Blog Assignment #4 - Network Operations

Our educational system does offer a shared storage are for faculty. It is housed on a shared drive that is accessable through our web portal, based on your defined role as either a student/facutly/staff/mixed/etc. The documents we can store and share on this network are limited, along with the access individual members have to those files.
The idea of the shared files/folders would be beneficial if we could have better and easier access to the drives, which apparently can't be accessed by many of the users connected to the system.
In it's current state, I don't find the drives beneficial, and in fact find them cumbersome and wasteful when we are 'encouraged' to use them to share our information.

I am certain I had to sign an AUP when I agreed to teach for LCCC, but I'm also certain that I didn't pay much attention to it at the time. I suppose I glanced over it and agreed to the terms without thinking about the conditions too much. As far as enforcement, I have never heard of situations where email accounts or internet acceess have been restricted or repealed, but I assume the college has the right to do so in cases of violations of the policy.

As far as the college email account, I have to admit I never check it. What we have done is joined a Yahoo group, and we communicate via the group discussion posts and boards. We have found this to be a much more effective and versatile form of communication than the email package the college has adopted. I think I have actually gotten notices about my account being full and not checking my inbox, but my supervisor has also been sending my emails to either the Yahoo group or my email account at my full-time job at Wilkes University.

The most important thing I have learned from reading this chapter is to be able to understand and appreciate the perspective of the IT professional. I used to think it was ridiculous to have to have regulations about email and internet usage, thinking it was just common sense that everyone would inherently know how to use these systems responsibly. The problems occur when individuals misuse their access or priviledges, and what the educational system would have to go through to keep them from doing this. I supposed everyone does not have either the integrity or professionalism to know what they should not be using their email or internet for, and clearly these types of policies are designed to spell out what may happen if you misuse these systems.
What I would be interested in hearing are how these policies are reinforced by your various school districts, and exactly what consequences are enacted for those who are found in violation of their Accepted Use Policies. At my previous job, one of our faculty members was 'caught' downloading pornagraphic materials, using his university email system and address, to his university computer. He actually downloaded a screensaver to his pc that displayed images of naked individuals, and was showing them to his co-workers, which is one of the reasons why he was 'caught.' Not to mention that his monitor could be seen by several members of his department, including the chair, if they simply walked by his office door. Needless to say, he was fired from the university, and I understand he wasn't sure of the reason(s) why!
As I said earlier, I suppose not everyone knows the difference between what you should and shouldn't be doing with your email and your internet access.