Official College Electronic Communication (1.4010)

Purpose

The purpose of this procedure is to provide guidelines for students, staff and faculty members, District Board of Trustees members and retirees in the use of Seminole Community College's electronic communications, including e-mail systems, listservs and learning management systems.

Procedure

SCC considers electronic communication, including, but not limited to, College e-mails, listservs, College-hosted sub-Webs, and College-adopted learning management systems (e.g., WebCT or Angel), to be an appropriate mechanism for official communication with SCC students, staff and faculty members, retirees, and the District Board of Trustees.

Electronic Mail or E-Mail

Electronic mail or "e-mail" is considered an official method of communication to and from SCC students, staff and faculty members, the District Board of Trustees and retirees. The College sends official communications via e-mail with the full expectation that these groups of individuals will receive and read these e-mails in a timely fashion.

For Students:

• This procedure ensures that all students enrolled in the credit, vocational credit, adult high school and institutional credit careers have access to this form of communication. It ensures students can be reached through a standardized channel by SCC faculty and staff as needed. Communications sent via the College-provided e-mail system may include notification of SCC information including, but not limited to, admissions, enrollment services, advising, financial aid, etc.
• Official College e-mail accounts will be created automatically by the College within three (3) college business days of the creation of the students' MySCC accounts. A student must remain enrolled in an appropriate class (i.e., if the student fails to pay tuition or is otherwise legitimately dropped from the class, the e-mail account may be removed).
• E-mail accounts will be discontinued if a student is not enrolled for two consecutive full terms.
• Students are expected to read and respond as appropriate to their SCC official e-mail on a frequent and consistent basis. The College recommends checking e-mail daily since certain communication may be time-sensitive.
• SCC offices cannot validate that a communication sent by e-mail is from a student unless it comes from a valid College e-mail address. If students make queries to SCC administrative offices or faculty from "nickname" e-mail accounts (e.g., hotmail.com, cfl.rr.com, etc.), such queries may not be received and/or students may be asked to resubmit such queries using an official SCC e-mail address.
• Students will not be permitted to set automatic forwarding on their SCC e-mail to another non-College e-mail address.

For Staff Members:

• The GroupWise e-mail system is the official channel of communication from SCC to staff members.
• GroupWise accounts must be requested for all staff members (full and part time).
• All staff members are expected to read and respond as appropriate to their SCC official e-mail on a frequent and consistent basis. The College recommends checking e-mail daily since certain communication may be time-sensitive. SCC offices cannot validate that a communication coming by e-mail is from a staff member unless it comes from a valid College e-mail address. If a staff member makes a query to an SCC administrative office, student or faculty member from a "nickname" e-mail account (e.g., cfl.rr.com, hotmail.com, etc.), the query may not be received, and/or he/she may be asked to resubmit the query using an official SCC address.
• When notification of termination of employment for a staff member is received, his/her account will be removed from the system.

For Faculty Members:

• The GroupWise e-mail system is the official channel of communication from SCC to faculty members.
• GroupWise accounts must be requested for all faculty members (full and part time).
• Faculty members are expected to read and respond as appropriate to their SCC official e-mail on a frequent and consistent basis. The College recommends checking e-mail daily since certain communication may be time-sensitive. SCC offices cannot validate that a communication coming by e-mail is from a faculty member unless it comes from a valid College e-mail address. If faculty members make queries to SCC administrative offices, students, or other faculty members from "nickname" e-mail accounts (e.g., cfl.rr.com, hotmail.com, etc.) , such queries may not be received, and/or they may be asked to resubmit such queries using an official SCC address.
• Faculty will determine how electronic forms of communication (e.g., mail) will be used in their classes and will specify their requirements in the course syllabus. This procedure will ensure that all students are able to comply with e-mail-based course requirements specified by faculty. Faculty can, therefore, make the assumption that students' official e-mail accounts are being accessed, and they can use e-mail for their classes accordingly. All SCC class information that is disseminated electronically must be sent through the SCC electronic system (e.g., SCC e-mail, WebCT/Angel, college-hosted faculty sub-Webs, or similar SCC-adopted programs),
• When notification of termination of faculty employment is received, accounts are removed from the system.

For Members of the District Board of Trustees:

• The GroupWise e-mail system is the official channel of communication for SCC to members of the District Board of Trustees.
• GroupWise accounts must be requested for all Board members.
• Communication sent via SCC e-mail is considered adequate notification of College-related business.
• When a term of service has ended for a Board member, that person's account is removed.

For Retirees:

• The GroupWise e-mail system is the official channel of communication for SCC to college retirees.
• GroupWise accounts must be requested for each retiree who desires access to the system.
• If SCC e-mail is not utilized for a consecutive six-month period of time, the account will be removed from the system.

College-Based Listservs:

Information on a College-based listserv (e.g., Discuss@Listserv) is not considered official college communication. This forum is an "electronic bulletin board" system for SCC employees to communicate with their SCC colleagues who choose to subscribe to the listserv. Although it is not designated as an official college communication, all subscribers to this forum are expected to adhere to basic rules and standards.

• College-based listservs cannot be used for illegal purposes, including, but not limited to, defamation, violation of intellectual property laws, violation of criminal laws and violation of other state or federal laws, rules or regulations.
• Users must adhere to College policies and procedures.
• Users must not intentionally interfere with or disrupt other forum members or network services/equipment.
• Commercial use is prohibited.
• Common courtesy and respect, which excludes personal attacks, must be observed.

College-Adopted Learning Management Systems

College-adopted learning management systems (e.g., WebCT/Angel) provide access to various models of educational content delivery, as well as faculty-to-student, student-to-faculty and student-to-student interaction. As referenced above, all SCC class information that is disseminated electronically must be sent through an SCC officially adopted electronic system, as designated by the Vice President, Information Technology/CIO, information technology resources (e.g., SCC e-mail system and WebCT/Angel or similar SCC-adopted learning management system). Communications in this forum are for appropriate educational purposes, allowable information sharing and suitable community building only. Users must adhere to basic rules and standards set forth in state and federal law, College policies and procedures, College lab/class rules and course/class syllabi.

Inappropriate Use of College Electronic Communications

All use of SCC-provided electronic communication will be consistent with other College policies and local, state, and federal laws, including, but not limited to, SCC's Acceptable Use of College Information Technology Policy, security parameters and the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA).

• A student's failure to comply will subject him/her to the College's disciplinary procedures.
• Failure of an employee to comply will be addressed by the employee's supervisor.
• Failure of others to comply will result in termination of access.

Privacy Expectations of College Electronic Communications:

SCC uses various methods to protect the security of its computer and network resources and its users' accounts. Users should be aware that any electronic communications and data utilizing College or computer and network resources potentially may be disclosed under applicable rules, regulations, and statutes, or for appropriate College business needs. Therefore, users have no expectation of privacy.

Further guidelines governing the use of the College's Computing and Telecommunications Resources are provided in applicable College policies and procedures (e.g., Acceptable Use of College Information Technology, Policy 1.140), acknowledgment agreements of users, and other related technical manuals.

Did you know?

SCC awarded 1,377 A.A. and A.S. degrees in 2005-06 - an all-time high!