This policy provides the guiding principles for the ownership, control, and use of all Georgia Institute of Technology (“Institute”) online resources. All Institute owned online resources are the property of the Institute and are under its exclusive control, as well as the exclusive authority to acquire additional online resources in its name in the future. Administrators and users of Institute online resources are expected to be good stewards of these resources and to act in a responsible manner.
This policy concerns the Institute’s ownership, control, and use of all Institution Online Resources, specifically addressing the following matters: (i) exclusive ownership and control of all Institution Online Resources; (ii) exclusive authority over all Institution Online Resources owned or controlled by the Institute and the exclusive authority to acquire additional online resources in its name in the future; (iii) approval of content published on an Institution Online Resource; and (iv) removal of content improperly published to an Institution Online Resource.
This policy governs the use of all current and future Institute Online Resources which includes but is not limited to internet domains, websites, user uploaded content, web or mobile applications, official social media accounts, listservs, online educational resources, and content generated by Institute employees.
Institution Online Resources
Consist of all online resources owned or controlled by the Institute, including internet domains, websites, webpages, web or mobile applications, official social media accounts of the Institute, online educational resources, and content generated by Institute employees.
Institution Online Resources do not include non-publicly facing IT resources (e.g. OneUSG Connect). Institution Online Resources also do not include personal webpages and social media accounts of Institute employees and students.
Department
For purposed of this policy, department means the units of the Institute reporting to directly to a member of the Executive Leadership team or a member of cabinet or a dean.
Institute
All Institution Online Resources are the property of the Institute and under its exclusive control. The Institute has the exclusive authority over all Institution Online Resources and the exclusive authority to acquire additional Institution Online Resources in its name in the future.
Departments
Each Department must maintain its own inventory of Institution Online Resources under its jurisdiction. Members of the Executive Leadership team will retain oversight of over the respective departments reporting to them.
Each Department must have a procedure for the establishment of Institution Online Resources, the management of existing Institution Online Resources, approval of content, and the deletion of online resources no longer needed.
Each Department is responsible for the content created on or posted to Institution Online Resources under its control, including responsibility to ensure that content (i) complies with applicable University System of Georgia (USG) and Institute policies, (ii) complies with federal accessibility requirements and as outlined in the Information Technology Accessibility Policy, and (iii) does not violate the intellectual property rights of third parties. A sample of such procedure is linked at the end of this document.
Management of Institution Online Resources
Management
Administration privileges for any Institution Online Resources may only be assigned to Institute employees or outside contractors whose job duties include the administration of such accounts.
Transition of Management
Part of the separation process for employees shall include the transition of account control over any Institution Online Resources managed by the departing employee.
Limitation on Management by Student Employees
Student employees shall not be granted administrative access or duties over Institution Online Resources without express written permission from the appropriate employee with designated approval authority for the Institution Online Resource and with appropriate approval and oversight procedures in place for any content the students are to publish on Institution Online Resources.
Moderation of Third-Party Content
Content created by third-party users of Institution Online Resources shall be moderated in compliance with applicable Institute policies governing the posting of content on such Institution Online Resources and subject to any applicable terms and conditions or end user agreements of the thirty-party hosting platform.
Removal of Unauthorized Content
Any content created on or posted to an Institution Online Resource that has not been approved pursuant to the applicable Department’s required review and approval process or is otherwise not in compliance with Institute or USG policies governing online content shall be removed promptly following discovery. The authority and responsibility for removing unauthorized content will reside with the Department that controls the online resource where the content is located. Ultimate authority for the approval or removal of content on Institution Online Resources rests with the President.
Cybersecurity
Any suspected unauthorized content should be immediately reported to the Institute’s Office of Cybersecurity (soc@gatech.edu) for review of any potential data privacy and cybersecurity concerns.