South Plains College has created this User Account Credentials Eligibility Statement in order to clarify who can and will be granted rights and access privileges to SPC information technology resources. The user account credentials are assigned using Microsoft Active Directory. This account is used to authenticate on all SPC technology resources. Students will also receive account credentials on Google for access to a student gMail account and other Google resources available to students.

User account credentials consist of a username and a password. Users must not share their user credentials with other users. Either by giving another user your credentials or by logging in for another user and allowing them to use your credentials.

SPC automatically authorizes SPC user account credentials for any individual with an official affiliation as an employee (including faculty and staff as identified by Human Resources), retiree, and admitted or registered student (as determined by Admissions and Records). The following defines user account credentials eligibility for South Plains College. Exceptions may be requested by contacting the Associate Dean for Information Services (acting as the Information Resource Manager, IRM).

Definition of Affiliation:

a. Student - A person who is attending classes, either online, dual credit or classroom study at South Plains College.  Student accounts will have access to appropriate campus file shares and email.

b. Faculty - The academic staff, teaching either online, dual credit or classroom classes at South Plains College.

c. Staff – A person employed by SPC either full time or part time.

d. Retiree – South Plains College employee who has taken retirement from the college.

Upon user activation, account holders are authorized to access the resources dictated by their role membership, for example:

a. Faculty, staff, student workers, will have access to appropriate campus file shares and Outlook email, cloud storage and Office 365 applications with designated quotas, appropriate file servers, wireless access, specific applications, and self-service functionality as needed.

b. Students will have access to campus file shares, Office 365 resources such as cloud storage and Office 365 application. Students will not have access to Outlook email. Student email is provided using gMail. Students are assigned separate credentials for gMail, Google docs and Google cloud resources.

c. Retiree accounts will have access to Outlook email, cloud storage and Office 365 applications with designated quotas, and self-service functionality.  File shares other than the home drive and file servers are not available to this role.

d. Authorized custom accounts for visitors and vendors will be created according to specific needs.

All inactive accounts (accounts not being accessed, such as not logging in to a workstation or checking e-mail) will either be disabled or deleted (depending on the account type) after one (1) year of inactivity.

 

Faculty, staff and student employee user accounts may change or be completely deleted due to, but not limited to, separation of employment, retirement, or extended leave. This can result in the deletion of data; such as e-mail or home drive contents.

a. All data stored on SPC information technology resources remains the property of the college.

b. It is the responsibility of the affected department to ensure that all SPC department data is not stored on an individual’s drive, but is stored on the department drive or a shared directory.

c. It is the responsibility of the individual employee to archive incidental/personal data to removable media prior to separation from the college.

d. Employee’s individual email boxes and home drive data will be retained for 5 months after account deletion and may be available for retrieval.

e. Users may contact the help desk at (806) 716-2600 or email HelpDesk@southplainscollege.edu to initiate recovery services.

f. SPC cannot guarantee recovery of individual files. Retrieval is dependent on management approval and storage capacity.

 

Visitor and third-party accounts:

 

A person who is not entitled to account credentials through SPC affiliation but who is otherwise affiliated with the college through activities sponsored by a current SPC faculty or staff member may obtain visitor or third-party (vendor, contractor, support services) account credentials. 

Visitor and third-party accounts are termed accounts that must be requested and sponsored by a current faculty or staff member. The sponsor specifies an initial desired expiration date of one year or less as part of the request.  Specifics pertaining to these accounts include:

 

a. Regular accounts (e.g., faculty, staff, and student) can be migrated to visitor account status if the sponsorship requirements are met.

b. Sponsors must request that visitor or third-party accounts be deactivated when the account holder no longer requires account privileges, or has completed the SPC work for which an account was required.

c. The sponsor requests a visitor or third-party account by submitting an Account Request form on behalf of the individual seeking a visitor account. The sponsor's eligibility is verified (i.e. their status as current SPC staff or faculty). The sponsor will receive an automated notification that the account will be deactivated unless the sponsor requests that it be renewed before the expiration date.

d. The sponsor is expected to remain in contact with the account holder to be able to respond to such reminders with an assessment of whether the account should be extended or not.

e. Without a request from the sponsor to extend the account beyond the expiration date it will automatically be deactivated upon expiration.

f. The sponsor is responsible for taking reasonable steps to ensure that the user account holder uses their account in accordance with SPC-IS policies.  If there are any problems with a visitor or third-party account, SPC-IS will contact the sponsor.

g. One or more limited visitor accounts are also available upon request by a current faculty or staff member via the SPC-IS Service Desk. These are numbered accounts that are reset per each checkout request and useful for conferences and seminars where attendees need computer access.

 

By default, only specific accounts will be listed in the SPC directory and on the website.

a. Faculty/staff accounts are listed in the SPC directory on the public website with information provided by Human Resources or Admissions and Recrods. This information will include email address, professional title, phone number, department, and room number.

b. Students have the option of suppressing their directory listing through the Admissions and Records Office.

c. Visitor accounts may appear in the directory at the sponsor's request with name and email information only.

 

To access restricted systems, services, or facilities, the account holder or sponsor must request authorization from the relevant data owner and/or data custodian.

Requests for exceptions to this policy must be submitted in writing (SPC-IS Policy  Exception Form) to the Associate Dean for Information Services and will be reviewed on a case by case basis.  Requests shall be justified, documented, and communicated as part of the risk assessment process.

 

Related Policies, References and Attachments:

An index of approved SPC-IS policies can be found on the SPC Policies website at https://www.southplainscollege.edu/human_resources/policy_procedure/?%20.  The SPC Information Security Program and SPC Information Security User Guide are also available on the Information Technology Services Policies website.

 

Approved by: Executive Council, 9/17/2018

Next Review: October 1, 2020