The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education. 

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Information Technology (IT) tools are vital to the University operations and to the improvement of the quality and efficiency of our work. As repositories for critical and sometimes highly proprietary University community information, to allow improper access, disruption, or the destruction of these resources would create grave consequences for the University. Therefore, the purpose of this document is to communicate the University’s IT policy to the University community of stakeholders, including, but not limited to faculty, students, staff, service providers, vendors and alumni/community. It is the policy of Florida A&M University to protect the confidentiality of and to:

• Ensure the University community IT resources are appropriately protected from destruction, disruption, alteration or unauthorized access, disclosure and misuse of information.
• Ensure that IT resource protections are accomplished in a manner consistent with the business and workflow requirements of the University and best practices of the industry.
• Ensure the security and confidentiality of individual stakeholder’s information as defined in 16 CFR Part 314; protect against any anticipated threats or hazards to the security or integrity of such information; and, protect against unauthorized access to or use of such information that could result in substantial harm or inconvenience to any individual stakeholder.

Federal or State laws, rules, regulations, policies, and procedures governing the confidentiality of data are not superseded, abridged, or amended by this policy.

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The purpose of this policy is to establish uniform rules and regulations for the use and management of voice, video, fax, and cellular services by employees of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. 

The University incurs significant costs for telephone usage from long distance toll calls, credit card calls, cellular telephone charges, telephone charges reimbursed while on travel status, and for monthly service charges. It is the responsibility of each department to maintain an adequate system of internal control to ensure that calls and telephone related expenses are for official University business. 

Wireless telecommunication devices have become common place and are now often necessary for faculty and staff to carry out their responsibilities in an effective and efficient manner. These items are subject to additional scrutiny by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), in that it requires that a listing of all calls be specifically and properly identified as to their purpose, business or personal. 

This policy provides options for the departments with regard to the use of cell phones and other wireless communication devices in an effort to reduce the increased record keeping responsibility imposed by the IRS. 

This regulation sets forth the conditions under which the University’s email system (FAMMail) may be used, and the principles for managing messages sent or received as part of the University’s business. It applies to all students, faculty, staff, alumni and other authorized account holders (i.e. those with a @famu.edu e-mail address). It also provides guidance for proper use of email and privacy expectations.  

Unauthorized use of computing facilities is a crime under the Florida Computer Crimes Act (Chapter 815, Florida Statutes). Any suspected misuse of Florida Agriculture & Mechanical University (FAMU) facilities or systems should be reported to the ITS Chief Information Security Officer or Associate Director of Security at (850) 599-3560. Florida Computer Related Crimes (Chapter 815.06, F.S.)  

“In most instances the crimes identified in the Computer Crimes Act constitute a felony. Accordingly, the University has no option other than to refer all cases to the University Police Department for investigation and appropriate handling. All cases of suspected computer-related crimes by FAMU students, faculty or staff members will be investigated by the University Police Department.” 

The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”), 18 U.S.C. § 1030, is an amendment made in 1986 to the Counterfeit Access Device and Abuse Act that was passed in 1984 and essentially states that, whoever intentionally accesses a computer without authorization or exceeds authorized access, and thereby obtains information from any protected computer if the conduct involved an interstate or foreign communication shall be punished under the Act. In 1996 the CFAA was, again, broadened by an amendment that replaced the term “federal interest computer” with the term “protected computer.”18 U.S.C. § 1030.  

While the CFAA is primarily a criminal law intended to reduce the instances of malicious interferences with computer systems and to address federal computer offenses, an amendment in 1994 allows civil actions to be brought under the statute, as well.