JCU - Usage Guidelines and Penalties

Usage Guidelines

The University's "Conditions for Use of University Computing and Communication Facilities" which regulate all usage by staff and students are available on the Web and are published in the various Student Handbooks. Hereinafter they are referred to as "These Conditions".

All students have agreed, as a condition of enrolment, to abide by These Conditions. It is strongly urged that all users become familiar with These Conditions, as breaches will be dealt with by suspension of right of access to the Facilities.

These Conditions, among other things, define uses which are permitted and those which are not permitted. Some of These Conditions of specific application to students are:

9.(a) Accounts allocated to students may be used only for purposes related to normal teaching or research activities and only for work related to the School which has allocated the Account or for which that School has given specific approval.

17. Use of University computing and communications facilities for game playing or personal gain is prohibited.

Some of the reasons for These Conditions lie in the limited nature of computing and communications resources and facilities. Disk space and workstations are all clearly finite. Some resources are governed by the allocation of quotas. Disk space and internet access are examples of computing and communications resources governed by quota allocation mechanisms. Any abuse of these facilities will be considered a breach of These Conditions.

5. No University student may authorise or permit any other person, whether a University student or not, to use their Account for any purpose.

Your account codes and passwords are for your personal use and should be treated as private and confidential. Any distribution of these is considered misuse and will result in an immediate withdrawal of account privileges. Should you believe that the security of your account has been compromised you should report it to InfoHelp.

Any form of harassment using electronic means such as email, will be treated as a breach of University policy or of the law, as appropriate, and may result in disciplinary proceedings. In the first instance, it will result in an immediate "show cause" as to why account privileges should not be withdrawn.

Evidence of account misuse must be documented so that action can take place. No penalty will be incurred unless documentary evidence is available to support the case.

Students should consult These Conditions for further details.

Penalties for Breaches of These Conditions

Disciplinary action is logged such that the penalty is escalated for subsequent infringements. The current action for misuse is:

1st infringement: In cases of a serious misdemeanor, account privileges will be withdrawn until the account owner has been interviewed. In all other cases, an email warning will be issued to the account holder notifying that a first infringement has been noted.
2nd infringement: 2 week suspension of account privileges.
3rd infringement: suspension of account privileges for a period not exceeding four weeks by the Director, ITR, who may additionally refer any matter to the Vice-Chancellor for action under the Student Conduct Policy.