Access to Centrally Administered Computing Resources

Texas State University-San Marcos
Revised: 11/08/99*
Official UPPS No. 04.01.02
Issue No. 4
Effective Date: 12/19/96
Review: April 1 E3Y

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01. POLICY STATEMENTS

01.01   We at Texas State are committed to supporting the educational mission of the institution through efficient information storage and retrieval, appropriate auditing procedures, professional personnel services, and a safe environment. The following procedure contributes to the fulfillment of this policy.

01.02   The State of Texas requires that access to, and utilization of, university information resources be controlled and managed. This UPPS facilitates Computing Services' satisfaction of this requirement for centrally administered information resources at Texas State.

02. PROCEDURES FOR ACCESS AUTHORIZATION - THE COMPUTER ACCOUNT

02.01   Computer Account Requests

Texas State students, faculty, and staff are granted authorization for general purpose access to the university's central computing resources upon request. Computing Services provides this access by issuing a computer account to the requesting party.

Students may request a computer account for academic purposes through a self-service computer application or by presenting a currently valid Texas State ID Card to the Computer Operations staff in the MCS Computer Center.

To utilize the self-service application, students should use a campus terminal to login as NEWUSER (type in the word NEWUSER in response to the prompt 'Username:') and follow the instructions provided on the terminal screen.

Faculty and staff also have two methods for requesting a computer account. They may complete and submit a computer account request form (Attachment I), with signature approval of the requester's department head, to the Director of Computing Services, J. C. Kellam, Suite 720. As an alternative, an E-mail message from the department head is acceptable in lieu of the request form, as long as the message contains all of the information requested on the form.

02.02   Authentication and Validation

Computer accounts are issued to individuals for a variety of purposes. Examples include faculty for teaching and research, students for programming courses, and staff for performance of certain job duties. The person to whom an account is assigned is the owner, and only authorized user, of that account. If it is discovered that a computer account is being used by someone other than its owner, the computer account will be deactivated.

Each computer account has a username and password associated with it. The username identifies the owner of the account and the entity responsible for the computing resources utilized by that account. The password is used in conjunction with the username to authenticate the identity of the user as the account owner.

Computer accounts are validated as current using information contained in the university's administrative data base. Computer accounts are automatically deactivated whenever the data base reflects that the account owner is no longer affiliated with the University in a manner consistent with the owner's type of account. By way of example, this occurs whenever a faculty or staff member has terminated employment, or whenever a student ceases to be enrolled at Texas State. Any exception to this practice requires prior approval from the Director of Computing Services. The Director of Computing Services is authorized to deactivate any account which in his/her judgment may pose a threat to the security of the data and/or systems accessible via the university computer network.

Individuals or organizations not associated with the University are not issued accounts for access to centrally administered computing resources unless specific approval is given by the President or his/her designee.

*02.03   Access to Administrative Applications

To use specific administrative software applications in accessing the administrative data base, individuals must first obtain authorization from the department or function head who is custodian of the application and/or information. Administrative departments directly grant and revoke access to their applications. See UPPS No. 04.01.01, "Security of Information Resources", and its companion Information Resources Security Manual for more information.

03. PROCEDURES FOR OBTAINING SERVICES AVAILABLE FROM COMPUTING SERVICES

03.01   General Assistance and Consulting

Students, faculty, and staff who need general assistance, information and/or consultation about the use of the university's computing and networking resources should contact the Office of Computing and Network Support Services (CNSS). CNSS administers networked computing labs in the MCS building and in Commons Hall, provides installation and repair services for desktop systems and peripherals, and offers training and consulting services on a wide variety of topics. Many of these services are offered free of charge.

*03.02   Information Systems and Services

University departments that desire assistance in the implementation of automated information systems should contact Information Systems and Services (ISS). See UPPS No. 04.02.01 for more information about how to obtain ISS services.

04. MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS UPPS

04.01   Major responsibilities for routine assignments associated with this UPPS include the following:

	Position	Section	Date
	Director, Computing Services	Review 02.02	April 1 E3Y As Needed
	Chair, Academic Computing Committee	Review	April 1 E3Y

05. CERTIFICATION STATEMENT

This UPPS has been approved by the following individuals in their official capacities, and represents Texas State policy and procedure from the date of this document until superseded.

Mr. Robert J. Goss, Director, Computing Services; senior reviewer of this UPPS

Dr. Carol Hazlewood, Chair, Academic Computing Committee; reviewer of this UPPS*

Dr. Michael L. Abbott, Special Assistant to the President

Dr. Jerome H. Supple, President