Official E-Mail Policy for Students of Virtual University of Pakistan

	Published On:  Wednesday, October 31, 2012
“Any students indulged in these kinds of activities [Official E-mail Policy] will have their e-mail accounts blocked and will only be restored upon paying a fine / penalty as proposed by the University.” 1.      Use of email Email is a mechanism for official communication within the Virtual University of Pakistan.  The University has the right to expect that such communications will be received and read in a timely fashion in order to stay current with University-related communications.  2.      Confidential Information & Privacy Users should exercise extreme caution in using email to communicate confidential or sensitive matters, and should not assume that email is private and confidential.  It is especially important that users are careful to send messages only to the intended recipient(s).  Particular care should be taken when using the "reply" command during email correspondence. 3.      Impersonation It is a violation of University policies, for any user of official email addresses to impersonate a University office, faculty/staff member, or student.  4.      Security Users are solely responsible for security of their passwords. E-mail users are expected to keep their passwords secure by not sharing it with anyone at all, and frequently changing it. 5.      NTISB Guidelines In the light of National Telecommunication & Information Security Board's promulgated guidelines through Cabinet Division regarding POLICY FOR INTERNET, INTRANET, WEB-SITES AND E-MAIL IN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS, the following policy has been formulated by Virtual University of Pakistan. (a)    It is a violation of University’s policy to impersonate / imitate any of the official e-mail IDs of the University office, faculty / staff members or even students. (b)   All VU students should refrain from any political and / or religious discussions via VU e-mail accounts. (c)    Any mail with more than 20 recipients is prohibited. (d)   Do not participate in email chain letters. (e)    Do not send unnecessary large attachments. (f)    Do not spam other users by sending junk mail. (g)   Do not send messages to large distribution lists. (h)   Do not send email under names other than your own. (i)     Using your VU email for sending any messages that are irrelevant to your work specially ones that are “hate mail”, “critical to religious beliefs”, “hoaxes”, “disinformation”, “Politically motivated” etc., are strictly prohibited. (j)     Any students indulged in these kinds of activities will have their e-mail accounts blocked and will only be restored upon paying a fine / penalty and will be dealt with Student Disciplinary Rules of the University. (k)   All students should report such kinds of mails to VU on misuse@vu.edu.pk (l)     In case of severe violation, the University may report the case to NR3C / FIA cyber crime wing for further necessary action.