Harper Information Procedure

Disclaimer

Recognizing the value of diversity and free speech, Harper College makes WWW resources available to all segments of the Harper College community but does not review, edit or endorse all items accessible from these pages.

The Marketing Services Department at Harper College is responsible for the design and maintenance of the College's Web site. However, Marketing Services is not responsible for the completeness, accuracy, or timeliness of information provided by other divisions, departments, or individuals.

WWW home pages are not official statements of Harper College, and the College is not responsible for the content of every page that you can reach from this site. Every effort will be made to ensure the accuracy and consistency of materials published on the College Web site.

Opinions expressed in personal or non-departmental home pages are solely the responsibility of the author.

Domain Name

The College's domain name is www.harpercollege.edu.

Acceptable Use for Harper College Information Technology

I. Philosophy:
Harper College provides technology resources, software, and facilities to further the College's mission. Access and use of facilities is a privilege and must be treated as such by all users. Acceptable use is based on common sense, common decency, and civility. Users are subject to guidelines set in this Acceptable Use Policy.

II. Risk and Responsibility: E-Mail, Internet Resources, and Electronic Files
A. Security
Harper College utilizes best practices and industry standards to protect data and filter materials transmitted or received via the College. Harper College does not assume liability for offensive material that any user may encounter, such as material that is illegal, defamatory, obscene, inaccurate, or controversial.

Users are responsible for all activities originating from their account(s), including all information sent from, intentionally requested, solicited, or viewed from their account(s) and publicly accessible information placed on a computer using their account(s). In addition, users are responsible for logging off applications and computers to prevent unauthorized access.

In addition, users are responsible for refraining from sharing Personally Identifiable Information (PII) or other sensitive data while using collaboration tool applications, including but not limited to chat, email, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and/or video conferencing applications.

Sensitive data disclosed to the public could be considered a violation of Federal and State laws, including but not limited to Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Payment Card Industry (PCI), Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA).

B. Privacy
Users are strictly prohibited from accessing files and information other than their own, those intended for the user, and those for which the user has permission from authorized College personnel to access.

The College reserves the right to access its systems, including current and archival files of users' accounts; if that access would be imperative to conducting College business; if there is strong evidence of improper usage; or strong evidence of impropriety. Electronic files can be inspected under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (IFOIA). Any inspection of electronic files, and any action based upon such review, will be governed by all applicable federal and state laws and College policies.

C. Education and Training
All users are responsible for using the facilities and all forms of technology resources ethically and legally. Users are expected to follow equipment and lab usage guidelines and, when necessary, receive training in using these resources and accept responsibility for their work. In addition, users are responsible for learning and adequately using the features of securing and/or sharing access to data.

D. Personal Use
As a result of agreements Harper College has with technology providers, users may be offered technology for personal use. If users take advantage of these offers, any agreement, conditions, or terms of use are between the user and the outside technology provider. Information resource providers outside the College may, in turn, impose additional conditions of appropriate use, which the user is responsible for observing when using those resources.

III. Unacceptable Uses:
It is the joint responsibility of all users to help avoid unacceptable uses such as but not limited to:

Using the resources for any purpose, which violates federal laws, state laws, or College policies.
Using the resources for commercial purposes.
Misrepresenting the user's identity or affiliation in the use of information technology resources.
Creating, sending, storing, or soliciting patently harassing, intimidating, abusive, or offensive material to or about others.
Intercepting, disrupting, or altering electronic communications.
Using another person's account, user ID, name, or password.
Sharing individual user accounts and resources with another person or another organization.
Attempting to exceed, evade, or change assigned specifications or limitations of an account without the approval of appropriate College personnel. Impeding the use of systems by others.
Attempting to corrupt the system.
Reproducing, copying, downloading, or distributing copyrighted materials without authorization.

IV. Consequences:
Abuse of these guidelines will result in possible legal action and/or official campus disciplinary procedures. Incidents involving unacceptable uses will be handled through existing processes.

V. Generative AI Guidelines
As part of Harper College's commitment to the ethical and responsible use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, this policy establishes the principles and guidelines governing their use. The goal is to ensure that generative AI tools are employed ethically, maintain data integrity, and are compliant with Harper College’s Information Security Policies along with all relevant laws and regulations. Generative AI refers to a category of artificial intelligence that creates new content, such as text, images, audio, or code, based on patterns learned from existing data. Violations of this policy may result in restricted access to the College's technical environment, data, or other appropriate disciplinary action.

Objective
The purpose of this policy is to ensure the proper use of generative AI tools by Harper users. This is to uphold the commitment to the professional integrity of Harper College.

Scope
All Harper users who use College-owned or personal-owned devices to access the College's technological environment and data must adhere to this policy. A 'Harper user' includes any individual authorized to access Harper College's technology environment and data, including faculty, staff, students, contractors, student workers, parents and other community members. The Policy covers all generative AI, which refers to systems trained on datasets to produce various types of content such as text, images, videos, sounds, or other work products in response to prompts.

Policy
All Harper user technology usages are subject to Harper’s Acceptable Use Policy. When utilizing a generative AI tool, Harper users are expected to uphold high standards of professionalism and discretion. These guidelines provide some examples of permitted or prohibited use of generative AI tools. Harper College reserves the right to access and monitor AI content shared, including but not limited to messages, prompts, and files. This Policy will continuously be reviewed and updated in accordance with ongoing changes in generative AI technology.

Departmental purchases of generative AI tools must be approved using the Technology Purchase Request process.

Harper User Responsibility
I. AI-generated content may contain damaging information that is:

Inaccurate
Unethical
Misleading
Discriminatory
Fabricated
Copyrighted
Malicious

Harper users are accountable for their actions, including protecting confidential data and creating content. Harper users are the authors of AI-generated content and are responsible for it. Before distributing the AI-generated content, Harper users must review the AI-generated content and rectify any biased, inaccurate, harmful, or inappropriate elements.

II. Generative AI has enabled cybercriminals to produce highly developed phishing emails, malware attacks, and deep fakes - images or recordings convincingly manipulated to falsely portray someone saying or doing something without their consent. Harper users should report any suspicious messages or content to Harper Information Security.

III. Harper users are responsible for the usage of data and how it is utilized by the generative AI tool. This includes all data entered and retrieved from AI tools.

IV. Harper users are responsible for ensuring the appropriate use of generative AI tools within Harper College. They must report policy violations to Harper Information Security.

Appropriate Use
Appropriate generative AI tool usage, examples of which are described below. This list is not intended to be exhaustive but rather to provide illustrative examples to guide your use of generative AI tools.

Use should be limited to college related functions.
Obtain explicit consent from all parties before utilizing AI tools to create content, where applicable or legally required.
If applicable, Harper users must utilize multi-factor authentication (MFA) protocol.
Harper users may use public information as defined in the Harper Data Classification Policy & Procedure and the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Inappropriate Use
Harper users should not distribute material that is inaccurate, misleading, fabricated, malicious, unethical, discriminatory, or copyrighted. Users of Harper systems shall not disclose information about students or employees in violation of Harper College policies or laws that protect the confidentiality of such information.

Inappropriate generative AI tool usage is prohibited, examples of which are described below. This list is not intended to be exhaustive but rather to provide some illustrative examples to guide use of generative AI tools.

Input any Confidential or Restricted Information as defined in the Harper Data Classification Policy & Procedure.
Usage that violates Harper Information Security Policies.
Any use that violates compliance requirements such as HIPAA, SOPPA, ISSRA, FERPA, and PCI.
Using generative AI tools for personal monetary gain on Harper devices.
Passing off AI-generated content as original work violates professional integrity.
Using system access credentials, keys, or tokens (for Harper’s systems or those of any third party) as prompts into generative AI tools.