Computing Policies

UCit Policy

The use of technology resources at the University of Cincinnati are governed by the U.C. General Policy on the Use of Information Technology.

"As an institution of higher learning, the University both uses information technology and supplies it to the members of the university community. This policy sets forth the general rights and responsibilities common to all uses of information technology, from the simple standalone PC to the complex systems that create virtual classrooms, workplaces and recreational facilities in the University."

The complete policy can be found at UCit Policies

CEAS College Computing Policy

The use of the College of Engineering and Applied Science (CEAS) computing resources are further governed by the following policy:

Introduction

The following policy applies to computing resources managed and controlled by the CEAS Office of College Computing that are for the general use of CEAS students, faculty and staff and CEAS courses. These policies do NOT apply to departmental computers, computers in individual laboratories or offices, and/or central computing.

Access and Use Rules

College Computing computers exist for the benefit of CEAS students and courses. The following access policies are oriented towards maximizing the benefit of these resources for students while maintaining the need for security. These policies apply equally to faculty, staff, and students. Under all circumstances, the consultant on duty is the arbiter and enforcer of these rules.

  • Do not save data to local drives on the OCC lab’s workstations.  Data saved to the local computer will not follow you from machine to machine. Only data saved in your "My Documents" or "Desktop" is stored on our network storage and backed up. All other data stored on the local machine and NOT in one of those 2 locations will be lost.
  • No food or drink without lid is permitted at any time in any computer room.
  • Smoking is not permitted in any computer room.
  • No activities which might result in destruction or harm to any equipment or personnel in a computer room will be permitted.
  • No activities which cause annoyance or disturbance of other users will be permitted. In particular, playing computerized games is prohibited.
  • CEAS computer users shall be permitted access to all college computers according to established hours of operation.  Lab hours are posted outside of the lab doors, in addition to the OCC website.  Exceptions to this may be caused by scheduled downtime for backups and other administrative tasks.
  • Students may not use Teaching Labs for open lab use while classes are in session.
  • Only one computer per user may be used at any given time.
  • Where computers are in heavy demand, a "sign-up" system can be imposed on users to provide fair access to all users. Notice of invocation of a sign-up procedure will be posted outside of the lab requiring the procedure. Users shall be able to sign up for not more than two consecutive hours in a computing lab.
  • OCC is not responsible for any loss of items in the computer labs.  It is recommended that students do not leave items in the computer labs unattended.

Printing

  • Students are provided printing quotas at the beginning of each semester in order to utilize the printers located in the computer labs and the College Computing Office.  These quotas are tied to each student’s user account.  Under no exception will additional printing copies be granted to students to exceed the established printing quotas.
  • Printing quotas are not transferable from one student account to another.
  • Printing is intended for academic and instructional purposes only.  It is a service provided so that students may print their academic work.  It is not provided for printing personal materials, book materials, student organization materials, flyers, etc.
  • The plotter printer is for use only if faculty require students to produce color plots for scheduled CEAS class projects.  See Process

Simulations / Extended Use

  • Execution of programs that will require more than 2 hours of continuous computer time cannot be run in a college lab without prior approval of the Office of College Computing.
  • No unattended use of systems will be permitted during the week days. If a system is left unattended during the week days, the execution of any program may be interrupted by another user waiting to use a computer.
  • A Simulation Authorization Sheet must be completed and approved prior to the use of labs machines to run a simulation.  

Game Playing Policy

  • Playing computerized games in College Computing Labs is prohibited.
  • Any student using CEAS instructional computing systems to play computer games will be warned by faculty or lab consultants that their computer account will be disabled if they continue to use these resources to play computer games.

Report of Policy Violations

  • Violations to these policies are covered under the Student Code of Conduct, section C.3.h, Nonacademic Misconduct - Failure to comply or identify.
  • Misconduct shall be reported to the director of the OUJA, per section C.1 of the Student Code of Conduct.