I. Policy
All use of email must be consistent with Quincy College policies and procedures of ethical conduct, safety, compliance with applicable laws and proper business practices. Quincy College email accounts should be used primarily for Quincy College business-related purposes; personal communication is permitted on a limited basis, but Non-Quincy College related commercial uses are prohibited.
All Quincy College data contained within an email message or an attachment must be secured according to the Data Protection Standard (See Policy 9.10B).
Email should be retained only if it qualifies as a Quincy College business record. Email is a Quincy College business record if there exists a legitimate and ongoing business reason to preserve the information contained in the email. Email that is identified as a Quincy College business record shall be retained according to municipal guidelines with a minimum duration of two years.
The Quincy College email system shall not to be used for the creation or distribution of any disruptive or offensive messages, including offensive comments about race, gender, hair color, disabilities, age, sexual orientation, pornography, religious beliefs and practice, political beliefs, or national origin. Employees who receive any emails with this content from any Quincy College employee should report the matter to their supervisor immediately.
Scope
This policy covers appropriate use of any email sent from a Quincy College email address and applies to all employees, vendors, and agents operating on behalf of Quincy College.
Users are prohibited from automatically forwarding Quincy College email to a third party email system. Individual messages which are forwarded by the user must not contain Quincy College confidential or above information.
Users are prohibited from using personal third-party email systems and storage servers such as Google, Yahoo, and MSN Hotmail etc. to conduct Quincy College business, to create or memorialize any binding transactions, or to store or retain email on behalf of Quincy College. Such communications and transactions should be conducted through proper channels using Quincy College approved documentation.
Using a reasonable amount of Quincy College resources for personal emails is acceptable, but non-work related email shall be saved in a separate folder from work related email. Sending chain letters or joke emails from a Quincy College email account is prohibited.
Quincy College employees shall have no expectation of privacy in anything they store, send or receive on the company’s email system. Quincy College may monitor messages without prior notice. Quincy College is not obliged to monitor email messages.
Any exception to the policy must be approved by the Office of Technology & Mission Support in advance.
II. Procedure
The Office of Technology & Mission Support will verify compliance to this policy through various methods, including but not limited to, periodic walk-throughs, video monitoring, business tool reports, internal and external audits, and feedback to the policy owner.
An employee found to have violated this policy may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment as deemed appropriate by management.
Revised: February 2006, January 2017