University Times

Associate Provost for Research George Klinzing and Michael Becich, chairperson of the University Senate computer usage committee, are forming a committee that will begin meeting later this fall to:

* Review Pitt's existing computing policies.

* Judge whether those policies should be updated.

* Make recommendations to the senior administration on privacy issues related to faculty, staff and student use of e-mail and voice-mail on Pitt-owned equipment.

Klinzing said flatly that administrative monitoring of student and employee e-mail and voice-mail "is not going to happen here." But given the rapid pace of technological change and the growing use here of electronic communications, the time has come to review, and possibly rewrite or add to, current policies, he said.

Pitt's policies were last updated in the early 1990s. They limit use of the University computer system to educational purposes and prohibit using the system for fraud, harassment, obscenity, copyright infringement and other illegal uses. They also prohibit unauthorized access to private data such as employee salary information.

Klinzing said his committee will be representative of the University community and probably will include faculty, staff, students and administrators.