From: kadie@herodotus.cs.uiuc.edu (Carl M. Kadie)
Newsgroups: comp.admin.policy
Subject: Re: Computer Usage Policy Statements?
Date: 12 Aug 92 17:35:33 GMT
Organization: University of Illinois, Dept. of Comp. Sci., Urbana, IL

=============== ftp.eff.org:pub/academic/faq/policy ===============
q: What guidance is there for creating or evaluating a computer policy?

a: The first thing to do is to get a copy of your university's Student
Code. It often protects student and staff freedom of expression,
privacy, and due process rights. It is not just a piece of paper; it
is part of the legal contract between student and university. Any new
policy must be consistent with this policy.

You may also find the unofficial, draft Statement on Computers and
Academic Freedom (CAF) useful. Also the CAF Archive contains the
policies of many schools, some with critiques.

Finally, you may wish to look at the CAF Law archive. Speech
restrictions at public universities have been struck down consistently
by recent federal courts. Also, the courts require due process before
serious punishments can be applied to students.

- Carl Kadie

ANNOTATED REFERENCES

(All these documents are available on-line. Access information follows.)

=================
caf-statement
=================
This is an attempt to codify the application of academic freedom to
academic computers. It reflects our seven months of on-line discussion
about computers and academic freedom. It covers free expression, due
process, privacy, and user participation.

Comments and suggestions are very welcome (especially when posted to
CAF-talk). All the documents referenced are available on-line.
(Critiqued).

=================
caf-statement.critique
=================
This is a critique of an attempt to codify the application of academic
freedom to academic computers. It reflects our seven months of on-line
discussion about computers and academic freedom. It covers free
expression, due process, privacy, and user participation.

Additional comments and suggestions are very welcome (especially when
posted to CAF-talk). All the documents referenced are available
on-line.

=================
policies/README
=================
Computer Policy and Critiques Archive
  [part of the Computers and Academic Freedom (CAF) Archive
     [part of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Archive]]

This is a collection of the computer policies of many schools and
networks. The collection also includes critiques of some of the
policies.

The archive is accessible via anonymous ftp and email. Ftp to
ftp.eff.org (192.88.144.4). It is in directory "pub/academic/policies".
For email access, send email to archive-server@eff.org. Include the
line:

send acad-freedom/policies <filenames>

where <filenames> is a list of the files that you want. File README is
a detailed description of the items in the directory.

For more information, to make contributions, or to report typos
contact Carl Kadie (kadie@eff.org). Directory "widener" contains
additional policies (but not critiques).

=================
widener/README
=================
This directory is a mirror of ftp.cs.widener.edu:pub/cud/schools/*.
It is a collection of the computer polices of many schools. For a
description of the file see file "widener/Index". Also see directory
"policies".

=================
law/README
=================
CAF Law Archive
  [part of the Computers and Academic Freedom (CAF) Archive
     [part of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Archive]]

This is an on-line collection of law related to computers and academic
freedom. It includes both case law and legislation.

The archive is accessible via anonymous ftp and email. Ftp to
ftp.eff.org (192.88.144.4). It is in directory "pub/academic/law".
For email access, send email to archive-server@eff.org. Include the
line:

send acad-freedom/law <filenames>

where <filenames> is a list of the files that you want. File README is
a detailed description of the items in the directory.

For more information or to make contributions, contact Carl Kadie
(kadie@eff.org).

=================
law/uwm-post-v-u-of-wisconsin
=================
The full text of UWM POST v. U. of Wisconsin. This recent district
court ruling goes into detail about the difference between protected
offensive expression and illegal harassment. It even mentions email.

It concludes: "The founding fathers of this nation produced a
remarkable document in the Constitution but it was ratified only with
the promise of the Bill of Rights.  The First Amendment is central to
our concept of freedom.  The God-given "unalienable rights" that the
infant nation rallied to in the Declaration of Independence can be
preserved only if their application is rigorously analyzed.

The problems of bigotry and discrimination sought to be addressed here
are real and truly corrosive of the educational environment.  But
freedom of speech is almost absolute in our land and the only
restriction the fighting words doctrine can abide is that based on the
fear of violent reaction.  Content-based prohibitions such as that in
the UW Rule, however well intended, simply cannot survive the
screening which our Constitution demands."


=================
law/goss-v-lopez.fischer
=================
Comments from _Teacher's and the Law_, 3rd edition, by Louis Fischer,
et al. Published in 1991 by Longman. It reports that the Supreme Court
says that some modicum of due process is necessary unless the matter
is trivial or there is an emergency.

=================
=================

These document(s) are available by anonymous ftp (the preferred
method) and by email. To get the file(s) via ftp, do an anonymous ftp
to ftp.eff.org (192.88.144.4), and get file(s):

  pub/academic/caf-statement
  pub/academic/caf-statement.critique
  pub/academic/policies/README
  pub/academic/widener/README
  pub/academic/law/README
  pub/academic/law/uwm-post-v-u-of-wisconsin
  pub/academic/law/goss-v-lopez.fischer

To get the file(s) by email, send email to archive-server@eff.org.
Include the line(s) (be sure to include the space before the file
name):

send acad-freedom caf-statement
send acad-freedom caf-statement.critique
send acad-freedom/policies README
send acad-freedom/widener README
send acad-freedom/law README
send acad-freedom/law uwm-post-v-u-of-wisconsin
send acad-freedom/law goss-v-lopez.fischer
--
Carl Kadie -- kadie@cs.uiuc.edu -- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Newsgroups: comp.admin.policy