When working with College-related information (especially sensitive academic or business data) - , it is always preferable to use a College-owned and managed workstation; however, there are times when it may be necessary to use a personal device to get your work done.  Please have discussions with your supervisor or manager regarding whether or not a personal device is an appropriate solution for a 'work-at-home' arrangement.

In such cases, you should be mindful of the data you are handling and apply many of the same behaviors as you do with your College-owned computer and environment.

Considerations

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Voice Communications

• Determine the best way to handle voice communications.

  • Consider Google Meet, Google Chat for inter-office communications.

    • Google Chat is available directly in the Gmail window; or clients has desktop and mobile clients that can be downloaded.
  • The simplest solution may be to update your office phone voicemail greeting with appropriate, alternate contact information.
  • In some cases forwarding your office phone may necessary. Discuss this with your supervisor and workgroup.
    • You can forward your desk phone at the handset if you are forwarding it to a local number (remember to add the 7)
    • If you need to setup forwarding remotely or need to forward to a non-local number – you'll need to contact WCTS <phones@whitman.edu> to have this configured.
    • SPECIAL NOTE:  if you forward to a non-local number, long distance charges will apply to all inbound phone calls that are forwarded.
      

Privacy and security

• Whether you are in your home or a common area, take a few minutes to assess the privacy of your workspace. 

• Secure your workspace.

  • Can someone standing behind you read your computer screen? 

  • What information do you need to secure before grabbing a cup of coffee or heading to the restroom? 

    • Windows-key + L is a quick way to lock your Windows machine.

    • Command + Ctrl + Q for a recent Mac.

• It is generally not appropriate for non-Whitman employees to use College-owned computers.

If you are using a personal computer, consider setting up an additional user account to help keep work and personal files from sharing the same Desktop and Documents folder.  Both Windows and Macintosh computers allow you to easily create separate user logins.

• • Create Accounts on Windows 10
  • Set up Users on a Mac

Try to minimize downloading files to your local computer, if possible.  Pay close attention to the location of any files you download (most programs default to the Downloads or Documents folders).  Cleaning up downloaded files at the end of each work session is advised. 

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• Your personal privacy matters too - especially if you video conference with co-workers.  Check to see if there is anything around you that you would not want visible during a video conference. 

Special Network Considerations

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If you need to connect to IP-restricted resources (like Colleague, Millennium, K:drive, S:drive, etc.) you will need to connect to Whitman’s VPN.  

Please contact the WCTSHelp Desk for assistance in getting an account, installing the software, and the process for connecting to Whitman’s VPN.

Related articles

• Cloud Storage Guidelines
• Using Google Meet for meetings
• Secure File and Text Exchange
• Physically Secure Your Computer
• OUCH! - Information Security Newsletters

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