Computer Usage Policy - Department of Computer Science & Engineering

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Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis

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Computer Usage Policy

Computing Services in Computer Science & Engineering

Computer Science has computers for faculty, staff, and students. These computers are available for teaching, research, and classwork.

Access to Computer Science & Engineering Department (CSE) computers are granted to any CSE faculty, staff person who is employed in the CSE department and centers, students taking CSE courses, and guests via faculty approval. Each account will have a unique username.

Availability

CSE systems will be available 24 hours per day. CSE Lab systems are limited to fall, spring and summer semesters except on semester breaks, certain holidays, and holiday weekends. Weekly CSE lab availability is detailed in the CSE lab schedule posted on the bulletin boards outside and in the CSE lab doors. Remote access to CSE labs may not be available outside of posted hours. CSE labs are for use by students taking CSE classes. Specific labs may be scheduled for classes. The labs may be unavailable for general use during these classes.

The CSE department will make a best effort to provide service. The staff is making every effort to fix or find alternate solutions to all problems that occur during business hours (8 AM to 5 PM) on weekdays. After-hour problems may not receive staff attention until the beginning of the next business day.

Privileges

A computing account (Unix or Windows) provides the following benefits to the account holder: (1) access to CSE compute servers or lab(s); (2) allocation of on-line disk storage space; (3) printing; (4) allocation of CPU resources; (5) optional modem access. Limits may be assigned to system resources such as CPU time, on-line disk storage, and printing.

Policies

All Computing in CS Must Conform to the Washington University Computer Use Policy, the Washington University Sexual Harassment Policy, the School of Engineering and Applied Science Statement on Student Academic Integrity, and all Other Appropriate Policies!

CSE computers are for educational and research computing.
Electronic mail, news, and conversation services provided for communication between users are intended to convey information related to engineering education and research. In particular, e-mail chain letters and large e-mail distribution lists not related to education or research are not permitted. Incidental personal use that causes resource problems will be taken up with the user's supervisor. The CSE department does not guarantee the availability of resources not specifically requested by course instructors for purposes of instructional computing support.
Users are responsible for all activities initiated from their accounts.
Passwords should not be shared with anyone! Passwords used at WU should not be used outside of WU. It is even better to have different passwords for different departments.
Users are responsible for their data.
The CSE department makes every effort to protect the integrity of user data stored on CSE computers. However, irrecoverable data losses may occur. If you have important data, talk to Computing Technology Services (CTS) about what and when things are backed up, and whether archiving is needed.
Users are responsible to stay informed.
CTS will inform the CSE user community of system and policy changes through a variety of means, including on-line login messages (Message of the Day). It is the users' responsibility to read on-line system messages and electronic mail messages as such information may seriously impact their computing plans.
Users are not entitled to unlimited resources.
A user must not tie up more than a single station or modem; operate excessive numbers of sessions; initiate multiple intensive jobs on shared computers; etc. Large, CPU-intensive jobs should be restricted to late evening and early morning. CTS reserves the right to terminate any unattended computing activity on a CS server or lab system or any computing job tying up excessive quantities of shared resources.
Users are not entitled to execute arbitrary programs.
Program development on CSE computers is restricted to software that is needed for engineering education. The execution of software not provided by CSE is permitted only when the execution of the resulting code is not detrimental or disruptive to system uptime or normal system activities. Users may not provide access to software, which can be used to violate CSE policies. Permanent installation of software (including games) on CS machines without authorization of CTS or CS faculty is prohibited.
People and machines are not entitled to make arbitrary network connections or send arbitrary data to CSE computers.
People and machines are allowed to make connections to designated CSE computers to: deliver mail to CSE users, for CSE users to access their account, review CSE web content; download files that are intended to be shared, collaborate on research. Relaying mail to non CSE users and sending junk mail/spam is prohibited. The size of mail messages is restricted to prevent resource depletion. Port scans, malformed packets, IP spoofing, and sending data that causes denial of service, disruption of service, or the destruction of data is prohibited. CTS may implement a firewall and/or an intrusion detection system to enforce this. Other less common types of connections should be brought up with CTS to evaluate security risks. There will be multiple zones to segregate machines with like risk factors. At one end of the spectrum will be no access from outside the CSE department; at the other end will be servers with wide-open access on specific well-known service ports.
Recreational computing is not permitted unless sufficient system resources are available and currently unused.
Students engaged in recreational computing shall relinquish workstations upon request. Recreational computing programs, such as games and other programs not relating to course work, may be terminated by CTS staff without prior notification. The Director of CTS may impose further restrictions on recreational computing as needed.
Users may not access other users' data without authorization.
Every user is entitled to the privacy of his or her data, including electronic mail messages. Users are also reminded that the School of Engineering & Applied Science Statement on Student Academic Integrity (reproduced inside the front cover of the semester classroom directory) applies to the electronic medium in every relevant respect.
Tampering with hardware or software is prohibited.
Users shall not tamper with, open, or remove CSE hardware. In addition, users shall not tamper with system software, including unauthorized access of system accounts and modification of system software. Finally, users shall not use CSE equipment or software to tamper with or break into other computer systems.
CSE account auditing and monitoring
CTS staff shall not monitor individual account activities nor access the contents of user files without authorization from the individual's supervisor. CTS system-auditing tools may be used to determine resource usage (including file sizes and types), trace data integrity anomalies, and identify system abuse. CTS system-accounting tools do not record or store user data, but do record other information on user sessions and software usage. Under normal situations, all accounts are subject to the same level of auditing. Monitoring of any subset of the user community at an elevated level will require the authorization by the user's supervisor and the Director of CTS. If there is a basis for suspecting unauthorized activity, a reasonable effort will be made to notify the user in advance of elevated monitoring. If the Director of CTS and a faculty member determines that there is a serious and immediate threat to system integrity/security, they may immediately block or begin elevated monitoring to protect the system. The user and their supervisor will be notified as soon as reasonably possible.
User Privacy
Faculty, staff, and students should be aware that user files, email messages, and computer activities are not completely private. In addition to user files and e-mail messages that are stored in a user's home directory, user files, user e-mail message, and system activity logs are backed up and stored on tape for a period of up to one year or more. Therefore, deleting user files and e-mail may not delete all copies. In the event of criminal or legal investigations, CTS may be required to provide copies of this information to the appropriate authorities. In addition, depending on the source or destination, copies of your e-mail may sit on uncontrolled machines and your internet activities may be logged on non-university machines. The university has no control over said information and such information may be used by legal authorities, commercial purposes, and/or criminal activities. Users concerned about privacy should encrypt all files and e-mail messages and be aware of their internet activities.
Software piracy is prohibited.
Users shall not copy copyrighted MATERIALS or licensed CSE software for use on non-CSE machines. These include a user's personal computers, other non-CSE computers located at Washington University, or computers located off-campus. Violators will have their accounts revoked and may be subject to School, civil, and/or criminal penalties. See EDUCOM's Using Software: A Guide To The Ethical and Legal Use of Software.
User Violations
Depending on the degree and the potential consequences, instances of abuse of CSE policies are handled by notifying the user and one or more of the following: the Director of CTS, the chairperson of the Computer Science department, the Dean of the School of Engineering & Applied Science, the Graduate Board, the Undergraduate Board, and the Discipline Committee and the University Judicial Board. If necessary, such instances may result in the suspension of computing service by CTS until the matter is resolved. Users are advised that anyone who tampers with computer equipment, computer software, or computer data may be subject to civil and/or criminal penalties. See Sections 569.093 - 569.099 of Missouri code.
The CTS Director has the right to limit any activity.
The Director of CTS has the right to temporarily limit any activity that he or she deems detrimental to the efficient operation of CSE systems. This includes suspending or revoking user access to CSE machines. Users may appeal any decision to the CSE faculty. Abuse by staff will be brought to the attention of faculty member; abuse by faculty will be brought to the attention of with the CSE chairperson.
Accounts
CTS maintains a variety of account types. All account users are required to abide by this document. Following are descriptions and requirements of each type of account.
Full Accounts
Full accounts are available for CSE faculty, staff, and graduate students. Full- and part-time students enrolled in a CSE class may be issued a full account at the request of a CSE faculty member. For students who graduate, accounts will be deactivated one year after graduation by CTS. For students who leave the department without graduating, their accounts will be deactivated in the next semester by CTS. Class accounts will be disabled one week after finals and enabled with a new password for the meeting of the first class the next semester it is offered.
Modem access is optional. Faculty and staff must make a request to CTS; graduate students must make a request through their advisers.
Guest Accounts
Faculty may request guest accounts through CTS. They are available for a variety of purposes and are deactivated no later than one month after the end of the semester in which they were created. Guest accounts may be extended by request of a faculty member.
Class/Lab Accounts
Class/Lab accounts are available to teachers and teacher aides for instructional purposes involved in School courses. Only one account per each course section will be issued. Accounts are deactivated after the end of the semester. Lab accounts may have a perquisite of a CEC account.

Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis
One Brookings Drive, Box 1045, St. Louis, Missouri 63130
Office Location: Bryan 509, Phone: (314) 935-6160, Fax: (314) 935-7302