Computer Policy

Computer System User Policy

The computer system of the Department of Mathematics is provided to support mathematical instruction and research. In order to ensure that the system is fully available for these purposes, the Department of Mathematics has established the following policy on responsible use of its computer system. Violations of this policy may lead to suspension of the user's account or referral to the appropriate authority for disciplinary action.

University policies and regulations, including the Student Honor Code, and state statutes and rules, including the North Carolina Computer Crimes Act (Article 60 Sections §14-453 to §14-458), cover many potential abuses of the computer system. All violations will be handled by the appropriate authority.

• Security
• Working Environment
• System Resources
• Services and Priorities
• Computer Account Regulations

Security
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Users of the Department of Mathematics computer system should respect the privacy of other users and the integrity of the system.

1. An account on the Department of Mathematics computer system is provided for use by the owner of the account only. Passwords should be protected and should not be shared. Each user is fully responsible for any actions taken using their account and the content of all the files belonging to their account. Each user must take all reasonable precautions, including proper password maintenance and file protection measures, to prevent use of accounts by unauthorized persons.

2. Unauthorized access of, or attempts to access, another user's protected directories, files or mail is prohibited. Removal or transfer of locally installed software without authorization is not allowed.

3. Attempts to obtain unauthorized access to either local or remote computers via the computer network or to obtain privileges or information to which the user is not entitled are prohibited.

Working Environment
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Users of the Department of Mathematics computer system should conduct themselves in a manner that promotes a productive working environment.

1. Users of electronic mail, bulletin boards, and newsgroups should not send messages which would be offensive to the recipient or which intimidate or harass individuals or groups.

2. Forgery (or attempted forgery) of electronic mail messages is prohibited.

3. Users should conduct themselves so as not to disturb others in the computer laboratories. This includes using discretion when using software that plays sounds through the computer's speaker.

4. Users are not allowed to tamper with workstations, printers, the network, or any other equipment, or to intentionally develop or use programs which infiltrate the system and/or damage the software or hardware components of the system.

System Resources
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Users of the Department of Mathematics computer system are expected to restrict their use of limited resources such as disk space, printers, and terminals. Please use the computing facilities responsibly and appropriately, respecting the rights of other users. The Department may impose restrictions or limits on the use of its resources.

1. Large nonmathematical files, such as picture files or games, audio files, should not normally be stored in personal disk space. A user wishing to save such files should consult with the system manager.

2. Always display potential printer output on the screen before printing it. Always check the length of a file before printing it so you are not surprised by the amount of paper used. Be considerate of others who may be waiting on the same printer. Please use the Double Sided Printer for large jobs for your own use. There are special restrictions for the use of the Color Printer .

3. Do not run any large jobs (which run for more than 30 minutes and take up more than 80% CPU) on public machines when not using ``nice'' mode. ``Nice'' mode may be enabled by prefixing ``nice'' to your job execution. ``Unniced'' background jobs may be killed at any time by the system manager.

4. Use of the system for purposes other than mathematical instruction and research is not permitted if it interferes in any way with these activities. In particular, anyone using a public machine for recreational or other nonmathematical purposes should release the machine when requested to do so by a user who needs it for a mathematical purpose.

5. The chairman and/or the system manager reserve the right to ask a user for reimbursement when excessive amount of system resources is used for nonmathematical purposes.

Services and Priorities
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This section will clarify the services provided by the Systems Support Staff and deliniate a rough scheme of the priorities of this support. In no particular order, the Support Staff seeks to provide the following services :

• Workstation Setup and Installation
• Network Support
• Hardware Support
• Software Installation and Support
• Printer Support
• Server Services : Backups, Disk Space Allocation, Mail, Web, DNS, etc.
• General User Requests and Questions
• LIMITED HOME SUPPORT : As time permits, we will Unofficially assist department members with the support of their home computers as needed for departmental/research use. All work must be done ON-SITE (in the Mathematics Building) and will strictly be as time permits.

• Urgent Problem (Immediate response required)
  • Network/Server Problem : Including but not limited to network equipment, file server, mail, logins, and web access.
  • Critical Applications Problem : Unavailablility or unusability of critical applications such as latex, maple, mathematica, netscape, etc.
  • Machine Failure : Dead or non-working personal office machine
• Normal Priority (Sorted on the basis of severity and number of users affected, response as soon as possible)
  • Restoration of Critial Files : Recovery of files from backup tapes
  • Printer Problems : Toner replacements, paper jams, queue jams
  • Software Instalation : New software, updates, small bug fixes
  • HowTo : Personal user requests regard how to complete a task
• Low Priority (As Time Permits)
  • Informational Requests : General Infomation Requests In general, fixing a problem that will help MANY people will take precedence over a service that will assist a single person, and problems that inhibit the continuation of one's work take precedence over annoyances and problems with viable work-arounds or personal requests for new software installations.

Computer Account Regulations
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Computer accounts on the Mathematics computer network are available to anyone with a legitimate connection to the Mathematics Department. To open an account, you need to contact the system administrators and fill out an account application form.

Accounts for faculty, staff, post-doc and graduate students will be closed six months after they have left the department; unless an extension request is granted by the system staff and the chairman.

Accounts for undergraduate majors will be closed two weeks after graduation with no extension.

Class accounts for undergraduate students will be deleted immediately after final exams for that semester.

For those who only need accounts for a limited time while visiting the department, accounts will be enabled upon their arrival with advance notice and disabled upon departure.

All other accounts, including accounts for collaborators, post-docs and graduate students, must be renewed on a yearly basis. Otherwise the account will be disabled and eventually be deleted.

All accounts for people who are not physically present in the department will be disabled automatically if there has been no login access for six months. The account will be deleted in another six months. A request must be made to enable the account.

An automated system will send account closing notices to users one month in advance and again just before any action is taken. Closed accounts can be restored, deleted account can't. A user can request a CD with all their files to be made before the closing date for a $5 fee.