Policies and Guidelines

The IT Helpdesk facilitates all technical support for Biola-owned computers. Create a ticket or contact the IT Helpdesk for all support questions and hardware repairs.

Do not take a Biola-owned computer to off-campus retail stores or repair shops for support.

Biola-owned computers backup to Crashplan, Biola’s enterprise backup service. Follow these instructions to make sure that your Biola computers are backing up regularly.

A secure backup is the preferred and supported way to restore lost data (from theft, ransomware, accidental deletion, etc.).

The Employee Computer Replacement Program provides a Biola-owned and -managed computer to every full-time employee. These computers are typically upgraded on a 3- to 4-year cycle.

Departments can purchase computers for staff and faculty who are not eligible for the Employee Computer Replacement Program. All department purchases must follow standard purchasing procedures.

All Biola computers are owned by the university, are intended for business use, and are managed by Information Technology.

Every Biola-owned computer must follow IT’s security standards. These standards protect your privacy and protect your computer from malicious security threats.

Biola-owned computers require the following security standards, managed by Information Technology:

• NetID authentication (no local accounts)
• Hard drive encryption
• Firmware password
• An OS still supported by Apple or Microsoft
• Most up-to-date security patches for your operating system and applications

Information Technology applies specific security policies to all Biola-owned computers. Users cannot change the following settings or features:

• Antivirus software
• Firewall settings
• User access control
• File sharing
• Location services
• iCloud backup
• Sleep and screensaver password lock

Any exceptions to Biola’s computer security policies must be approved in advance by Information Technology.

Biola-owned computers and tablets are a tool provided for university business and are not intended for personal use. Similarly, do not conduct university business on computers not owned and managed by the university.

You should keep personal data on devices that you own. Do not store personal data on Biola computers or services, such as:

• Personal music, photos, or videos
• Tax returns or financial records, etc.

The IT Helpdesk will not support any personal data or use not related to university business.

Biola University uses email as a primary vehicle for communication to students and employees. Official university communication includes, but is not limited to, emergency notifications, educational dialogue, research, and general business correspondence.

The university establishes and assigns for each student and employee an official university email address. All university communications sent via email will use this address. The university expects that students and employees will receive and read email sent to this address in a timely manner. Failure to receive and read university email communications in a timely manner does not absolve students or employees from knowing and complying with the content of such communications.

The university is not responsible for the handling of email by other service providers. Redirecting university email to another email address does not absolve students or employees from knowing and complying with the content of the communication.

All Biola employees receive a Google Workspace account which includes a Biola email address (@biola.edu) for university-related business and communications.

As an employee, all data on your Biola Google Workspace account, including email and Google Drive data, belongs to the University. Information Technology is responsible for managing your Biola Google Workspace account and all the data in your account. This means that you should not have any expectation of privacy with regard to the content in Google Workspace.

Faculty and staff lose access to their Biola Google Workspace account on their last day of employment.

For more information please see page about employee Google Workspace accounts our email communication policy. 

IT provides Internet services to the university for personal and business use.

You should use the Internet and Biola’s network services in a professional, lawful, and ethical manner, consistent with Biola’s mission and Standards of Conduct. You should also follow safe computing habits when using the Internet.

Biola employees should use a VPN service when working off campus or traveling. Biola offers Cisco AnyConnect VPN to all employees.

Read our Network Usage Policy for more information.

Passwords are most effective when they are both long and memorable. We recommend all employees think of their password as a passphrase.

Passphrases are composed of multiple words. Passphrases are secure, but still easy to remember. Here are some examples:

• Wheresmycoffee?
• PlatoLovesGreenTea
• Myershallbocceteam

Passphrases should not contain personal information or common patterns, including the following:

• Birthdays, addresses, or phone numbers
• Lines from movies, songs, or books

Avoid common passwords, such as: Password123, Jesus316, Unicorn1

Treat your passwords as confidential information. Do not share your passwords with anyone, including Biola employees, and do not let anyone share their passwords with you.

While working from off campus you should:

• Secure your home network with a strong passphrase, and use Biola’s VPN to encrypt your network activity.
• Protect university data from being seen by anyone but you, including your family.
• Only use university-approved tools and services for work, especially when sharing or storing data.

Read our full guidelines for Working Securely from Off Campus for more information.

The purchase and installation of any security or observational camera must be approved by Campus Safety, Biola Legal, Facilities, and Information Technology.

Multiple employees may share a single computer, but they must not share login accounts. You must log in to Biola computers with your own NetID.

Consult with IT to help plan out how to set up a shared computer for your workspace.

Only store university data on systems managed by Biola, or Biola-approved services.

University data is information created, collected, maintained, transmitted, or recorded by or for the university to conduct university business. (Examples: Student records, personnel records, patient records, policies and procedures, and business communications).

For example, you may store university data on:

• Biola-owned computers
• File servers located in the university data center
• A Google Drive account for a Biola email address
• Other Biola-managed services (Examples: Canvas, CrashPlan, Confluence)

Do not store university data on any of the following:

• Personally-owned computers and devices
• Personally-owned cloud services such as iCloud and Dropbox
• Personally-owned email accounts

Exception: You may use your personal computer or device to access your Biola email account and other university cloud services.

Do not use your mobile device or personal computer to store university data or access university services without a security lock enabled. Device passcodes, thumbprints, and passwords are all acceptable forms of device security.

You may not store any sensitive information, FERPA-protected data, or personally identifiable information on an unencrypted storage device, including an external hard drive or thumb drive.