194 lines
7.8 KiB
Plaintext
194 lines
7.8 KiB
Plaintext
Draft Computer Ethics Statement
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Ad Hoc Committee on Computer Literacy
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James Madison University
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Computer facilities operated by the University are available for
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the use of students, faculty and staff without charge. Students,
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faculty and staff are encouraged to use University computer
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facilities for research and instruction. In order to facilitate
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the ethical and responsible use of computers, the following
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guidelines are established for students, faculty and staff.
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Instructors or departments may impose additional requirements or
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restrictions in connection with course or departmental work.
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1. General Principles
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Respect for intellectual labor and creativity is vital to
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academic discourse and enterprise. This principle applies
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to works of all authors and publishers in all media. It
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encompasses respect for the right to acknowledgement, right
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to privacy, and right to determine the form, manner and
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terms of publication and distribution.
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Because electronic information is so volatile and easily
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reproduced, respect for the work and personal expression of
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others is especially critical in computer environments.
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Violations of authorial integrity, including plagiarism,
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invasion of privacy, unauthorized access, and trade secrets
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and copyright violations, may be grounds for sanctions
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against members of the academic community.
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2. Academic Dishonesty in a Computer Assignment
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a. Academic dishonesty in a computer assignment will be
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suspected if an assignment that calls for independent
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work results in two or more solutions so similar that
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one can be converted to another by a mechanical
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transformation.
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b. Academic dishonesty in a computer assignment will be
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suspected if a student who was to complete an
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assignment independently cannot explain both the
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intricacies of the solution and the techniques used to
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generate that solution.
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c. The Honor Council will be notified of occurrences of
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academic dishonesty.
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3. Examples
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a. The following are examples of academically honest
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practices:
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Turning in work done alone or with the help of the
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course's staff.
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Submission of one assignment for a group of students if
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group work is explicitly permitted or required.
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Getting or giving help on how to do something using the
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VAX VMS operating system.
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Getting or giving help on how to solve minor syntax
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errors.
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High-level discussion of course material for better
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understanding.
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Discussion of assignments to understand what is being
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asked for.
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b. The following are examples of academically dishonest
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practices:
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Turning in someone else's work as your own (with or
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without his or her knowledge)
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Allowing someone else to turn in your work as his or
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her own.
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Several people writing one program and turning in
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multiple copies, all represented either implicitly or
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explicitly as individual work.
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Using any part of someone else's work without the
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proper acknowledgement.
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Stealing a solution from an instructor.
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4. Ethical and Responsible Use of the Computer
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a. The University provides computing facilities free of
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charge to students and faculty for instruction and
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research. It is a violation of University policy to
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use University computers for commercial purposes
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without proper approval.
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b. Computer communications systems and networks promote
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the free exchange of ideas and information, thus
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enhancing teaching and research. Computer users should
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not use electronic communications systems such as mail
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or BITNET to harass others or interfere with their work
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on the computer.
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c. Students, faculty and staff who use the computer have
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the right to privacy and security of their computer
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programs and data. Computer users should not tamper
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with files or information that belong to other users or
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to the operating system.
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d. United States copyright and patent laws protect the
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interests of authors, inventors and software developers
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in their products. Software license agreements serve
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to increase compliance with copyright and patent laws,
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and to help insure publishers, authors and developers
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of return on their investments. It is against federal
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law and University policy to violate the copyrights or
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patents of computer software. It is against University
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policy and may be a violation of state or federal law
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to violate software license agreements. Students,
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faculty or staff may not use programs obtained from
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commercial sources or other computer installations
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unless written authority to use them has been obtained
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or the programs are within the public domain.
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e. Security systems for computers exist to insure that
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only authorized users have access to computer
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resources. Computer users must not attempt to modify
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system facilities or attempt to crash the system, nor
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should they attempt to subvert the restrictions
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associated with their computer accounts, the networks
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of which the University is a member, or microcomputer
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software protections.
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f. Abuse of computing privileges will be subject to
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disciplinary action. Violators will be subject to the
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usual judicial procedures of the University; loss of
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computing privileges may result. The University
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reserves the right to examine all computer files.
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Abuse of the networks or of computers at other sites
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connected to the networks will be treated as abuse of
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computing privileges at James Madison University.
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5. Examples
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a. The following are examples of ethical or responsible
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use of the computer:
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Using the computer for grant supported research
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sponsored by a commercial firm with the approval of the
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Vice President for Sponsored Programs.
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Using the electronic mail system to correspond with
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colleagues at other colleges or universities.
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Sharing diskettes of files of programs or data with
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team members working together on a research project.
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Copying software placed in the public domain.
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Reporting nonfunctional computer equipment to lab
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assistants or Technical Services repair staff.
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b. The following are examples of unethical or
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irresponsible use of the computer:
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Using computer facilities for work done on behalf of a
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commercial firm.
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Sending electronic mail messages containing material
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offensive to the receiver.
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Copying a file from another computer user's account or
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floppy disk without permission.
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Copying copyrighted computer software for use on
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another computer.
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Unplugging or reconfiguring computer equipment to make
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it unusable or difficult to use.
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6. Acknowledgements
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This statement is based upon the following sources:
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"The EDUCOM Code," Academic Computing 1 (Spring 1987):78.
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"The Catholic University of America's Statement of Ethics in
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the Use of Computers," ACM SIGUCCS Newsletter 19 (Spring
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1989):14.
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"Cheating Policy in a Computer Science Department," ACM
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SIGSE Bulletin 12 (July 1980).
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