/mentor agreements. The program deems notification or communication that it posts via FirstClass and on the website to students, faculty, and staff to be sufficient notification or communication for both official and informal purposes.
New students are expected to establish their FirstClass connection within the first month of the new academic term. We recognize that occasional interruptions may occur in an individual's accessibility and consider it the individual's responsibility to continue to be informed. Student and faculty access to the program's network and email system is a privilege and not a right. Failure to act in accordance with University and program policies may result in sanctions, including the loss of one's privileges to the system.
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