BRITISH SCHOOL OF MARKETING INTERNATIONAL

IT POLICY

October 2023Review date: October 2024

 

Scope and Purpose:

This policy covers all the use of IT facilities and services including computers, software and data provided and owned by BSMI. The IT guidelines apply to all users of IT facilities including staff and students. Breach of the IT guidelines will result in infringement of regulations leading to disciplinary action or further legal criminal proceedings.

Key Responsibilities

All users are responsible for complying with the IT regulations at BSMI.

  • The IT administrator is responsible for implementing and controlling the IT facilities provided by BSMI to all the users.
  • It is the responsibility of managers to make all the staff aware of the regulations and guidelines mentioned within this policy.
  • It is the responsibility of the teachers to make students aware of this policy during the induction.

BSMI reserves the rights to exercise control over all IT related activities such as; maintaining standards for quality control and training, preventing or detecting any time or detect unauthorised use of all the IT facilities.

General IT Guidelines for all users

  • You must use BSMI IT facilities only for work and study purposes and for a limited or reasonable amount of personal use.
  • You must not use BSMI IT facilities to engage in any unlawful activities.
  • You must not use BSMI IT facilities without permission, which includes using computers, reading, copying or storing software.
  • You must not download, transmit, store or use any program, tool or virus which may interfere with the functioning of IT facilities and may have an impact on daily operational work for all staff.
  • You must not use any BSMI materials without permission of the owner or the licence owner, which may include software, databases, data files, messages or websites.
  • You must not use the BSMI system without permission from the Principle or share your username or passwords with anyone else.
  • You must not use BSMI IT facilities to defame or harass anyone by any means of creating, transmitting, storing or sharing files, pictures or any sensitive information.
  • You must not damage the BSMI IT facilities intentionally and in case of an accident, you must report it to your line manager immediately. Moving or deleting files or any data is without authorization will be considered as a breach of the IT guidelines at BSMI.
  • All the emails on behalf of BSMI must be sent from the company account which identifies the sender. Any unsolicited emails to a large number of recipients are strictly forbidden unless the receivers have given their permission to do so.
  • You must not drink or eat whilst you are using the BSMI computers.
  • All students using BSMI computers must not store any files on the computers including their coursework, any documents containing sensitive information about themselves, any travel documents or any other files that are personal to that user.
  • We encourage students to use their own USB to store any of the sensitive data mentioned above.
  • BSMI has a firewall protection systems in place for all computers at the school and breach of circumventing these controls will lead to disciplinary action.

Use IT facilities at BSMI

  • All the staff have their own username and passwords which gives them access to computers at BSMI.
  • All users must make sure they are logged out when they are not using the computers at BSMI.
  • All users must turn off the computers at the end of the working day.
  • All users must minimise the amount of printing carried out and only print when necessary. They must also print double-sided wherever possible.
  • BSMI has dedicated a username and password for each member of staff, which they must use to carry out their day-to-day duties at BSMI.
  • All teachers are given limited access to the BSMI system through which they can only see their own class, record their attendance and complete the checklist as part of their student induction. The checklist must be completed to ensure all the essential paperwork is collected from the students on their first day of arrival.
  • All the other members of staff depending on their role are also given usernames and passwords to carry out their day-to-day work at BSMI.
  • All the usernames and passwords given to staff are confidential and it must not be shared with anyone else. If a member of staff is found to infringe on these guidelines, their accounts will be suspended immediately and investigated for further proceedings.
  • You must not use BSMI facilities to involve in any commercial or private activity using trademarks, intellectual property or any copyrighted materials. You must comply with the relevant external laws which affect the use of BSMI IT facilities such as; The Computer Misuse Act 1990, The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and The Copyright Regulations 1992.
  • Any information you gain access to using BSMI IT facilities or your staff account must be treated with the utmost confidentiality. You must not copy, modify or disseminate any information without the explicit permission from your line manager. Access to any information through BSMI IT facilities does not grant you with an automated permission.
  • All the information related to students or staff is treated with utmost confidentiality and kept in accordance with the BSMI policy and the responsibilities as a user under the Data Protection Act 1998. BSMI is a data controller and has a trained data processor at the school to deliver further training for all the staff at BSMI.
  • The Principle has an access to all the accounts given to each BSMI member of staff to ensure all the work is carried out according to BSMI procedures.

BSMI reserves the right to make amendments to this policy at any time. Any changes will be shared with BSMI staff, however, it is their responsibility to implement the rules and guidelines BSMI during their employment.

Publication

This policy is published on the BSMI website and it has been communicated to all staff and students via the BSMI handbooks both for staff and students.