IT Policies & Procedures - Shorter University

Employee email

Email services are available for faculty and staff to conduct and communicate University business. Personal email services should not be used when conducting University business. Email services are provided only while a user is employed by Shorter and once a user’s electronic services are terminated, employees may no longer access the contents of their mailboxes. All Shorter business should be conducted using an email account ending in “@shorter.edu”.

Student

Email services are available for students to support learning and for communication by and between Shorter personnel and themselves. The services are provided only while a student is enrolled in the University and once a student’s electronic services are terminated, students may no longer access the contents of their mailboxes. All Shorter communication should be conducted using the Shorter provided email address.

Student email users are advised that electronic data (and communications using the Shorter network for transmission or storage) may be reviewed and/or accessed in accordance with this standard. Shorter has the authority to access and inspect the contents of any Shorter provided equipment, files or email on its electronic systems.

Friends of Shorter

Individuals with special relationships with Shorter, such as alumni or official visitors, who are neither employed nor enrolled at Shorter, are granted limited email privileges, including an email address, commensurate with the nature of their special relationship. Shorter is free to discontinue these privileges at any time.

Prohibited Use

The Shorter email system shall not to be used for the creation or distribution of any disruptive or offensive messages.
Employees who receive any emails with this content from any Shorter employee should report the matter to their supervisor immediately. The supervisor is required to act upon any report of inappropriate email use regardless of the source.

Inappropriate email includes but is not limited to:

  • Sending unsolicited email messages, including the sending of “junk mail” or other advertising material to individuals who did not specifically request such material (email spam).
  • Any form of harassment via email, whether through language, frequency, or size of messages.
  • Unauthorized use, or forging, of email header information.
  • Solicitation of email for any other email address, other than that of the poster’s account, with the intent to harass or to collect replies.
  • Sending chain letters or joke emails from a Shorter email account is prohibited.
  • Virus or other malware warnings will only be sent from the Office of Information Technology.

Third party email services will not be used for the transmission of critical information unless they have been vetted by the Office of Information Technology to meet security compliance standards to the level of protection required by law or regulation.

Critical information includes but is not limited to:

  • Personally Identifiable Information (PII) of another person.
  • Financial account numbers
  • Passwords
  • Information that can have a derogative impact on Shorter, staff, or students of Shorter
  • Internal communications that can have a derogative impact on Shorter operations if sent to someone without a need to know
  • Health related information of a sensitive nature
  • Information deemed: Confidential, Restricted, or Academically sensitive

The Office of Information Technology provides assistance with the setup and breakdown of presentation equipment for meetings, non-classroom presentations or other special events. Presentation equipment includes:

  • Desktop
  • Laptop
  • LCD projector

OIT will only provide limited support to non-Shorter owned presentation equipment. All requests for assistance need to be submitted at least 3 business days prior to the day of the event.  Any requests made the day of the event may not be received in time of the event and therefore may not receive a timely response.  Requests should be made via Shorter University’s helpdesk at help@shorter.edu or 706-233-7400.

The Office of Information Technology will provide staff and full-time faculty with a desktop computer or a laptop.  Costs associated with repairing/replacing equipment damaged as a result of carelessness, neglect or malice will be borne by the user or the user’s department.

Desktops

Desktops provide will include:

  • 1 – desktop computer
  • 1- 17’’ monitor
  • 1 – wired mouse and
  • 1 – wired keyboard

Any additional equipment requested outside of what OIT provides, such as larger monitors, extra monitors, wireless keyboard, etc., will have the cost borne by the requestor’s department. Departments are prohibited from purchasing desktop computer without the consent of OIT.

Desktop computers provided by OIT will be refreshed every 4-5 years as budget permits.

Laptops

Laptops are only provided to staff members if their position requires that they work remotely in order to perform their duties.  Any requests for a laptop for individuals who do not require one to perform their duties remotely will have the cost difference between a desktop and laptop borne by the requestor’s department.  Departments are prohibited from purchasing laptops without the consent of OIT.

Laptops provided by OIT will be refreshed every 4-5 years as budget permits.

The Office of Information Technology maintains a small inventory of equipment for the purposes of checkout.  This equipment is available to Staff, Faculty and student organizations on a first-come, first-serve basis.  Equipment cannot be reserved in advanced and can only be checked out for a maximum of 1 week.

Checkout equipment includes:

  • Laptop
  • LCD Projector

Checkout equipment does not include:

  • Additional surge protector/multi plugs
  • Additional LAN cables
  • Extension cords
  • Computer speakers

All requests for equipment checkout should be made via the Shorter University’s helpdesk at help@shorter.edu or 706-233-7400 and picked up from the OIT offices in the basement of the library.

The Office of Information Technology does not provide support or service to any non-Shorter owned devices with the exception of assisting users with connecting to the Shorter University’s wireless network.  In attempting to connect a user to the wireless network, if the OIT technician determines that there is an issue with the device, then it is the responsibility of the user to seek out support or service for that device.

The Office of Information Technology does not provide University purchased software for use on personal devices.  Any exceptions needs to be presented in writing by the user’s Vice President and is contingent on license availability, device compatibility and use of software.

The Office of Information Technology provides support for classroom, lab and departmental multi-function printers.  Any issues experienced with these devices should be reported to the Shorter University helpdesk at help@shorter.edu or 706-233-7400.   Please do not attempt to resolve the issue by physically manipulating any of the features or movable parts on the printer.

OIT does not provide support for personal or desktop printers outside of the installation of software needed for the operation of the printer.  Any mechanical or software compatibility issues are the responsibility of the user.  Any cost associated with the purchase or repair of these printers will be borne by the user’s department and not OIT.

Purchases

All software purchases should be assessed and approved by the Office of Information Technology to ensure compatibility, perceived functionality and to review licensing agreement.  All software for approval should be submitted to OIT using the Software Purchase Approval form.  Any software purchased without the knowledge or consent of OIT may result in that software being unsupported by OIT.  All software licenses must be filed with OIT.

Software purchased for personal use is prohibited from being installed on Shorter owned devices.  Issues resulting from the installation of personal software will require OIT to administratively lock down the users’ device prohibiting the installation of any software.

Support

University Applications

The Office of Information Technology provides support for the following University applications:

  • Jenzabar EX
  • Microsoft Office
  • Scholar
  • Apple OS
  • Canvas
  • Microsoft Windows

 

Any issues experienced with these applications should be reported to the Shorter University helpdesk at help@shorter.edu or 706-233-7400.

 

Department Applications

The Office of Information Technology provides limited support to the following departmental applications:

  • Powerfaids
  • Adobe Creative Suite
  • Smartboard Software
  • Blackbaud
  • Nurse Squared
  • NetSupport
  • Dante’s

 

Limited support includes:

  • Installation/upgrade of software
  • Basic troubleshooting

Any issues experienced with these applications will need to be submitted by the application owner to the appropriate vendor.

Custom Applications

The Office of Information Technology does not provide support for custom applications or reports.
(i.e., custom Excel worksheets, Access databases, macros, etc.) Support for the application or report is the responsibility of the application/report owner.

The Office of Information Technology will provide basic training for University applications.  Those applications include:

  • Jenzabar EX
  • Scholar
  • Canvas

Additionally, beginner level training is also provided for the following:

  • Microsoft Office
  • SmartBoard software

The Office of Information Technology will not provide training for any custom applications or reports.  Training for these items will need to be performed by the application/report owners/creators.

The Office of Information Technology does not recommend the use of cloud storage and does not provide any support for such services.

The Office of Information Technology will provide Remote Access to Staff members with an exempt status per manager’s approval. Users using a device other than a University issued devices must ensure that the device:

  • Has an up-to-date anti-virus/anti-malware application installed
  • Is free from viruses/malware
  • Is not a publicly accessible device
  • Device is password protected

Failure to comply will result in the removal and denial of Remote Access permissions. Requests should be submitted by the department manager via the Helpdesk at help@shorter.edu or 706-233-7400.

Wireless & Network Access

Alumni

Any Shorter Alumni can request access to the Shorter University wireless network by contacting the Alumni and Development office at 706-291-5341.

University Sponsored Guest

University sponsored guest may request access to the Shorter University wireless network.  Requests must be submitted by the staff or faculty member sponsoring the guests with the following information:

  • Guest name
  • Organization
  • Date of arrival
  • Duration of visit
  • Room

All requests must be submitted at least 3 business days prior to the arrival of the guest via the Helpdesk at help@shorter.edu or 706-233-7400.

Vendor

Shorter University does not provide wireless access to vendors.