Information Technology Policies & Procedures

Use the links below to access the Information Technology policies and procedures.

As in other aspects of College life, members of the Amherst community are bound by the Statement of Intellectual Responsibility and the Statement on Respect for Persons in all work done using IT facilities or resources.

Note: You must log in to the Amherst College website in order to view some of the pages below. Some pages are only visible to Amherst faculty/staff and not to students and/or other members of the Amherst community.

Accounts
Computing Devices
Security
Service
IT Facilities

IT facilities are available for academic work. Because the College is a not-for-profit organization, commercial ventures are not permitted without specific authorization by the CIO, in consultation with the College administration.

College Copyright policies

All employees of the College are expected to respect the copyright associated with intellectual property which, except under specified circumstances, prohibits the duplication, public display, or performance of such property without permission of the owner of that copyright. Intellectual property includes visual images, software, and other creative expressions, whether fixed electronically or in "hard copy." The copyright law is a particularly important part of the legal framework governing an academic community.

Federal Student RECORDS privacy law

The College is required to follow FERPA regulations, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act that covers student education records and information.

  • FERPA (external link to the USA government FERPA website)
Federal HEALTH Information privacy law

The College is required to follow HIPAA regulations, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act that covers health records and information.

  • HIPAA (external link to the USA government HIPAA website)
DISPOSAL OF DATA PROCESSING EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES

Although we participate in donation and recycling programs for older computers, we also reuse equipment internally after the typical replacement cycle of four years, for up to two more years. Mobile devices have typically been recycled or donated after three years of use. In each case, regardless of whether we reuse equipment internally, donate it, or recycle it, we use tools to clear the data on any storage media before the device changes hands. In the event that we have a significant amount of equipment to process, we contract external companies that specialize in data deletion and protection before the device is recycled or donated. We employ onsite data destruction for server products, as needed.