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Computer, networking and electronic mail facilities and services are offered by the Office of Information Technology (IT) in support of the teaching and learning, research and public service functions of the College. Access to the computer systems and networks owned and operated by SUNY Optometry is a privilege, not a right, and imposes certain responsibilities for appropriate use, in accordance with College policy. Users should recognize that the primary intention of providing network service is to support the educational mission of the College and the conduct of its daily business.
In general, appropriate use means respecting the rights of other computer users; the integrity of the physical facilities; all pertinent license, copyright and contractual agreements; as well as local, state and federal laws.
Users are expected to use SUNY Optometry computer, electronic mail, and network services in a legal, effective, ethical, responsible and efficient manner, consistent with the instructional, research, public service and administrative goals of the College.
In order to use electronic mail (e-mail) at SUNY Optometry it is necessary to have an e-mail “account” or user code which is unique for each user. This establishes the electronic address for each e-mail user to which electronic mail can be received from other e-mail users on- or off-campus. Each e-mail account is protected from unauthorized access, in part, by requiring the use of a unique password to identify the legitimate user. Users are responsible for protecting the security of their own passwords. Please see the Guidelines for Password Protection for responsible handling of passwords and account information.
Any student, faculty or staff member of SUNY Optometry may request an e-mail account. Request forms are available at the Library Circulation Desk and should be submitted to the Office of Information Technology on the third floor. Adjunct faculty requires the sponsorship of their Department Chair and the approval of the Dean to obtain an account. The primary intention of providing e-mail service is to support the educational mission of the College and the conduct of its daily business. Commercial use is not permitted.
An e-mail account is a privilege, not a right, and the establishment of an account does not grant or guarantee unlimited or unrestricted opportunities to send and receive e-mail. E-Mail cannot be guaranteed at all times and in all circumstances. In particular, there is no guarantee of round-the-clock, seven day a week (24×7) access.
All accounts are created according to the standard format jsmith@sunyopt.edu, where j is the first initial of the first name, and smith is the first seven letters of the last name, for a maximum number of eight letters in the user name. In the case of individuals with common names where this approach might duplicate an existing account name (e.g. jlee), the Postmaster will create unique user account names through the use of letter/number combinations (e.g. j2lee).
This is the standard SUNY Optometry mail format and we regret that we cannot accommodate exceptions.
(Selected individuals who requested non-standard accounts (e.g. js@sunyopt.edu; smith@sunyopt.edu) prior to the establishment of this policy also hold accounts in the standard format. The non-standard format is actually a mail nickname (or alias) of the standard User ID. These individuals are strongly advised to use the standard account format, inform their electronic mail contacts of that address, and phase out use of the mail nickname. Mail “aliases” or nicknames require special handling during software upgrades and are time-consuming to administer. Consequently, IT cannot guarantee the reliability of mail delivery to and from mail aliases indefinitely.)
Our electronic mail system is a finite resource that is intended to facilitate and support our mission as an institution of higher education. Because there are so many individuals who rely on this shared resource, respect for the rights and needs of others is central to this policy.
Users are asked to cultivate habits of responsible use:
Users will refrain from any action which interferes with the system, such as:
It is impossible to ensure the confidentiality of any electronic messages stored or communicated through our computing facilities. As pointed out by other universities, “The privacy of electronic mail is somewhere between that of a letter and a postcard.” Further, although every effort is made to deliver messages as specified by the sender, delivery to on-campus e-mail addresses is not guaranteed, and there can be no assurance that the recipient actually examined a particular message. In these respects, electronic mail is no different from interoffice mail. While confidentiality cannot be ensured, e-mail is not to be read by SUNY Optometry staff or any others with sufficient computer system privileges to do so, except as noted under Postmaster responsibilities for electronic mail.
Some information about personal mail use is not confidential because of the way computer systems operate. Depending on how a person uses e-mail, the following information can be seen by other people:
Moreover, there are no assurances about the handling of e-mail received from or sent to addresses outside the College. Organizations managing e-mail systems elsewhere on the Internet may or may not have similar policies to those described here. Many are known to consider e-mail the property of the organization, subject to examination. Be aware of this possibility when you correspond with those elsewhere on the Internet.
Lastly, realize that a message you send to someone may easily be forwarded to many other individuals, whether or not you had intended it for broad distribution. Consequently, it is recommended that you never put something in an e-mail message that you would feel uncomfortable seeing on a public bulletin board in your department.
The College provides access to selected Usenet (user’s network) newsgroups as a service to the College community. Usenet is a collection of computers from all over the Internet that receive network newsgroup postings and provide entry to those who want to access the information. Newsgroups on the College e-mail server may include such topics as sci.med.vision. Individuals wishing to propose additional newsgroups to be made available through the campus system should send their suggestions to the Postmaster.
Please realize that newsgroup articles are not under the control of the Postmaster or the College, that articles in most cases are authored by outside individuals, and that none of the contents of a newsgroup available through our system is monitored by IT staff in any way.
To use the SUNY College of Optometry public access computers, it is necessary to have an account which is unique for each user. An account provides access to a MS Windows 7 desktop with MS Office, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer, e-mail, plus private storage space on a server (the “H:” drive) where you can keep your documents. You can just walk up to any of the workstations, enter your User ID and password and your files will be available at any workstation, similar to the current handling of electronic mail files.
Each account is protected from unauthorized access, in part, by requiring the use of a unique password to identify the legitimate user. Users are responsible for protecting the security of their own accounts and passwords, and are responsible for all usage on their assigned account. Please see the Guidelines for Password Protection for responsible handling of passwords and account information.
All user accounts are created according to the standard format user1234, with the numbers indicating your unique user account name.
Currently, all public access computers are located in the Kohn Library, and are administered by the Office of Information Technology in consultation with the Library. Although the Library is open for reference and reading use by the general public, public access computers are restricted to use by members of the College community and special guests.
Individuals making use of the public access computer facilities and thin client workstations are expected to attend to the following policy issues:
Users will refrain from engaging in such inappropriate practices as:
Food and drink are prohibited in public access computing areas.
Our network system is a finite resource that is intended to facilitate and support our mission as an institution of higher education. IT reserves the right to limit the amount of file space allotted to each account on the server, or other measures as needed, to ensure system functionality. This may include limits on daily hours of e-mail access. Although efforts will be made to post announcements of changes in advance, such measures may be initiated without prior notice. Emergency situations can and do arise which require that such actions be taken on an immediate basis.
It may be necessary at times for the SUNY Optometry Electronic Mail Postmaster (e-mail: postmaster@sunyopt.edu) to read an electronic mail message that has failed to reach its destination in order to determine, if possible, the intended addressee and redirect the message to the correct address. The Postmaster and IT staff also routinely monitor overall system usage in order to track system problems. This involves the monitoring of overall traffic levels and usage patterns; it does not involve examination of e-mail or other actual content. However, it is not otherwise the practice of the Postmaster and IT Staff to read or to discuss the content of any message, patterns of electronic mail usage, or the content of any files, with the following exceptions:
It may be occasionally necessary for the SUNY Optometry Postmaster or other IT staff to make an account inaccessible. This could be necessary for such reasons as the following:
User accounts of graduating students will be closed in August following Commencement.
Accounts of students withdrawing from the program, or faculty/staff leaving the College, will be closed following completion of the appropriate Separation Form returned to the Student Affairs or Personnel Offices, respectively. Messages sent to closed e-mail accounts will be bounced from the system and returned to sender with an error message.
Violations of this policy may result in the suspension or permanent closing of user accounts, campus disciplinary action, legal action and/or other action.
