A college’s Office of Information Technology has extensive reach in monitoring, updating, storing and protecting an institution’s information systems. This broad range of power comes with  immense ethical challenges.

Office of GHC’s Information Technology:

“Ethics plays a critical role in the Division of Information Technology (IT) at Georgia Highlands College (GHC) due to the profound impact information systems and data assets have on the institution, its employees, and the community we serve. IT professionals have the power to create and manage systems that support our learning environment, handle all our official communications, store our students’ personal data, control critical IT infrastructure, and influence strategic decision-making. As such, each IT employee must always act in accordance with both regulatory requirements and established codes of conduct to protect the reputation of the college and minimize risk.

The trust of our students and fellow employees is indispensable in the field of IT. Ethical behavior fosters this trust by demonstrating an ongoing commitment to transparency, fairness, and accountability. Users are more likely to embrace and engage with information systems and IT services offered by GHC when they believe their data and privacy is protected. For example, the Electronic Communication Privacy Act of 1986 (U.S. Code § 2511) provides organizations with a significant degree of freedom to surveil employee email. However, GHC IT professionals are required by policy to act ethically and responsibly while performing maintenance, upgrades, and repairs on email systems and are not permitted to surveil or disclose user email messages outside of a formal and narrowly defined process for cybersecurity incident management. This ethical standard establishes a commitment to freedom of speech, privacy, and academic freedom and it ensures that our employees in turn act ethically and comply with the Georgia Open Records Act (O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72) by using their GHC email, instead of a personal email account, for work.”