Acceptance of Gifts and Favors by Employees
The acceptance of gifts or other favors valued at over $250 are strongly discouraged. Employees who are Administrative Officers, Department Directors and/or Chairpersons of the College must disclose the acceptance of all gifts or favors over $250 on the annual Conflict of Interest Form distributed by the Ethics and Integrity Officer of the College.
Animals on Campus and in Buildings
With the exception of certified service animals and animals specially approved for the educational purposes of the College, the presence of animals in all College-owned or leased buildings, including residential and non-residential buildings is prohibited, with the possible exception of College rental housing. For rental properties, this issue will be addressed on a case-by-case basis. Dogs and other animals are permitted on campus roads, walks, and grounds, as they are in the local community, when they are on a leash and controlled by the owner. It is the owner's responsibility to clean up after the animal. All pets must be tagged, registered, and vaccinated in accordance with Pennsylvania State Law.
Bulletin Boards
Bulletin boards are maintained throughout the campus to bring to the attention of employees matters of importance. Bulletin boards are for the posting of College information only, and only designated employees are authorized to place materials on the board. All employees are urged to check the bulletin boards periodically.
Campus Communications
The Gettysburgian is the College's student newspaper that is published weekly during the academic year.
The Digest is an online communication email that is sent to segmented audiences twice a day. The content of the information posted comes from individuals of the Gettysburg campus community.
Children at the Workplace
The presence of small children in the workplace on a regular basis can cause difficulty and awkwardness for co-workers and other members of the campus community. While an occasional emergency may arise when a parent or guardian would have to bring a child to work for a limited period of time, the College does not expect this to occur on a regular basis, especially given the concern for possible injuries and accidents to the children and for the College's responsibility in the event of an accident or injury.
Gettysburg College Computer Network Use Policy
Introduction: Gettysburg College provides a campus computer network, including access to the Internet (the "Gettysburg College Network"), for students, faculty, administrators, staff, alumni, parents, and friends of Gettysburg College in order to further the educational purposes of the College. Use of the Gettysburg College Network is governed by this Network Use Policy and is subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws as well as the rules and regulations of the College.
College Authority: By using the Gettysburg College Network, users are granting permission for authorized Gettysburg College personnel to monitor, review, and/or intercept electronic communications, electronic records and data, and user information (as further defined below). Access that is necessary to render services or to protect the property of the provider of the service is allowed under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA). Further, electronic mail and other forms of electronic communication (E-mail) are neither secure nor protected by the laws that apply to the United States Postal Service. E-mail, records, files, communications, generated meta data, voice mail, text messages, social media activity, and any other network activity created using, stored on, generated on, transmitted via, or received by the Gettysburg College Network are Gettysburg College property and are subject to review by authorized personnel designated by Gettysburg College.
All information created, accessed, or stored by employees using the Gettysburg College Network is the property of the organization. Users do not have a right to privacy with regard to any activity conducted using the Gettysburg College Network. The College can review, read, access, or otherwise monitor all activities, including email and Internet activity, on the Gettysburg College Network or on any other system accessed by use of the Gettysburg College Network. Even when activity is erased, deleted, or password-protected, it is still possible to review and/or retrieve the activity or communication. Further, the use of passwords for security does not guarantee confidentiality.
Privileges of Network Users
As you use our network services we collect certain information about you and the services you use. The information we collect falls into two different categories: (1) information you give us; and (2) information we collect from you automatically when you use our services.
Information You Give Us: We collect information you give us when you use our services. The information you give us may include your first or last name, username, password, email address, postal address, phone number, demographics information, and any other information you choose to give us.
How We Use the Information We Collect: We may use the aggregated information we collect about users in a variety of ways, including but not limited to communicating with you; responding to your service inquiries and requests for information; offering you personalized content, products, events, or other promotional purposes; maintaining and improving our business processes or systems; maintaining and improving your experiences with Gettysburg College; detecting, preventing, or investigating security breaches or fraud; enforcing our agreements or policies; and maintaining appropriate records for internal administrative purposes.
How We Share Information: We may disclose your personal information internally or to a third party if we believe that the disclosure is required by law, if we believe that the disclosure is necessary to enforce our agreements or policies, or if we believe that the disclosure will help us protect the rights, property, or safety of Gettysburg College students, employees, and/or visitors.
The College reserves the right to gain access to otherwise private Gettysburg College Network correspondence or files maintained on Gettysburg College Network. System administrators may also require access to otherwise communications or files maintained on the Gettysburg College Network as part of regular system maintenance. An attempt will be made to notify the user of this access in advance whenever possible and appropriate. Such access is governed by applicable Federal, state, and local laws.
Access: The primary purpose of the Gettysburg College Network is to support academic endeavors. This priority is followed by the College's business requirements. Beyond these primary functions, all users of the Gettysburg College Network will generally be granted equitable access to network resources and services as technology and network capacities allow.
Intellectual Freedom: Gettysburg College encourages a free and open forum for personal expression. This includes viewpoints that are unorthodox or unpopular. Except for official statements from appropriate College officers, Gettysburg College does not officially endorse any opinions stated on the Gettysburg College Network.
Protection from Harassment: All users are encouraged to communicate differing perspectives. Community members are also, however, entitled to work and live in an environment free of harassment. Therefore, any Gettysburg College Network activity that violates the College's policies is prohibited. Defamatory remarks and obscenity are also prohibited. The use of overt profanity is strongly discouraged. Use of the Gettysburg College Network must comply with applicable Federal, state and local laws.
Responsibilities of Network Users
Account Responsibility: Access to the Gettysburg College Network is through individual accounts with password protection. Accounts and passwords are not to be shared. All violations of this policy that can be traced to an individual account name will be treated as the sole responsibility of the owner of that account.
Network Degradation: The running of programs, services, systems, processes or servers by a single user, or group of users, that may substantially degrade network performance or accessibility will not be allowed. Electronic chain letters, mail bombs, malware, spamming and excessive recreational use of the Gettysburg College Network are prohibited.
Copyrights: Network users must respect all copyrights and intellectual property laws, and always provide proper attributions of authorship. Commercial software licensed to Gettysburg College may be installed only on equipment and devices expressly covered by the licenses. Upon request from a network administrator, individuals who have software licensed to them and installed on a Gettysburg College computer shall produce original disks and/or documentation to verify compliance.
Printing: Network users are expected to use network printing in a responsible manner by printing only those materials essential to educational, academic, or College needs and by printing selected text rather than full text when possible.
Personal Use: Limited personal use by employees of the Gettysburg College Network is permitted so long as it does not interfere with the performance of then employee’s job, consume significant resources, give rise to more than nominal additional costs, or interfere with the activities of other employees. Under no circumstances shall such facilities be used for personal financial gain or to solicit others for activities unrelated to the College’s business.
Remote Server Services: Approval from the Vice President for Information Technology is required before any member of the Gettysburg College user community may install or use any remote access software or any server software on any computer connected to the Gettysburg College Network.
Equipment and Configuration Control: Without specific authorization, users of the Gettysburg College Network or College owned equipment, devices, or facilities must not maliciously cause, permit, or attempt any destruction, modification, deletion, or removal of any data, record, or communications stored on the Gettysburg College Network. In addition, the malicious destruction, modification, removal or attempted removal of College owned equipment, devices, documents or records is prohibited.
Without specific written authorization from the Information Technology Division, users must not physically or electronically attach any unauthorized device to the Gettysburg College Network or to any Gettysburg College owned equipment or device. Authorized devices are limited to the items listed on the Information Technology Approved Device List web page.
A Note on Personally Owned Devices:
- When you attach any personally owned device identified in the Information Technology Approved Device List web page, you assume all risk, including but not limited to total loss of your data and personally owned device. Personally owned devices and storage media MAY NOT be backed up on the Gettysburg College Network, systems, or hardware.
- No personally owned device as defined in the Information Technology Approved Device List web page may cause degradation or impairment to any system, hardware or software which is part of, or used in conjunction with, the Gettysburg College Network. The Information Technology Division is the sole judge of degradation and/or impairment.
- The Information Technology Division will not install, uninstall, or assist with the hardware or software configuration of any personally owed device.
- The Information Technology Division will seek compensation for damages or services caused by, or the result of, any use of a personally owned device.
Authorized College staff may make appropriate changes to any computer connected to the Gettysburg College Network consistent with this Network Use Policy, or when necessary for maintenance, repair, or to protect the Gettysburg College Network.
Prohibited Activities
Spreading Computer Viruses and Worms: Deliberate attempts to degrade or disrupt the system performance of the Gettysburg College Network or any other computer system or network on the Internet by spreading computer viruses, worms, malware or similar programs may be criminal activity under Federal, state and local law, and is specifically prohibited by this policy. As a precondition for network attachment and use, all personal computers and devices capable of running antivirus software must have up-to-date virus protection software installed and operating.
Impersonation: Impersonation, false representation, forgery, pseudonyms, spoofing, deception, and other methods of hiding or cloaking the true identity of a user in order to mislead or avoid detection is prohibited. Gaining or attempting to gain unauthorized access to, or make unauthorized use of, accounts, files, records, equipment or networks is prohibited. Violating the privacy of others is also prohibited.
Business Transactions: The use of the Gettysburg College Network and/or personal web pages to offer goods or services of a business or commercial nature is not permitted except those consistent with the College's educational or business mission.
Illegal Activities: Use of the Gettysburg College Network for any activity contrary to Federal, state, or local laws is prohibited. Illegal activities include, but are not limited to, tampering with computer hardware or software, unauthorized entry into computer systems or computer data, willful vandalism or destruction of computer data or files, or any attempt to defeat the Gettysburg College Network security systems. All users are expected to abide by the Information Management Policy and the other Gettysburg College policies as list on the Gettysburg College Ethics and Integrity Program and Statement of Ethical Behavior web page.
Violations and Sanctions
Reporting Violations: Users should report any knowledge or evidence of violations of the Network Use Policy to the Vice President for Information Technology or the Vice President for College Life. Concern of possible harassment or discrimination must be reported in accordance with the Student, Faculty, and Employee Handbooks.
Process: Allegations or concerns of possible policy violations will be investigated. If the investigation yields evidence of a violation of the Network Use Policy, the case will be heard through the normal College processes for reviewing a violation of policy. For example, possible violations involving students would be heard through the Student Judicial System; those involving faculty members, through the Office of the Provost; and those involving other members of the College community, through the Department of Human Resources.
Penalties: Students who violate the Network Use Policy may be subject to the full range of sanctions as set forth in the Judicial System section of the Student Handbook, including, but not limited to, possible suspension or termination of network privileges. Other users who violate this policy will be subject to sanctions and/or network use limitations as determined by the Provost, Director of Human Resources, or other appropriate College official. Information Technology has the authority to temporarily revoke network access or take other appropriate action in order to maintain network security or health until the Vice President for College Life (or other designee) reviews an alleged infraction of the Network Use Policy.
Unauthorized Recording Policy
It may be a violation of Pennsylvania law to create an audio recording of another person without the other’s consent if reasonable expectations of privacy exist. Gettysburg College prohibits all unauthorized recording in any context in which a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy. Normally, reasonable expectations of privacy exist in classrooms, meeting spaces, office spaces, residential facilities, recreational spaces, restrooms, and locker rooms. Unauthorized recording includes, but is not limited to, the use of an electronic or other device to create an audio recording, video recording, or photo to capture or stream a statement, picture, video, or digital image/information of any person while on College premises without the community member’s knowledge and/or effective consent.
The transmission or publication of an unauthorized recording is also prohibited. Transmission or publication via the Internet, social media, electronic communication, in printed or hard copy, or via any other media is included within this prohibition. Authorized recordings made when reasonable expectations of privacy exist may not be transmitted, as defined above, without expressed permission from the other party or parties who were recorded.
Recording of programs held in non-private spaces on campus may be prohibited by the event sponsor. If the event sponsor or speaker does not wish the event to be recorded, the event sponsor must include a posting at the entrance to or an announcement prior to the start of the event informing attendees they are not permitted to record.
Amnesty from being charged with a violation of College policy may be provided to a community member or bystander who, in good faith, records another person or persons in an effort to protect the welfare of another individual and/or to prevent or document a crime or policy violation.
Authorized Fund Raising
As an independent educational institution, Gettysburg College is recognized by the public as a charitable organization and thus enjoys tax-exempt status under relevant state and federal statutes. This status enables the College to seek charitable gifts from individuals who are then able to benefit from the generosity through tax deductions that reduce their tax liability. Although it is well known that few individuals make charitable gifts solely to receive tax benefits, these benefits enable donors to give more than would otherwise be the case because they reduce the net cost of charitable gifts.
The College's status as a non-profit, charitable organization is, therefore, crucially important to its health and security. Accordingly, the College must exercise this privileged status with care and restraint. The College seeks to identify and obtain charitable support that advances the College's mission through the current operating budget, its endowed funds, and improvements in the physical plant. Such support must reflect needs that are identified as institutional priorities. The identification of these priorities is one of the responsibilities of the President and her senior administrative staff, who consult with the faculty and other College staff in arriving at such priorities on a regular basis. The Board of Trustees approves these priorities as part of its budget approval responsibilities each year. The institutional priorities thus identified guide the College's on-going fund-raising programs.
All fund-raising programs of the College will be conducted or at least coordinated by appropriate members of the staff in the Division of Development, Alumni and Parent Relations or others whom they will recruit, train and supervise. All fund-raising efforts conducted in the name of Gettysburg College must have the explicit approval of the Vice President of Development, Alumni and Parent Relations. All gifts to the College must be booked through the Advancement Services Department within the Division of Development, Alumni and Parent Relations and forwarded to the Financial Services Office for deposition.
Outside Employment
The College wants to ensure that its employees are able to provide their best effort to their jobs and are able to work in a safe and healthy manner. Accordingly, the College is concerned with employees maintaining other employment or other significant business activities outside the College. Any employee who wishes to engage in secondary employment or an outside business interest should notify their supervisor immediately. Also, any employee who is considering taking a second job that might interfere with his/her employment with the College should speak with their supervisor as well. If an employee's outside work or business interest will not interfere with their ability to perform the employee’s responsibilities for the College, the employee may be permitted to engage in a second job or outside business interest.
Parking
On-premises parking is available to employees. In compliance with the College's parking regulations, all vehicles must be registered and must display a College identification hangtag obtained from the Department of Public Safety. The College assumes no liability for personal property left in vehicles. Employees park at their own risk.
The Department of Public Safety can issue special parking permits for employees with permanent or temporary disabilities. Employees possessing these valid permits may park in any authorized employee space on campus except loading docks, fire lanes, and service vehicle spaces. For questions about the parking policy, please contact the Department of Public Safety.
Personal Appearance
All employees have potential contact with persons outside the school, and the success of the College depends in large measure upon the image that is projected. Therefore, it is important, and expected, that each employee maintain as neat, clean, and professional appearance as is possible in keeping with their job.
Casual Dress (for Fridays and summers)
Casual business-wear is clothing that allows the employee to feel comfortable, yet always looks neat and professional. It includes comfortable pieces, such as cotton shirts and sweaters, and khaki pants and jeans.
The following are examples of acceptable casual business-wear: polo and oxford shirts, blouses, T-shirts, sweaters/cardigans, blazers/sport coats, casual pants, jeans, skorts, casual skirts, hose, sneakers/tennis shoes, sandals, deck shoes, flat shoes, boots, and loafers.
The following are unacceptable clothing to wear: wrinkled, stained or dirty clothing, flashy, "loud" clothing, T-shirts with printed messages, athletic clothing, work-out clothes, beachwear, sweat-suits, shorts, lycra shorts, and halter tops. Check the fit of casual clothing, especially the length of pants, skirts and skorts.
Please consider the day's activities when determining what to wear. Gettysburg College does have a dress-down Friday policy, however, it is important to remember events scheduled for Fridays. In some cases, when visitors are coming to the office, it may be necessary to dress in normal business attire.
Managers and supervisors are expected to enforce this policy and deal with inappropriate dress issues. Questions about an outfit, should be discussed with your supervisor before wearing it to work.
Solicitation and Distribution
An employee may not distribute or post literature in work areas at any time. An employee may not solicit another employee while either employee is on working time. Working time includes all times during which an employee is assigned to or engaged in the performance of job duties but does not include breaks or meal periods.