The VITE Computer Laboratory provides a reasonable level of access to resources within its Laboratory. Users are expected to use computing resources in a responsible and efficient manner. The Institute also wants to encourage users to use the facilities to explore and learn above and beyond what they are offered in their brief computer sessions with lecturers. In order to meet these goals, the Institute has set the following rules for users of its Laboratories.


1. Access to VITE's computing resources is a privilege granted to staff and students enrolled at VITE only. The Institute reserves the right to limit, restrict, or extend these privileges.

2. Use of the computing resources must not violate, or be used to violate Institute policies and rules. Example:

• Students must not be in the Computer Laboratory during official college activities, eg. meal-times, classes, bed-times, sports, etc.
• Software provided for course work in the Laboratory is strictly for personal academic use in connection with classes; do not make copies of any software or use it for any other purpose.
• Copying software to or from the system is not allowed.
• Personally-owned software may not be used unless advance permission is obtained from the Laboratory Manager.

3. Users shall use Laboratory facilities only for activities related to class work between the hours of 7:30 am and 5:00 pm, Monday to Friday. Other times may be negotiated with the Laboratory Manager. Non-class-related activities include (but not limited to): playing games, playing music.

4. (i) Laboratory file storage space is to be used for class work only. Any non-academic files may be stored only temporarily, and must be removed within 48 hours. Users may not attempt to store music files in the Laboratory file storage space, as these take up unnecessary storage space, and slows down the entire system. Users may not store obscene files in the file storage space. This includes both text and picture files.
(ii) In order to free storage space on the server, the system administrator will clean up and remove all files from the public server at the last weekend of each month.

5. User of the computers in the VITE Computer Laboratory are issued with an account name and password from the Computer Laboratory Manger. The owner of an account is responsible for any and all actions which take place on that account. Therefore, users shall not give their password to others, or allow others to use their assigned accounts. Users shall not use the accounts assigned to others, even with that person's permission. Users shall not attempt to obtain the passwords of other accounts.

6. Users shall not send electronic mail or post network news messages which are obscene, abusive , threatening, or harassing.

7. Users shall not attempt to crash or otherwise interfere with the normal operation of machines. This includes things such as writing software that will crash them or use up all the system resources.

8. Users shall not attempt to circumvent software systems for logging use of the machines.

9. Users should be aware that for purposes of providing a reasonable level of access to the resources, it may be necessary at times for system administrators to access the files in a user's assigned account. This access will only be allowed in cases where either a system problem has occurred and the administrator needs to examine certain files in order to fix the problem, or there is reasonable suspicion of a violation of this policy. In the latter case, the system administrator must obtain approval from the Section Head or his/her designate before examining the files, except in circumstances of emergency. Because of the the possibility of a system administrator accessing files, users are encouraged to compress and encrypt (in that order) any sensitive information that they wish to keep online.

10. Periodic maintenance is required to keep the Laboratory functioning smoothly. It may be necessary to conduct such maintenance during lab hours, so you may be asked to logout and leave the Laboratory. Please cooperate so that the Laboratory operation may be restored as soon as possible.

11. Common sense dictates that Laboratory users:

• Not consume food or drink in the Computer Laboratory;
• Refrain from smoking in the Computer Laboratory;
• Treat the equipment with respect and use it in a responsible manner;
• Leave all equipment and supplies in the Computer Laboratory;
• Report any malfunctioning equipment to the Laboratory Manager;
• Print only single copies of documents. (Multiple copies should be made with a photocopier.)

Violations of this policy should be brought to the attention of one of the VITE administrators, or the Laboratory Manager.

Users who violate this policy should expect suspension of computing privileges and, depending on the severity of the violation, referral to the Laboratory Manager, Section Head, or the VITE Disciplinary Committee.


Laboratory Manager.