I compared the acceptable use policy for two Universities.
The University of Oregon and the University of Brown in Providence, RI. At
first glance I thought they were extremely outmatched. One policy seemed to be
more robust and extensive than the other. This is not true. After taking a
closer look, they both seem to provide the same amount of information with
little differences here and there. They both are concerned about the limited capability
of their network resources and they urge their students to be mindful of this
fact. The Acceptable Use (AU) policy for the University of Oregon goes a little
further in talking about how students who need to do research for a paper will
get priority of using their system over a student that wants to send personal
emails. Both AU’s mention State and Federal regulations when it comes to violations
of the policy. They both seem to cover all angles.
I found a few slight differences
when comparing both AU’s. The AU for the University of Oregon gets a tad bit more
specific in areas. Brown University tend to be direct and straight to the point
but that have way more broad statements about acceptable use. Brown did get
specific when they talked about some other inappropriate activities like things
that may affect the school’s tax-exempt status, and using the computers for
political purposes, and financial gain. Although they both basically state that
the electronic property is subject to being searched, the university of Oregon
does the best job in spelling this out in the AU Policy. I think both policies
will do the job of protecting the students, faculty, and the school from malicious
activity.
