UOW Policy Documents

Policy Documents at a Glance

Writing & Reviewing Policy

IT USER ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT POLICY


Date approved:	1 July 2004	Date Policy will take effect:	1 July 2004	Date of Next Review:
Approved by:	Vice Chancellor
Custodian title & e-mail address:	Senior Manager, Business Services Unit michele_grange@uow.edu.au
Author:	Michele Grange
Responsible Faculty/ Division & Unit:	Information Technology Services Division
Supporting documents, procedures & forms of this policy:	IT User Account Management Guidelines IT User Account Application Form Online Staff Contact Directory User Account Management for Staff
References & Legislation:	Crimes Act, 1914 (Commonwealth) UOW Privacy Statement Student Conduct Rules IT Acceptable Use Policy (including the Requirements Governing the Use of IT Facilities) Internet Access Policy University Privacy Statement
Audience:	Public – accessible to anyone
Expiry Date of Policy:	Not applicable

Contents

1 Purpose of Policy 3
2 Definitions 3
3 Application & Scope 4
4 Sponsored Accounts 4
5 Staff Accounts 4
6 Associate Accounts 6
7 Student Accounts 8
8 Administration and Implementation 10
9 Roles & Responsibilities 10
10 Version Control and Change History 10

1 Purpose of Policy

1. This policy outlines the University’s administration of user accounts for authorised users of the University IT Facilities.
2. The University of Wollongong is committed to the appropriate use of Information Technology and Services in support of its teaching, research, administrative and service functions. This policy is an adjunct to the University’s IT Acceptable Use Policy which defines the acceptable behaviour expected of users and intending users of the facilities. The University requires users to accept the IT policies and associated Requirements Governing the Use of IT Facilities as a condition of their use. These are accessible on the University Policy Directory.

2 Definitions

Word/Term	Definition (with examples if required)
University	University of Wollongong
User	Any person using any of the University’s Information Technology Facilities
IT facilities	Information Technology facilities operated by the University, whether owned or leased
Chief Technology Officer	The Chief Technology Officer, Information Technology Services.
ITS	Information Technology Services at the University of Wollongong
Account holder	Any person granted a user account with the University of Wollongong
User Account	An authorised user account, provided to a user, to be used solely by that user, for the purpose of accessing services as granted to that user account

Account Management Key Terms

Username

1. All University of Wollongong user accounts are uniquely identified by a username, where the username may be up to 8 characters and relates to name of the account owner. The format of the username is dependent on the type of account (see below).
2. A username is issued to an individual for the duration of that individual’s affiliation with the University. The facility does not exist to change a username. In the case of a legal name change where extraordinary circumstances justify a username change, an account holder may be issued a new account, given an application made in writing and accepted by the Chief Technology Officer.

User Account Groups

3. The University of Wollongong currently supports two groups of user accounts these being sponsored accounts and student accounts.
4. An individual may hold one account from each group at any point in time but should have no more than two accounts.
5. An individual must use an account for the purpose provided i.e. for staff purposes if a staff account and student purposes if a student account.

User Account Sponsors

6. All user accounts require a sponsoring organisation/entity.
7. Organisations sponsoring accounts may be the University of Wollongong, subsidiaries of the University, or a recognised business or community affiliate of the University.
8. The terms and conditions for the issue of accounts are dependent upon the agreement set in place between the University and the sponsoring organisation. However, in all cases the University IT policies, including this policy, apply without exception.

Account Status

9. The status of a user account may be:

a. active - an active account is a fully operational account;
b. expired - an expired account is one where the account password has expired and is required to be reset before the account can be used;
c. closed (deactivated) - a closed (deactivated) account is one where access to the account is revoked given that the account holder no longer satisfies the criteria for holding that type of University of Wollongong account (Note the University retains closed accounts for a defined period after which time they are deleted. Until deleted the account can be reinstated to the account holder); or
d. withdrawn (restricted) - a withdrawn (restricted) account is one where the users’ access to the account is withdrawn in advance of the official closure of the account. Refer under each account type for further details on withdrawing access to an account.

Account Holder Entitlements

10. The University provides an extensive range of computing and networking facilities to user account holders, including email, internet access, calendar, timeshare access, modem access, and access to other systems integrated with the University’s account system. Access to these services is based on the privileges of the account’s type and any individual system’s access assigned to the individual account holder.
11. Exceptions to the standard privileges that apply to an account may be permitted where a request is made in writing and accepted by the Chief Technology Officer or delegated persons.

3 Application & Scope

1. This policy applies to all account holders of the University IT facilities. This policy represents the University Institutional position and takes precedence over other relevant policies which may be developed at a local level.
2. All users should be aware of the policy, their responsibilities and legal obligations. All users are required to comply with the policy and are bound by law to observe applicable statutory legislation.

4 Sponsored Accounts

1. Sponsored accounts may be one of two types: Staff Accounts or Associate Accounts.
2. To hold a sponsored account, an individual must be 16 years of age or over.

5 Staff Accounts

Account Creation

1. To hold a staff account, an individual must be a paid staff member of the University of Wollongong or one of its subsidiaries, or hold an honorary academic appointment as in an honorary or visiting fellow. Such accounts are issued for the period of employment only and as such the account should be used for staff purposes only.
2. In addition, staff accounts may be held by Emeritus Professors and Fellows of the University, as conferred by the University Council.
3. A staff account is created on receipt of a staff account user account application (accessible via http://www.uow.edu.au/its/userguides/index.html ), which is approved by the relevant Head of Unit or equivalent, or a recognised user account manager.
4. On application for an account an individual acknowledges their acceptance of the declaration to abide by the University of Wollongong IT Policies.
5. Each account is created with a unique username, which can be up to 8 characters in length, and is based on the account holder’s name.
6. A staff account is created with a maximum disk and email quota, as set by ITS. An Internet quota is not imposed on staff accounts but charges for usage apply to the account’s sponsor(s) as determined from the HR records for the individual. Refer to the Internet Access Policy available at http://www.uow.edu.au/about/policy for further information on Internet quotas.
7. An increase to the email quota of a staff account may be permitted given a request from the Senior Executive, Dean or Director or University Librarian, made in writing and accepted by the Chief Technology Officer or delegated persons.

Email Address & Alias

8. The email address of a user account takes the form of username@uow.edu.au e.g. jboggs@uow.edu.au.
9. An alias is created for each account based on a preferred standard of firstname_lastname e.g. joe_bloggs@uow.edu.au. Where duplicates are encountered, ITS contact the applicant for selection of a suitable alternative. Given this, the use of firstname_lastname as an assumption for the email address is limited, and may result in emails being sent to an unintended recipient. Mail users are encouraged to access the Online Staff/Contact Directory accessible at http://www.uow.edu.au/cgi-bin/contactdir and the University Address book, accessible via individual mail clients, to determine email addresses.
10. Users are advised of their alias on account collection but can also look up their aliases online via the manage mail, check aliases option on https://intranet.uow.edu.au/myit/manage/index.html.
11. Because of the changing nature of aliases, under no circumstances should they be recorded in any subsidiary systems.

University Contact Directory

12. The name and contact details of an individual appear in the University of Wollongong Contact Directory for each staff account holder. The entry is removed from the directory at the point the account is closed.

Account Closure & Deletion

13. Staff accounts remain active while ever the account holder has a current or future appointment with their sponsoring organisation. For the purposes of managing the official closure of an account, an appointment is deemed to have ended:

a. 3 weeks after the end date of a permanent or limited term appointment,
b. 7 weeks after the end date of a casual academic authority;
c. 3 weeks after the end date of a general staff non-academic casual authority;
d. 3 months after the end date of an honorary academic appointment; and
e. 3 weeks after the last paid date for any other appointment types.

14. The University reserves the right to revise the above criteria.
15. Accounts held by University Council award recipients, i.e. Emeritus Professors and Fellows, remain active until the University is advised that the account is no longer required.
16. The retention period applied to casual academic appointments is intended to ensure that account holders retain their account while ever they continue to work consecutive sessions.
17. Revoking access to an account in advance of the accounts’ official closure is as outlined under the section titled Account Withdrawal below.
18. Closure of an account means the account is frozen, i.e. the password is revoked, until such time as the individual resumes employment or the account has been deactivated for 1 year, at which time it is deleted. Should the individual resume employment, their account can be reactivated under the original username and password if the account still exists.
19. Account holders who wish to be contactable on their account following its closure should ensure that they record an automatic reply or forwarding prior to the closure of their account. The automatic reply/forward will continue to operate until the account is deleted.
20. At this stage staff account usernames are not re-used.
21. The University reserves the right to undertake a periodic audit of sponsored accounts for the purpose of validating active accounts.

Account Withdrawal

22. A user’s access to their staff account can be withdrawn in advance of their account’s official closure given a written request from an appropriate staff member of the sponsoring organisation.
23. Account access may also be temporarily withdrawn by ITS in response to a suspected policy violation.
24. A user whose access has been withdrawn may request reconsideration of the decision by the Chief Technology Officer, or delegated person, who shall consider the withdrawal with the relevant Senior Executive, Dean or Director, or the University Librarian. Following this, the Chief Technology Officer, or delegated person, shall confirm the withdrawal, or reinstate the account.
25. For further information on account withdrawal, refer to the section titled “Compliance” below.

6 Associate Accounts

Account Creation

1. The provision also exists for an individual to hold an associate account with the University of Wollongong.
2. Associate accounts apply to individuals who are granted access to the University IT facilities by virtue of an affiliation with the University or one of its subsidiaries. Recognised affiliations are:

a. contractors and consultants providing services to the University or one of its subsidiaries, typically involving a contract for services;
b. visiting academics of the University, other than those holding an honorary academic appointment as in an honorary or visiting fellow;
c. members of the University Council;
d. a member of a recognised business or community affiliate of the University of Wollongong.

3. An associate account is created on receipt of an application from an individual, approved by a relevant head of unit or equivalent, or a recognised user account manager. Personal information collected will only be used in accordance with the University privacy practices. For further information access http://www.uow.edu.au/about/privacy/ or contact the University Privacy Officer.
4. On application for an associate account an individual acknowledges their acceptance of the declaration to abide by the University of Wollongong IT Policies.
5. Each associate account is created with a unique username, which can be up to 8 characters in length, and is based on the account holder’s name.
6. An associate account is created with a maximum disk and email quota, as set by ITS. An Internet quota is not imposed on Associate accounts but charges for usage apply to the relevant sponsoring organisation. Refer to the Internet Access Policy for further information on Internet quotas.
7. An increase to the email quota of an associate account may be permitted given a request from the Senior Executive, Dean or Director, or University Librarian, made in writing and accepted by the Chief Technology Officer or delegated persons.

Email Address & Alias

8. The email address of a user account takes the form of username@uow.edu.au e.g. jboggs@uow.edu.au.
9. An alias is created for each account based on a preferred standard of firstname_lastname e.g. joe_bloggs@uow.edu.au. ITS contacts the applicant for selection of a suitable alternative if duplicates are encountered. Given this, the use of firstname_lastname as an assumption for the email address is limited, and may result in emails being sent to an unintended recipient. Mail users are encouraged to access the Online Contact Directory (http://www.uow.edu.au/cgi-bin/contactdir) and the University Address book (accessible via individual mail clients) to determine email addresses.
10. Users are advised of their alias on account collection but can also look up their aliases online via the check aliases option on http://www.uow.edu.au/its/services/manage-mail/.
11. Because of the changing nature of an alias, under no circumstances should they be recorded in any subsidiary systems.

University Contact Directory

12. The name and contact details of an individual appear in the University of Wollongong Contact Directory for each associate account holder. The entry is removed from the directory at the point the account is closed.

Account Closure & Deletion

13. Associate accounts remain active at the discretion of the sponsor and can be closed (deactivated) at anytime.
14. Revoking access to an account in advance of the account’s official closure is covered below under Account Withdrawal.
15. Closure of an account means the account is frozen, i.e. the password is revoked, until such time as the account is reinstated or has been deactivated for 1 year, at which time it is deleted.
16. Account holders who wish to be contactable on their account following its closure should ensure that they record an automatic reply or forwarding prior to the closure of their account. The automatic reply/forward will continue to operate until the account is deleted.
17. At this stage associate account usernames are not reused.
18. ITS reserves the right to undertake a periodic audit of associate accounts for the purpose of validating active accounts.

Account Withdrawal

19. A user’s access to their associate account can be withdrawn in advance of their account’s official closure given a written request from an appropriate staff member of the sponsoring organisation.
20. Account access may also be temporarily withdrawn by ITS in response to a suspected policy violation.
21. A user whose access has been withdrawn may request reconsideration of the decision by the Chief Technology Officer, or delegated person, who shall consider the withdrawal with the relevant Senior Executive, Dean or Director, or the University Librarian. Following this, the Chief Technology Officer, or delegated person, shall confirm the withdrawal or reinstate the account.
22. For further information on account withdrawal, refer to the section titled “Compliance” below.

7 Student Accounts

Account Creation

1. An individual may hold only one student account at any point in time.
2. Students create their student account, using the electronic account creation process within SMP Student Online Services (SOLS). To create a student account, a student must be recognised as a current student in the Student Management Package, which is defined as:

a. an undergraduate, postgraduate research or postgraduate coursework student who has an active course; or
b. a non-award or Wollongong College Australia (WCA) student with a current or future subject enrolment; or
c. a Miscellaneous student attached to a current miscellaneous student group.

3. A miscellaneous student is not formally a student of the University of Wollongong. A miscellaneous student’s affiliation with the University is recorded in SMP for the purpose of managing their access to University facilities, as opposed to recording information for any formal recognition of studies.
4. Each student account is created with a unique username based on the student’s initials followed by a number.
5. Each account is created with a maximum disk and email quota.
6. The Internet quota applied to the account is dependent on the account type as detailed below.

Student account type

7. Student accounts may be one of two types: non-capped or capped.
8. The type of a student account is maintained automatically based on records in the University Student Management Package. For the purposes of defining the type of the student account the following business rules apply:

a. an account is defined, as a non-capped account where a student is a Postgraduate Research student of the University of Wollongong;
b. in the absence of a postgraduate research enrolment, a student account is a capped account.

Non-capped Student Accounts

9. Only postgraduate research students of the University of Wollongong are provided with a non-capped student account.
10. An Internet quota does not apply to non-capped student accounts. Charges for usage apply to cost centres based on the student’s enrolment records.
11. Refer to the Internet Access Policy for more information on Internet quotas.

Capped Student Accounts

12. Capped student accounts apply to all but Postgraduate research students of the University of Wollongong. This covers:

a. undergraduate and postgraduate coursework students of the University of Wollongong;
b. non-award students of the University of Wollongong;
c. WCA students; or
d. miscellaneous students i.e. students attached to a Miscellaneous Student Group which provides for the management of students within SMP where students fall outside of the Universities mainstream student management processes.

13. A capped student account has an imposed Internet quota as per the University of Wollongong Internet Access Policy. The Internet quota allocated to each account is based on a set six monthly allocation of quota, which is the same for all capped student accounts.
14. Regardless of when the account is established, the accounts quota is reset to the six monthly allocation at the beginning of each year and midyear.
15. Internet quota on an account is set to zero during periods when a student does not have an active course or is not attached to a Miscellaneous Student Group. This also applies when the student is on leave of absence.
16. Charges for usage apply to cost centres based on the student’s enrolment records.
17. The quota assigned to an account can be increased on an individual basis as outlined in IT Internet Access Policy.
18. Refer to the Internet Access Policy for more information on Internet access.

Account Closure & Deletion

19. Continued access to the account is maintained automatically based on records in the University Student Management Package. For the purposes of managing the official closure of a student account, an account remains open while ever:

19.1. An undergraduate, postgraduate coursework or postgraduate research student has an “active” course. A retention period of three months is accommodated; as such the account closes three months after the course is completed. Where a course is closed for reasons other than completion, e.g. where the course is lapsed, given exclusion due to minimum rate of progress, a retention period of 14 days applies,
19.2. A non-award or WCA student has a current or future subject enrolment. A retention period of 21 days is accommodated i.e. accounts in this category close 21 days after the end date of the student’s most recent subject enrolment.
19.3. A miscellaneous student is attached to a current miscellaneous student group. A retention period of 7 days is accommodated i.e. accounts in this category close one week after the end date of the student’s most recent miscellaneous student group enrolment.

20. The University reserves the right to revise the above criteria.
21. Closure of an account means the account is frozen, i.e. the password is revoked, until such time as the individual resumes study, at which point the account is reactivated. Accounts are automatically reactivated under the original username and password if the account still exists.
22. Students receive an email indicating the pending closure of their account in the 14 days leading up to the closure of their account.
23. Accounts that have been closed for a period of nine months are deleted.
24. Account holders who wish to be contactable on their account following its closure should ensure that they record an automatic reply or forwarding prior to the closure of their account. The automatic reply/forward will continue to operate until the account is deleted.
25. At this stage student account usernames are not reused.
26. A student may request an extension to access their account past their official closure date. Such extensions must be applied for in writing, to the Academic Registrar, and will only be granted in exceptional circumstances.

8 Administration and Implementation

Compliance

1. User accounts are issued on the basis that a user agrees to abide by the University’s terms and conditions for acceptable use of IT facilities as detailed in the IT Acceptable Use Policy.
2. The University treats misuse of its IT facilities seriously. Violations of the conditions of use of IT facilities may result in temporary or indefinite withdrawal of access, disciplinary action under the University’s, or relevant entities, discipline procedures, and/or reimbursement to the University.
3. IT misconduct by students will be dealt with under the Student Conduct Rules. The Chief Technology Officer or their nominee will be the Primary Investigation Officer of allegations of IT misconduct by students. Detailed investigation procedures and the penalties that may be awarded to students engaging in IT misconduct can be found in the Student Conduct Rules.
4. A user’s access will be withdrawn given a written request from an appropriate staff member of the sponsoring organisation. Access may also be withdrawn by ITS in response to a suspected policy violation.
5. A student whose IT access has been withdrawn as a result of an investigation under the Student Conduct Rules can appeal the decision or the penalty to the Student Conduct Committee. Otherwise, a user whose access has been withdrawn may request reconsideration of the decision by the Chief Technology Officer who shall consider the withdrawal with the relevant Senior Executive, Dean or Director or the University Librarian. Following this the Chief Technology Officer shall confirm the withdrawal or reinstate access.
6. Misuse or unauthorised use of University IT facilities may constitute an offence under the Crimes Act, 1914 (Commonwealth) and/or other pieces of State or Commonwealth legislation. Nothing in this policy or the Requirements Governing the Use of IT Facilities may be taken as in any way diminishing or removing a person’s obligations to comply with the law, or their liability to prosecution and punishment under law.
7. Users are encouraged to report any misuse and any reports will be treated as confidential.

9 Roles & Responsibilities

Not Available.

10 Version Control and Change History

Version Control	Date Effective	Approved By	Amendment
1	1 July 2004	Vice-Chancellor	Final policy including: Policy converted into new ITS policy format. Included compliance section, consistent with acceptable use policy. Improved links to acceptable use policy. ITPAC amendment (Minutes of 16 February 2004) to 5.2.2. Changed active subject requirement to active course i.e. “Internet quota on an account is set to zero during periods when a student is not in an active course or attached to a Miscellaneous Student Group. This also applies when the student is on leave of absence”. Qualified circumstances for username changes.
2	1 September 2004	ITPAC and IT Forum	ITPAC and IT Forum approved version
3	1 February 2005	Vice Chancellor	Revised WUC lapsed period from 14 to 21 days.
4	1 May 2006	Vice Chancellor	Added an explanation of honorary academic appointment.
5	1 July 2006	Vice Chancellor	Reworded clause regarding requests for a change of username.
8	6 May 2009	Vice Principal (Administration)	Migrated to UOW Policy Template as per Policy Directory Refresh

Last reviewed: 29 July, 2009

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