Manatee Community College

STUDENT E-MAIL POLICY

(Use of E-mail for Official College Correspondence with Faculty & Students)

Section 1. Policy

Manatee Community College has designated e-mail as an official method of communication with students regarding topics of an academic or administrative nature.  Upon registration, the college will assign an e-mail account to each student and expects students to be responsible for all information sent to them via their college e-mail account.

Section 2. Effective Date

This policy shall become effective upon signature by the President, and shall remain in effect until modified or expressly revoked.

Section 3. Responsibility

The responsibility for implementation of this policy is assigned to the Vice President for Planning and Institutional Effectiveness.  

Section 4. Implementation

A. Assignment of Student E-mail Account

Official Manatee Community College e-mail accounts are assigned to all registered students. Students can access their e-mail accounts via the http://student.mccfl.edu website.  These student e-mail accounts have addresses comprised of the user’s name and the domain @student.mccfl.edu (8 characters maximum).  Users shall use only their designated computer account. Accounts are non-transferable: users shall not use another individual’s ID, password or account. Users should respect the privacy and personal rights of others and not access or copy another user’s e-mail, data or other files.

B. Activation of Student E-mail Account

Student e-mail accounts will be activated automatically by the e-mail server 24 hours after the student registers. Students who do not remain registered after the Add/Drop date of their initial term of attendance will have their accounts removed.

C. Subsequent Use of Student E-mail Account

Following the initial activation, students may access their e-mail accounts via the

Internet at the website: http://student.mccfl.edu. Students must provide their user name and password in order to log on to the MCC Student e-mail server. Manatee Community College students are expected to check their college accounts regularly, as they are responsible for all information sent to them via e-mail, some of which may be time-sensitive.  

D. Prohibited Uses of E-mail

While not an exhaustive list, the following uses of e-mail by individuals or organizations are considered inappropriate and unacceptable at Manatee Community College.  In general, e-mail shall not be used for:

• Engaging in forgery or attempted forgery.
• Accessing or attempting to access files or e-mail messages of others without authorization.
• Attempting to intercept e-mail transmissions without authorization or attempting to breach security measures.

• Violating copyright laws or state and federal statutes (violations of copyright, licenses, personal privacy, or publishing obscene materials or child pornography may result in civil and/or criminal legal actions as well as College disciplinary actions).
• Interfering with the ability of others to conduct college business.
• Sending chain letters or unauthorized mass mailings, or flooding unsolicited information.
• Engaging in commercial or for profit activity not under the auspices of the College.
• Harassing or hate-mail – Any threatening, intimidating or abusive e-mail sent to individuals or organizations that violates College rules and regulations or the Code of Student Conduct;
• Spamming or e-mail bombing attacks – International e-mail transmissions that disrupt normal e-mail service;
• Computer viruses, worms, or other harmful software;
• Junk mail – Unsolicited e-mail that is not related to college business and is sent without a reasonable expectation that the recipient would welcome receiving it;
• False identification – Any actions that defraud another or misrepresent or fail to accurately identify the sender; and
• Soliciting funds or services, selling tickets or distributing petitions or literature for any purpose other than official College business.

Inappropriate use of e-mail or violations of this policy shall be subject to disciplinary actions which may result in suspension or dismissal. The College attempts to insure that e-mail messages are secure and private.  Students should not share their e-mail passwords or e-mail accounts.  College policy allows system administrators to view any files, including e-mail, in the course of troubleshooting or maintaining systems.  The College cannot guarantee that e-mail will be delivered or critical data will be retained on College mail systems.  Ultimately, the e-mail user is responsible for backup copies of essential files.

E. Term of Student E-mail Accounts

College provided e-mail accounts will stay activated for one year after the end of their last full term of attendance. All student e-mail accounts will be verified each semester.  The College’s administration reserves the right to revoke student e-mail privileges at any time.

F. Liability for Misuse and Virus

Manatee Community College’s e-mail system incorporates a virus scanning system to help protect students from e-mail viruses. MCC takes a “best-effort” approach to ensure that students will not be affected by viruses in their provided e-mail accounts. MCC does not, however, take responsibility for any data corruption, destruction of electronics, loss, or any other liability for the use of a student’s e-mail account resulting from an e-mail virus or activity of a student account.

G. Privacy and Public Records

As with all electronic communication, users of the student e-mail system must not assume that e-mail is private or confidential.  Users must exercise diligent caution in communicating sensitive material. Any information, including e-mail messages or other data, produced, transmitted or received by college employees “pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business” is defined as a public record by Florida Law, and is subject to the provisions of Chapter 119, Florida Statutes.  Public records must be retained according to specific retention schedules, are subject to inspection and copying upon request by any member of the public (except as specifically exempted by law), and may not be deleted or destroyed except as authorized by law.  Responsibility for adhering to public records requirements is the individual responsibility of each user.  Subject to public records law(s), the college supports each individual’s right to private communication, and will take reasonable steps to ensure security of the network; however, the college cannot guarantee absolute privacy of electronic communication. Non-compliance with this law will result in disciplinary action.

Section 5. Definitions

Username – typically consists of the student’s first name initial and last name, both can not exceed eight (8) characters.  In the case of duplicate names a number will be added to the username to distinguish the e-mail accounts.  (Example: John Taylor would be jtaylor@student.mccfl.edu and another John Taylor would be jtaylor2@student.mccfl.edu).

Password – students default password will be their MCC Banner Personal Identification Number (PIN).

Student Mailbox Size – students will have a maximum of 20 MB per mailbox. It is the responsibility of each user to respect the finite capacity of the computing resources made available by MCC and to limit use so as to not to consume an unreasonable amount of those resources or to interfere unreasonably with the activity of other users.  Each user account is assigned specific resources for use by e-mail messages.  It is the user’s responsibility to stay within these resource boundaries.  Authorized users are responsible for ensuring that their e-mail is downloaded to their desktop computers and systematically deleted from the MCC server on a timely basis.  MCC reserves the right to delete e-mail when it exceeds the limits of said resources.  Furthermore the size of e-mail messages and attachments is limited to 20 MB (combined) for students.  Messages exceeding these limits rapidly consume system and user resources interfering with the delivery of all e-mail.  As a result messages and/or attachments greater than the allocated size will be refused by the mail system.

Additional information on student e-mail accounts may be obtained at the college’s website: http://student.mccfl.edu.

Section 6.  Appropriate Use of Student E-mail

Manatee Community College provides resources in support of its mission which “provides an accessible, dynamic learning environment that facilitates the achievement of educational, professional, and personal goals by our students and members of our communities in an atmosphere that embraces academic excellence, diversity and innovation.” As an institution of higher education, the college intends to provide the campus community with open communication as long as such use is in compliance with state and federal laws, and other Manatee Community College policies and procedures. The use of Manatee Community College's computer systems and networks is a privilege and responsibility granted to faculty, staff and students. Manatee Community College expects all members of its community to use these resources appropriately. Faculty may incorporate electronic forms of communication in their classes, and will specify their requirements in the course syllabus.  This Student E-mail Policy will ensure that all students will be able to comply with e-mail-based course requirements specified by MCC.

Communication to cohorts of students other than class-specific groups will be allowed only with approval from the Area Vice President.

Section 7. Help Desk  

Students who require assistance with their MCC e-mail accounts should contact the Help Desk:

          Off-campus: 941-752-5357 (Hours: M-Th 7am-7pm, F 7am-5pm)

          On-campus: Ext. 65357

          E-mail: HelpDesk@mccfl.edu

Section 8. Review

This policy will be reviewed and modified as needed or every two years.

Section 9. Approval

Issued on this day, of month, year.

_______________

President