Internet has been a revelation to the human beings and ever since its introduction the process of development and growth has increased exponentially and one cannot deny the significant role which information technology played in this growth. As known that everything no matter how good it is, has both pros and cons because nothing in this world is perfect. As in the case of information technology one thing is evident which is, that it has far more advantages than disadvantages and it is one of those inventions which have the potential to increase the growth and development rates of the entire globe (George, 2007). Having said that there are people who use this technology for their evil means, which certainly is one teasing aspect. At the national level most of the states have legislated laws and regulations regarding the use of information technology so as to minimize any unethical and criminal practices there are even courts that punish the ones who are found guilty of cyber crime charges. The increasing rate of cyber crimes made even the organization formulate regulations regarding the usage of information technology because this is something which can sometimes cause irrevocable damage to the business institutions. Following the same lines all the organizations let them belong to any sector (educational institutions, government agencies, non-profit organizations etc) have chalked out IT usage policies in order to save themselves from any sort of damage. In addition to this, these IT usage policies let the users know about their limits and boundaries, so that they could restrain themselves from bypassing them. These IT usage policies are also beneficial for the users in a way that they could save themselves from being a victim of cyber crime.
Question and Answers
Q Are all of the key issues covered by this policy If no, which ones need to be addressed
Answer
Yes, to some extent all the important issues have been addressed in this IT usage policy but there are some points which are needed to be addressed in more detail so as to make the policy a comprehensive one. The precise manner in which this policy will be enforced on the employees of the university is not elaborated in detail which raises many questions. Not defining this can also be damaging if any matter goes into the court because ambiguity can lead to different interpretations so this is a flaw in my opinion. The usage of pirated software and other such programs is one thing which has not been addressed in the policy this information has to be provided to the users so that they could restrain themselves from getting indulged in such illegal activities. Especially the students are to be told about this all because they are the ones who are involved in excessive downloading so they must be aware of the consequences which they might face if such practices are not stopped. Similarly employee monitoring mechanism has not been defined clearly which again is an aspect that leads to ambiguity. The employees should be told what are the dos and donts of the workplace regarding the use of information technology so that they could draw fine lines in between the right and wrong practices. Letting the employees know how are they are being monitored is also important because there are certain privacy concerns of the employees too which are to be addressed by the management and the staff members could only come up with them if they know the stance of the management. Another important aspect which I thought was missing from this IT usage policy was that, people were not told how they can save themselves from becoming the victim of cyber and virtual assaults for instance people must be told what sort of passwords they must choose in order to protect themselves they must be told what other measures they should take so as to keep themselves safe.
Q. Is the statement of enforcement clear and strong If not, how would you reword this section of the policy
Answer
The enforcement policy in my opinion is could have been made clearer and stronger by incorporating some important points in it. For instance the policy states that any breach of rules should be brought up in front of relevant department head or system administrator but the contact information of these personnel is not included in this policy. In addition to this, the policy also states that the decision regarding the action will be taken by the above mentioned officials and then the policy states on which forums the matter can be taken forward one thing which is unclear here is that what actions will be brought to which forums. This is one thing that increases ambiguity because one can interpret that even the smallest of the violations will take him to criminal courts which obviously is not the case, so this point has to be addressed in detail by the management (George, 2007).
Q. How would you ensure that this policy is communicated and understood by the broad group of IT users at the university-students, professors, research people, administrative support staff, contractors, and part-time workers
Answer
There are various ways through which such policies can be communicated to everyone who is to be informed. One way of doing is to email the policy to all the students and concerned people so that they could read it conveniently and thoroughly. In addition to this such policies and rules could be communicated to the people by pasting them on the notice boards and outside the administrative offices, the reason for doing this is that there are various people who do not check their mail boxes regularly, so they can be informed via this mean. Memorandums can be sent to the staff members so that they could be informed about the change in the policy matters the faulty members must also be asked to read the policy in the classrooms so that all the students could get hold of it. As far as the lower staff members are concerned, it is the duty of the respective department heads and other officials to let them know about this these officials must call meetings so as to let them know about the changes that have been made in policy. Not only this, if the employees have any issues regarding such policies then they should be answered in order to eliminate the chances of misinterpretation. All the places where computers are placed must have copies of such policies pasted so that the users can read it out.
Q. Examine the IT usage policy in effect at your school. Write a paragraph identifying its strength and weaknesses.Answer
It must be stated that the policy is a well chalked out one and covers most of the areas which are of great significance. One strength of this policy is that it describes what the basic activities are this is one important aspect which has to be discussed because most of the users do not know that, what are the primary purposes for which they have been provided with these facilities. In addition to this all the audiences have been addressed well in this IT usage policy and that is one thing which is of foremost importance because it has been observed that after violating such policies people come up with lame reasons that they did not know that such rules apply to their category. Clarity is there in the policy which again is mandatory when it comes to formulate such rules, so as to eliminate ambiguity and chances of misinterpretation. Plagiarism is an important aspect when it comes to make IT policies for educational institutions this topic too has been discussed in this policy. One weakness of this policy is that it does not clearly state that who is to be informed if any such violation is observed the name of the person and his contact details are to be provided so that it becomes easier to report. In addition to this enforcement section in my opinion could have been more detailed what specific penalties will be imposed for what kind of violations has to be stated in detail in order to eliminate ambiguity (Carol, 2007).
Question and Answers
Q Are all of the key issues covered by this policy If no, which ones need to be addressed
Answer
Yes, to some extent all the important issues have been addressed in this IT usage policy but there are some points which are needed to be addressed in more detail so as to make the policy a comprehensive one. The precise manner in which this policy will be enforced on the employees of the university is not elaborated in detail which raises many questions. Not defining this can also be damaging if any matter goes into the court because ambiguity can lead to different interpretations so this is a flaw in my opinion. The usage of pirated software and other such programs is one thing which has not been addressed in the policy this information has to be provided to the users so that they could restrain themselves from getting indulged in such illegal activities. Especially the students are to be told about this all because they are the ones who are involved in excessive downloading so they must be aware of the consequences which they might face if such practices are not stopped. Similarly employee monitoring mechanism has not been defined clearly which again is an aspect that leads to ambiguity. The employees should be told what are the dos and donts of the workplace regarding the use of information technology so that they could draw fine lines in between the right and wrong practices. Letting the employees know how are they are being monitored is also important because there are certain privacy concerns of the employees too which are to be addressed by the management and the staff members could only come up with them if they know the stance of the management. Another important aspect which I thought was missing from this IT usage policy was that, people were not told how they can save themselves from becoming the victim of cyber and virtual assaults for instance people must be told what sort of passwords they must choose in order to protect themselves they must be told what other measures they should take so as to keep themselves safe.
Q. Is the statement of enforcement clear and strong If not, how would you reword this section of the policy
Answer
The enforcement policy in my opinion is could have been made clearer and stronger by incorporating some important points in it. For instance the policy states that any breach of rules should be brought up in front of relevant department head or system administrator but the contact information of these personnel is not included in this policy. In addition to this, the policy also states that the decision regarding the action will be taken by the above mentioned officials and then the policy states on which forums the matter can be taken forward one thing which is unclear here is that what actions will be brought to which forums. This is one thing that increases ambiguity because one can interpret that even the smallest of the violations will take him to criminal courts which obviously is not the case, so this point has to be addressed in detail by the management (George, 2007).
Q. How would you ensure that this policy is communicated and understood by the broad group of IT users at the university-students, professors, research people, administrative support staff, contractors, and part-time workers
Answer
There are various ways through which such policies can be communicated to everyone who is to be informed. One way of doing is to email the policy to all the students and concerned people so that they could read it conveniently and thoroughly. In addition to this such policies and rules could be communicated to the people by pasting them on the notice boards and outside the administrative offices, the reason for doing this is that there are various people who do not check their mail boxes regularly, so they can be informed via this mean. Memorandums can be sent to the staff members so that they could be informed about the change in the policy matters the faulty members must also be asked to read the policy in the classrooms so that all the students could get hold of it. As far as the lower staff members are concerned, it is the duty of the respective department heads and other officials to let them know about this these officials must call meetings so as to let them know about the changes that have been made in policy. Not only this, if the employees have any issues regarding such policies then they should be answered in order to eliminate the chances of misinterpretation. All the places where computers are placed must have copies of such policies pasted so that the users can read it out.
Q. Examine the IT usage policy in effect at your school. Write a paragraph identifying its strength and weaknesses.Answer
It must be stated that the policy is a well chalked out one and covers most of the areas which are of great significance. One strength of this policy is that it describes what the basic activities are this is one important aspect which has to be discussed because most of the users do not know that, what are the primary purposes for which they have been provided with these facilities. In addition to this all the audiences have been addressed well in this IT usage policy and that is one thing which is of foremost importance because it has been observed that after violating such policies people come up with lame reasons that they did not know that such rules apply to their category. Clarity is there in the policy which again is mandatory when it comes to formulate such rules, so as to eliminate ambiguity and chances of misinterpretation. Plagiarism is an important aspect when it comes to make IT policies for educational institutions this topic too has been discussed in this policy. One weakness of this policy is that it does not clearly state that who is to be informed if any such violation is observed the name of the person and his contact details are to be provided so that it becomes easier to report. In addition to this enforcement section in my opinion could have been more detailed what specific penalties will be imposed for what kind of violations has to be stated in detail in order to eliminate ambiguity (Carol, 2007).
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