Center for Engineering Computing
Charter Policy Statement
The Center for Engineering Computing (CEC) provides computing facilities and services to students, faculty, and staff of the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) at Washington University in St. Louis (WU) for the purposes of engineering education.
Policies
· CEC is for educational computing only.
Funded research and commercial activities of any kind are prohibited. CEC does not guarantee the availability of resources not specifically requested by course instructors for purposes of instructional computing support.
· Users are responsible for activities initiated from their accounts
Do not share your CEC password
· 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. By controlling the access permissions on stored data, account holders can make some data available for access to other users. Additionally, CEC can set up groups and temporary group accounts to allow users to share information in a more convenient fashion. Users are also reminded that Washington University’s Undergraduate Student Academic Integrity Policy (http://www.wustl.edu/policies/undergraduate-academic-integrity.html) applies to the electronic medium in every relevant respect.
· Tampering with hardware or software is prohibited.
Users shall not tamper with, open, or remove CEC hardware without prior authorization from the Director of CEC. 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 CEC equipment or software to tamper with or break into other computer systems.
· CEC account auditing and monitoring
CEC staff shall not monitor individual student activities nor access student files without authorization from the Director of CEC. CEC system auditing tools may be used to determine resource usage, trace data‑integrity anomalies, and identify system abuse. CEC 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 shall be authorized by the Director of the CEC.
· Piracy of copyrighted material is prohibited.
CEC equipment cannot be used to copy any copyrighted material for personal use. Violators will have their accounts revoked and may be subject to School, civil, and/or criminal penalties.
· User Violations
Depending on the degree and the potential consequences, instances of abuse of CEC policies are handled by notifying the user and one or more of the following: the Director of CEC, the Dean of the School of Engineering and 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 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 CEC Director has the right to limit any activity.
The Director of CEC has the right to limit any activity that he or she deems detrimental to the efficient operation of CEC. This includes revoking user access to CEC. Users may appeal any decision to the Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
Accounts
CEC 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 - Full accounts are available for Washington University School of Engineering and Applied Science enrolled students (full- and part-time), faculty, and staff.
Faculty and staff employed by any division of the School and involved in a School academic activity which requires the use of CEC facilities may be issued a Full account. CEC is not intended to be a faculty and staff "home system". Individual departments are expected to supply their employees with permanent accounts. Accounts will be deactivated when CEC facilities are no longer needed for a School academic activity which requires the use of CEC facilities.
For students that graduate, accounts will be deactivated one year from their date of graduation. For students that leave the School without graduating, accounts will be deactivated six months from the last day of the final semester in which the student was enrolled in the School.
Temporary – Temporary accounts are available for a variety of purposes and are deactivated no later than one month into the semester following the semester they were activated. Temporary accounts may be extended – if coursework from the previous semester is incomplete or if a non-engineering student takes an engineering course in the next semester. To extend a temporary account, please notify the Help Center before the end of the first semester.
Temporary accounts may be issued to:
§ Students not enrolled in the School but taking at least one School course which requires the use of CEC facilities.
§ Part-time students who are taking one engineering course only* (if student is in the engineering school, ask if they will be enrolled in a course after the current semester. If they are, assign a full account.
Grader – Grader accounts are available to course graders for engineering course work. Only one grader account per each course section may be issued. Accounts are deactivated after one year of inactivity or after the course is no longer offered by the school.
Group – Group accounts are available for engineering teams or groups involved in course projects which requires the use of CEC facilities. These accounts are deactivated no later than one month into the semester following the semester they were activated. Temporary accounts may be extended – if coursework from the previous semester is incomplete. To extend a temporary account, please notify the Help Center before the end of the first semester.