Activity 8-9

WCPS Acceptable Use Policy

Companies utilize AUPs or Acceptable Use Policies to clearly define what is or is not acceptable for users to do while utilizing their network.  These policies are put in place to help mitigate risks to the organizations infrastructure, and equipment.

A school system usually has many restrictions put in place for the protection of it's organization, but also for the protection of its students. 

The AUP for Washington County Public Schools has several actions that are not allowed:

1. Can't use the system for commercial purposes.  This means purchasing items from amazon or ebay for personal use, this also applies to services that would be personally used.

2.  Users can't employ the system for lobbying or other political activities.  This means the system can't be used to rally behind a cause or candidate.

3.  User's aren't permitted to post any personal information to any website.

4.  No harassment of other individuals.

5.  No P2P connections, or downloading of unapproved content.


The WCPS aside from these things seem to allow the use of the systems for anything pertaining to furthering the education of their students.  The rest of the rules implemented closely match those in the AUP for the university of Oregon.  The WCPS AUP seems more locked down simply for the fact that it's dealing with allowing minors to access their system and they don't want to risk exposing them to anything unnecessarily.

One area that is interesting to note is that Oregon allows the use of the school network for personal use as long as it does not interfere with the operation of the university.  The WCPS AUP specifically prohibits the use of the network and equipment for anything personal.  Users at WCPS aren't permitted to check personal email, social websites, or even news sites that don't pertain to an educational objective.