Technology Policies

Faculty & Staff Appropriate Use Policy

The following Appropriate Use Policy provides guidelines for employees to ensure the appropriate use of networking at Northfield Mount Hermon School. These policies apply to all telephone, voice mail, and data network use. State and federal laws also apply to certain activities on the network.

1. NMH employees are responsible for all material, both public and private, made available by them on the NMH network or sent via telephone connection. Users may not allow others to use their passwords or accounts. No pseudonyms may be used or anonymous messages sent. Users should be careful not to give out personal information over the Internet. 

2. Accessing the accounts and files of others is prohibited. All users will respect the privacy of other users. This includes keeping passwords secret and not attempting to obtain other people’s passwords or circumvent the security of computer systems both inside and outside the school. Employees should not use auto-login functions or configure SWIS or web-browsers to store their passwords.

3. Attempting to subvert network security, to impair function of the network, or to bypass a restriction set by an administrator is prohibited.

4. Improper use or distribution of information is prohibited. NMH employees may be granted access to protected or sensitive information pertaining to students, employees, or other school functions. Use of such information is restricted to lawful and appropriate purposes that benefit the school and its students. Distribution or publishing of such information to third parties, non-employees of NMH, the press, or any others who do not require access in order to serve the interests of the school or its students is prohibited. 

5. Use of the Northfield Mount Hermon network for unauthorized commercial or illegal purposes is prohibited. NMH maintains the network for academic purposes as well as for school-related and personal communication. 

6. Pornography will not be accessed through the NMH network. NMH employees will not use the school’s network or Internet connection to view, download, transfer, or publish pornographic materials. NMH employees will specifically prevent such materials from being displayed on or accessed from computers assigned to them.   

7. All computers on the NMH network are required to have up-to-date antivirus software installed and active.

8. Northfield Mount Hermon network resources, including all telephone and data lines, are the property of Northfield Mount Hermon School. The school values individual privacy, and to the extent possible, respects the privacy of account holders on the network. However, Northfield Mount Hermon School is responsible for the safety of its students and of the workplace. These responsibilities may create situations when it is necessary to review the content of messages or files stored or transmitted on its networks. These occasions will be rare and will follow a formalized protocol to ensure that they are neither frivolous nor inappropriate.