Technology Policies

Technology Policies

Please email support@letu.edu with any questions about LeTourneau's Technology Policies

• Applicability
  These policies apply to students, faculty, staff, and any other individuals using LeTourneau University network and computing resources either from one of LeTourneau's campuses, or from any remote location.
   
• Updates
  LetNet policies may be updated from time to time as necessary. Effort will be made to inform users of any significant changes to the policies when they occur. However, the authoritative and in-force copy of the policies at any point in time is the online version located at http://www.letu.edu/administrative/infotech/policies/.
   
• Relation to other policies
  These policies are provided as a supplemental resource to the LeTourneau University Student and Faculty/Staff Handbooks. (The Student Handbook includes the contents of this page in computing guidelines under "Special Policies").
   
  Usage of LetNet resources implies consent and adherence to Federal and State laws as well as the guidelines and policies contained in the LeTourneau University Student Handbook or Faculty/Staff Handbook and other applicable University documentation.
   
• Acceptable Use
  LetNet is provided first and foremost to facilitate academic pursuits.  Other use of the network is permitted so long as it does not interfere with the academic pursuits of others and remains within applicable guidelines and policies.
  
  LetNet provides client network access for students, faculty, and staff of LeTourneau University. In addition, the University makes commonly used services available on centralized server systems.  The presence of server services intended for access outside of LeTourneau's network on computers not authorized to provide such services by LeTourneau University is prohibited. In addition, wireless access points not owned by the University are not permitted to operate on University campuses, regardless of whether or not they are physically connected to LetNet.
    
• Intellectual Property
  The presence of illegal material such as, but not limited to, unlicensed software, audio or video recordings, or other inappropriate and/or clearly illegal material is against LeTourneau University Student and Faculty/Staff Handbook guidelines, against LetNet guidelines, and may be against state or federal copyright laws.
    
• Security, Unauthorized Access, and Denial of Service
  Attempting to circumvent existing security measures or the spirit of such measures on either University-owned equipment or that of a fellow student, faculty, or staff member is prohibited.  Attempting to disrupt service to any computer or computing resource on campus, including ResNet computers is prohibited.  In general, connectivity to other computers should be limited to University servers (for the specific purposes for which they are made available) and to student computers with information sharing points which the user has been explicitly granted permission to access.  Where it is obvious that information is available that another individual did not mean to make publicly available, it is the responsibility of the user making such a discovery to inform the other individual or Information Technology as soon as possible and to avoid using the information in any way.
   
  • Distribution of account information for LetNet or any other University-owned system to anyone other than the intended account holder is prohibited.
  • With the exception of University-owned Terminal and Remote Access servers, remote access to a computer you do not own is prohibited (whether or not such access is authorized by the computer's owner).
    Students are allowed to remote control only computers they legally own which are connected to the LetNet campus network and registered to their username. Remote control of student computers is permitted only to/from wired or wireless student networks (i.e. not from Faculty/Staff or off-campus locations).
    Remote control of Faculty/Staff workstations is not permitted unless authorized for business reasons. Contact Information Technology for more information on remote access to Faculty/Staff resources and best practices.
  • End-user use or distribution of tools which provide packet sniffing, spoofing, port or service scanning or indexing, or other tracing functionality is prohibited on LetNet.
  • The presence of administrative services including but not limited to DNS, DHCP, WINS, RAS, MS Domain, and other administrative services on computers not registered as authorized servers with LeTourneau University is not permitted.
  • Undue use of network resources (usage which is unusually intense and/or disruptive) even when otherwise engaged in acceptable activities is prohibited.
     
• Required Software
  All computer systems accessing LetNet network resources either from a LeTourneau campus or from a remote network must have an approved anti-virus product installed with current definitions. Approved antivirus products can be found by selecting the "Antivirus" link under "Services" on the Information Technology homepage at http://www.letu.edu/administrative/infotech/. Computers without active and current anti-virus software may be disconnected from LetNet services.
   
• Operating Systems
  LetNet clients are permitted to run most operating systems, with the exception of Microsoft Windows Server operating systems. Some operating systems require special programs to emulate Microsoft file sharing features. These systems must be configured to emulate the behavior of Microsoft client operating systems.
   
• Personal Privacy and Messaging Services (E-mail)
  Personalized systems on campus such as e-mail and directory services are designed to facilitate communication between two or more willing participants.
  • The use of LetNet to distribute personal information about another individual without their consent is prohibited.  The distribution through any means of another LetNet user's information (including account name, email address, or other information) without their consent is prohibited.
  • The use of LetNet services such as e-mail to communicate with another individual when they have, verbally or in writing, requested an end to such communication is not permitted.
  • The use of "mass mailings" to address large quantities of LetNet users via e-mail is not permitted.  If someone has not personally provided you with their e-mail address then you are not permitted to include them in a group mailing.  Small group mailings are acceptable so long as all group members have consented to participate in the group.  Individual e-mail based on an educated guess at an address from knowledge of the LetNet standard e-mail addressing conventions is acceptable so long as it is directed to a small number of users you know and subsequent e-mails remain dependent on the continuing consent of the recipients.
  • Information Technology does not under any circumstances provide inclusive lists of student e-mail addresses.  In addition, directory services which provide access to such information are designed to discourage or prevent the retrieval of large quantities of information.  Users are prohibited from attempting to manually assemble such limited information into a broader database of any kind.  As part of our services, Information Technology may distribute official communication on behalf of LeTourneau University via e-mail or other method to all users as necessary to communicate critical or timely information on issues affecting our user community but such opportunities are not provided to any third parties.
      
• ResNet and LetNet Connection Points
  Network jacks on campus consist of two primary groups, ResNet jacks and private LetNet jacks.  The ResNet jacks are intended for student use and are all blue.  These are the jacks that are found in campus residence halls.  Most administrative LetNet jacks on campus will be purple.  Use of a purple or other administrative networking jack (i.e. any jack outside a student residence hall) for a personal computer is prohibited (this includes campus computing labs).  Please contact Information Technology if you feel you have a need for a public jack in a place where one currently does not exist.

  ResNet (blue) jacks are designated for use by only one computer at a time. One network port is allocated per residential student. Users are not allowed to utilize network devices or software (including wireless hubs, access points, VPN or other software solutions, or multi-homed computers used as bridges or routers) to connect more than one computer to a ResNet jack, connect other networks to LetNet, or to otherwise extend the network beyond the LetNet-provided jack.  (The one exception to this policy is if LetNet-owned switches have been provided to students on a loan-basis for rooms where the number of students occupying a room exceeds the number of ports in a room.  In this case, only LetNet-owned switches may be used and the ports on the LetNet-owned switch are treated as ResNet end-jacks).  Only personal computers and registered approved gaming devices are allowed to connect to a ResNet jack.  Printers, non-LetNet hubs/switches, and other computing equipment must not be plugged into a ResNet port or otherwise directly connected to the ResNet Ethernet network.

  Administrative LetNet jacks are also designed for use by one computer at a time and, similar to ResNet jacks, may not be extended as previously described without prior approval.
    
• Naming Convention (ResNet)
  ResNet participants are required to follow the conventions below when setting up a computer to access LetNet from on-campus:  A tutorial providing assistance in making these changes is available online at http://www.letu.edu/administrative/infotech/network/resnet/naming/.
  • Computer Name: This must be your LetNet account name
                                (i.e. the first part of your email address before the "@letu.edu")
    If your LetNet username is longer than the allowable length of the name field (typically 15 characters), use the first 15 letters of your LetNet username.  If you are receiving a conflict with another computer name on the network - please temporarily change the 15th digit to a "2" and call us within the next business day at Ext. 3500 to allow us to resolve the name conflict officially.
  • Some students may have a laptop in addition to their primary computer. Though students may only have one computer connected to their ResNet port at a time, if the student wishes to connect to the approved wireless network, the second computer should use the following naming convention: LetNet account name, followed by the number 2. (Ex. "janesmith2").
  • Workgroup Membership: All student computers are considered part of ResNet (ResNet is the residential segment of LetNet, this includes all student residence hall jacks) and are required to utilize RESNET as their workgroup name and participate as a member client.
  • The Computer Name and Workgroup fields are configurable as follows:
    • Windows 2000/XP and higher Clients: Right-Click on "My Computer," Select the "Properties" option with a left-click, select the "Computer Name" tab, and click the "Change" button.
    • Windows 95, 98, ME, and NT: On the Start menu select Control Panel, then Network, then the "Identification" tab.
  • Macintosh Users: You should follow the conventions above as closely as possible for applicable Mac networking settings.
  • Unix-compatible and other non-Windows/Mac Machines: You must provide a local and/or DNS host name in your TCP/IP services configuration which matches the naming convention detailed in the "Computer name" section above.  In addition, if your DHCP client utilizes a different name than your host (or DNS host) name to register it's lease you must utilize the same naming convention in this field.
  • Operating systems without Workgroup-style grouping are still responsible for configuring all unique machine identifiers (such as host names) to reflect the standard ResNet naming convention.
  • Computer Description: Students are free to creatively use their computer's "Description" field as they wish within normal University guidelines for appropriate use.
  • How to Change Your Computer Description:
    • Windows 2000/XP and higher: Right-Click on "My Computer," Select the "Properties" option with a left-click, select the "Computer Name" tab, and modify the "Computer Description" field.
    • Windows NT: Add the description added manually from the command prompt with the following syntax:   net config server /srvcomment:"description"
    • Windows 95, 98, and ME: On the Start menu select Control Panel, then Network, then the "Identification" tab.
       
• IP Addressing (ResNet)
  All IP addressing in the LetNet ResNet Segment is Dynamically Assigned.  In Windows operating systems - only the option for "DHCP" or "Automatically obtain IP information" should be checked.  All other TCP/IP information including Gateways, DNS/Name Servers, WINS, etc. should be blank.  (If these other fields are not blank these values may not be properly received from our DHCP servers which can potentially cause problems both for you and for other users on the network).  Students utilizing other operating systems such as Apple operating systems or other Unix-style distributions should set their machine settings in correspondence with the previous values where applicable.  Students are not allowed to select static IP addresses for their computers under any circumstances.
    
• Policy Enforcement
  Computers which do not abide by the above policies (always posted here on the LetNet policies page at http://www.letu.edu/administrative/infotech/policies/) as well as relevant policies contained within the LeTourneau University Student Handbook (available from Student Affairs) or Faculty/Staff handbook may be disconnected from LetNet at the earliest possible opportunity without prior notification.  If jack deactivation is necessary in a residence hall, the affected student will need to talk to Student Affairs to have the jack reactivated. For some violations of LetNet policy, both jacks within a residence hall room will be disconnected for a violation by a user of either jack.  For these types of policy issues, neither jack will be reactivated until the user of the jack in question has agreed to abide by LetNet policy.  After consultation with the Office of Student Affairs, Information Technology may reactivate disconnected jacks once the user has provided evidence that the activity leading to the deactivation has been modified to conform to the policies referenced above.  Under certain circumstances, particularly in regards to copyright and security issues, the individual may lose network privileges for an unspecified period of time as determined by the Office of Student Affairs and Information Technology.  Individuals whose ResNet connections have been terminated due to policy violations are prohibited from making attempts to circumvent the disconnection (by utilizing alternate connections in the room or other means) until the policy decision and/or appeals process is complete.  Policy enforcement action is never taken lightly and policy enforcement decisions may be appealed through the standard appeals process outlined for all LetNet users in the Student or Faculty/Staff Handbooks.