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Conor Cunningham P5 P6 M2

Task 1
Use of Information P5
Southern Regional College has decided it is time to update the staff handbook as it is aware
that an increasing number of employees are handling data on a day-to-day basis
...

a) Section 1 should explain the following topics including how the organisation
administers these issues:


Legal issues in relation to the use of information
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(P5)

Introduction
This task will investigate the importance of SRC to uphold legal obligations and how they are
relevant to the colleges operations
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If
these acts are ignored, it could leave people at risk or in danger of doing something illegal
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Legal Issues
There are three legal issues which SRC must follow and not breach in any way
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Below
will look at each act in more detail
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Those
responsible for using data must follow a strict protocol
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They must ensure that the information is;


used fairly and lawfully



used for limited, specifically stated purposes



used in a way that is adequate, relevant and not excessive

Conor Cunningham P5 P6 M2


accurate



kept for no longer than is absolutely necessary



handled according to people’s data protection rights



kept safe and secure



not transferred outside the European Economic Area without adequate protection

https://www
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uk/data-protection/the-data-protection-act
The Data Protection Act is all about protecting the rights and privacy of people, ensuring
their information is dealt with accordingly and appropriately at all times
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All of the information they have on students is stored privately and not
accessible by the public
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This can be seen by the college, and the particular person in question
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Conor Cunningham P5 P6 M2

If SRC don’t comply with the act, it could lead to significant problems
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This could lead to court and potential fines
depending on the severity of the breach of conduct
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This act is taken very seriously and is in place at all times
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The policy shows the responsibility of everyone in the college in
correspondence with the act
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This ensures that data is handled according to
peoples data protection rights and is kept safe and secure
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Subsequently, this allows for a college which is safe and secure and where no individuals
data protection rights are in breach
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In order to comply with the legislation the College aims to ensure that
information about individuals is collected and used fairly, stored safely and securely and not
disclosed to any unauthorised third party
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http://moodle
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ac
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php?id=20120
Computer Misuse Act 1990
The Computer Misuse Act was passed by the British government and was introduced to
fight the growing threat of hackers and hacking
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The Act introduced three criminal offences:
1) Unauthorised access to computer material
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3) Unauthorised modification of computer material
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It reinforces how important it is to use computers safely and
in the correct way
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It has also means more people can be disciplined as a result of breaching
the act as the principles of the act are clearly highlighted
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legislation
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uk/ukpga/1990/18/contents
The SRC has an ICT Network Acceptance Use Policy which aims to make the computer
system within the college as safe as possible for all staff and pupils
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The Internet and Intranet are to be used in a manner that is consistent with the
College's standards
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Users should be aware that all data on the network will be monitored
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College
supplied e-mail addresses are not private
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All web content must be sanctioned by the appropriate authority before being
published
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Through their own policy, SRC comply with the Computer Misuse Act which ensures that
the act is being followed in every aspect of the college
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The SRC has strict rules which ensure that
the policy is followed
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The college work hard to ensure students are safe and
this includes computer restriction such as preventing the downloading of new software
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Conor Cunningham P5 P6 M2

As a result of everyone within the college knowing the correct protocol in accordance with
the SRC Network Acceptance Use Policy, allows for a safer environment
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SRC have this policy in place for a reason
and the guidelines within the policy must be followed to ensure an environment which is
safe and does not leave anyone at risk
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However, the Computer
Misuse Act does not allow for accidental misuse and any fraud is seen as an offence
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SRC must
ensure that all of their students sign their policy to keep them covered
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In this case, the student would be responsible
and no the college as a whole
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The act is clearly implemented to the policy of SRC and this can be seen from the way in
which SRC ensure that their students are aware of and follow the act without any form of
breaching it
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It does this in two ways:


public authorities are obliged to publish certain information about their activities;
and

Conor Cunningham P5 P6 M2


members of the public are entitled to request information from public authorities
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After a person requests information from an organisation, the public
authority must decide wether or not to release the information
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However, the Act does not necessarily cover every organisation that
receives public money
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Recorded information
includes printed documents, computer files, letters, emails, photographs, and sound or
video recordings
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If a
member of the public wants to see information that
a public authority holds about them, they should
make a subject access request under the Data
Protection Act 1998
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org
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This information may include student grades, contact details and
other personal information
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The Freedom of Information Act gives people the right to
request, in writing, information from public authorities
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This policy should be read in conjunction with the FOIA procedure for handling FOIA
requests set out appendix 1 below
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ii) Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIRs) – enables people to access to
environmental information
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In order to comply with the legislation the College aims to ensure that all information held
by the College is used, stored and disposed off in a manner consistent with Freedom of
Information legislation
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src
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uk/mod/folder/view
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If they can’t make a decision, they will seek guidance
from the College Information Officer or The Head of Human Resources and Management
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However, it is important that this
act isn’t confused with the Data Protection Act 1998
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The SRC do
however have to be careful that they do not give out private information to the public
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Giving out the address and contact details
of a student could cause many problems so permission by the person in question must be
given first
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The college has drawn up their policy in accordance to
the act which ensures they are not breaking or breaching any principles of the act
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Conor Cunningham P5 P6 M2

The SRC Freedom of Information Policy highlights the roles, duties and responsibilities of
everyone within the college
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This makes the college more secure as it ensures external organisations or bodies do not
see information they don’t need to see
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http://www
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gov
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Businesses have
the responsibility to develop codes of conducts and policies which ensure that all staff abide
by the rules, while keeping moral principles as one of the main focuses
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Acceptance Use Policy

Conor Cunningham P5 P6 M2

An acceptable use policy (AUP) is a document stipulating constraints and practices that a
user must agree to for access to a corporate network or the Internet
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An example of a business who does this would be SRC
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This outlines the rules and regulations in which
people follow
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It is clear that the Acceptance Use Policy has been implemented to the SRC Network
Acceptance Use Policy as it states “Users should be aware that all data on the network will
be monitored
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College supplied e-mail addresses are not private
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”
http://moodle
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ac
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php?id=20121
Internet
Also included in the SRC Network Acceptance Use Policy is the rules in relation to the use of
the internet within the college
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” And “All web content must be sanctioned by the

Conor Cunningham P5 P6 M2

appropriate authority before being published
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” are
both taken from the SRC Network Acceptance
Use Policy
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The college also promote the
correct use of the internet and that the internet
should not be used for un-educational
purposes
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“Using the College's resources (including
Internet and e-mail) for profit or private gain
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It reinforces that students
should be using the internet in the correct way
and for the correct purposes
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SRC
clearly recognise the importance of people using their own identity and this is part of the
agreement people sign at the start of every academic year
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User Ids and passwords will help maintain individual accountability for Internet
resource usage
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It is the responsibility of all network users to change their passwords regularly
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It’s abundantly clear that SRC take this policy very seriously as if anyone
does anything against what the policy states, it may actually cause problems for the college
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This goes against what the policy
states and this cause huge difficulties which are highlighted above
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It is
typically when an employee discloses information to an organisation such as a public body
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There is legislation to protect whistle-blowers as a result of this
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SRC highlights that it encourages all of its
staff to report their concerns of wrongdoing within
the college
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When concerns
are brought to attention, it can help the college
operate more fairly and lawfully
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Anyone raising a concern in the public
interest or the interest of the organization will be
protected from harm provided this is done in good
faith and follows the procedure outlined in this
document
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Organisational policies
Organisational policies are very important in any business
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The policies take in to account the company’s vision and
its daily operations
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They also provide clear direction for
the entire business
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Health and Safety policy
SRC have a Health and Safety Policy which recognises and accepts its responsibilities as an
employer
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This organisational
policy allows for a safer environment for everyone within the business
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It shows
people what is expected of them and the procedures they
must follow to ensure that “SRC maintains a positive health
and safety culture which raises awareness and secures the
commitment and participation of all staff to help us
achieve high standards of health and safety management
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SRC aims to have an environment which takes health and
safety very seriously
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This
organisational policy helps SRC fulfil those aims
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A business which uses this policy in a
number of ways across the organisation is SRC
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SRC must choose their students equally without any
form of prejudice or judgement
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The policy clearly highlights the importance of
equality within the college “The Equality & Diversity
(Students) Policy will ensure that every student has
the right to respect for their own background and
culture but equally respect that of others, such
learners are protected from discrimination and have equal access, where reasonable, to the
full range of college facilities and services
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” SRC works within related legislation to ensure that everyone
in the organisation is made feel comfortable when they are in the college, without any form
of fear
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The
college has a zero tolerance of harassment or intimidation of any individual or group
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P6
b) Section 2 should explain the operational issues in relation to the use of business
information within Southern Regional College; this could include how the
organisation ensures their information is secure
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(P6)
Operational issues
Security of information
SRC have to hold and ensure information is held securely
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Information which needs to be secure include;





Staff and pupil details - All personal and sensitive data in relation to staff and pupils
will have to be stored securely to ensure it is not being viewed by any others than
those who are a part of the college
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Disciplinary actions for students – This information will only have access granted to
the staff of the college
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Private details – Data and information such as a student’s disability, sexual
orientation or religion are private within the college and this information will remain
secure, not have the ability to be accessed by other
students
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SRC have an ICT Network Security policy which applies to all
staff and students
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” The policy
highlights the importance of network security across the
entire college
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The college is dependent on information and
information systems for all of its activities
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There is an obligation on the part of all users who have access to the colleges network to
take an active part in security and this policy will help all authorised users to understand and
fulfil their responsibilities where the use and security of the SRC network is concerned
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All information is to be used appropriately and securely by all members of the college
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This imposes a protocol for each and every individual
within the college and ensures that there is maximum safety for everyone at all times
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Backups
In order for SRC to have added security for all information, the college have back-up systems
in place
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These are the steps put in place to make sure
a company is capable of surviving something
unexpected
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SRC have a Risk Management policy which highlights
the risks within the college among all of the different
departments
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For example, “maintaining the corporate register”
and “undertaking an annual review of the
effectiveness of the system of internal control”
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Conor Cunningham P5 P6 M2

Vast amounts of information are backed up in case there is loss of work or potential
hacking
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However, throughout the year there are a few huge
back-ups which the college technicians carry out to ensure all information is as secure as
possible
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These operational policies – such as backing up data and information at all times –
ensure that the college operates as effectively, efficiently and securely as possible at all
times
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They have a fire alarm system as well as other emergency services available at the touch of
a button to ensure that all students, staff and visitors can be as safe as possible in the work
place as well as having their health needs met
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Training is not just important for the
teaching of students but so that tutors know the correct protocol in emergency situations
such as a fire drill or even a bomb scare
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The policy highlights the way in which all members
of the college should conduct themselves in the college
which ensures the highest degree of health and safety
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“Southern Regional College (SRC) recognises and accepts
its responsibilities as an employer for ensuring, so far as is
reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of
our students, College staff (while at work) or any other
person who may be affected by what we do
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It’s important to remember that health and safety is an issue online too
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To do this, SRC has blocked unsuitable websites which will not
be of any help to student learning
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Conor Cunningham P5 P6 M2

Organisational policies
Organisational policies are extremely important in SRC
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It means that the college is fair
as each policy applies to everyone
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An example of a policy which SRC have in place is the Admissions Policy
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Places
ware offered subject to availability on any course of study
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The admissions
procedure takes account of all aspects of an applicant, not just an applicant’s academic
profile to ensure equality of opportunity for all
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For example, age, ethnic origin,
disability, sexual orientation or religion
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It’s vital in the success of SRC that they have operational policies in place
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Having policies such as the Admissions Policy highlighted above, SRC have
a document to rely on if they ever need to fall back on it
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Business continuance plans
In order for SRC to remain competitive, there must
always be developing business plans
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Trying to accomplish this,
the college will try to introduce new courses, expand
or build new campuses
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This was a huge business continuance plan
which took years of thought and negotiation
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This is also an example of a business continuance plan
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This will
involve information being exchanged between many different departments across the
college to see the different opinions of those involved in the decision
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Costs
In SRC and indeed in any college/business, costs are always something which has to be
considered
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SRC would have many
costs such as learning resources, new builds, expansions and catering
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Additional resources will be required throughout each year
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These costs will aid the learning of the students as well as help tutors deliver
their subject knowledge
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Cost of development is a major expense; however, it may be worth it as it will
help with the future of the college
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The individual will have to contact at least three different companies before making a
booking
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This is all
about cost cutting and helps businesses like SRC save thousands of pounds each year
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For example,
SRC must decide upon the cost of some of their courses
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Costs are a huge thing to be considered in almost every aspect of the college
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Impact of increasing sophistication of systems
There are many systems in place across the college
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Conor Cunningham P5 P6 M2



Training staff in way to improve teaching; SRC have a teacher training conference at
the beginning of every year to help tutors learn new ways of teaching
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This will
ultimately lead to greater knowledge of course content as well as extended skills
which can be passed on to students in the college, increasing grades
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For example, subjects such as Art and ICT may require more
sophisticated software so SRC may want to invest in this to improve the subject
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There should
be tight control over the way in which information can be accessed and used
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

Offering more facilities to students; Accommodating students with disabilities is
something SRC excel in
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These facilities mean systems are
more sophisticated so more people can be accommodated for
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SRC must always look for ways to improve, whether it be to develop
new software, to offer more training for staff or to offer more help for students
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In
order for this information to be used effectively, the college has adapted legal, ethical and
operation issues
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It will also look at the different policies within SRC, looking at the factors
involved in each, how they are related and how each one contributes to their purpose
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Legal issues
Legal issues protect both the SRC from legal actions and the students from harm
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It is important
that these acts are followed and adhered to which will ensure the protection of everyone
within SRC
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The three policies studied are;




Data Protection Act 1998
Computer Misuse Act 1990
Freedom of Information Act 2000

Conor Cunningham P5 P6 M2

There are advantages of SRC having legal issues in place
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This will mean
that external companies will be more willing to work alongside SRC as they know that any
information they give will be kept secure and confidential
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SRC would not be able to operate without legal issues
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It costs SRC money to keep all of this information stored
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Another disadvantage would be that it is
expensive to have secure operating systems and back up to make sure all of the information
is safe
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Data Protection Act 1998; This act controls how people’s information is used and dealt with
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This act is really important in SRC as it ensures that people within the college use
information fairly and lawfully and that it is used in a way that is adequate, relevant and not
excessive
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This act contains
legal information such as the information used within the college is to be handled according
to people’s data protection rights and kept safe and secure
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It means that people feel safe in the college as they feel that their
information is being used accordingly and appropriately for its purpose
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Having this policy in place also provides
stability and protection for the college as any issues or concerns a person may have can be
referred back to this policy so it keeps things right at all times
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In
accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, SRC would not give this information out
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It
ensures that the internet and related technology is used as safely as possible and that
people are using the internet appropriately at all times
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The purpose of this act is to
ensure the correct behaviour of everyone within the college online and when using the

Conor Cunningham P5 P6 M2

computer
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It makes people feel safe within the college as they know that the
system is well protected and that if anyone was misusing their computer, it would be
detected by the college
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For example, having to install software that will detect any misuse
of computers
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However, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages as this policy means that there is a
strict protocol within the college and everyone knows how to behave when using the
internet or related programs
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This act is followed strictly in SRC
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The main advantage of having this act in place is that it ensures a safer
environment for all
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It’s important that people feel secure giving their
information to SRC and this act reinforces the importance of the correct handling of
information in SRC
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Ethical Issues
Businesses have the responsibility to develop codes of conducts and policies which ensure
that all staff abide by the rules, while keeping moral principles as one of the main focuses
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SRC must ensure that they have written policies in place to meet all ethical issues and that
policies are enforced
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It is also important that the SRC public image is one where no one is discriminated
against and that everyone regardless of their race, religion, gender and sexuality are not
discriminated against
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An advantage of SRC having ethical issues in place would be that it promotes strong team
work and productivity
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Ethical issues

Conor Cunningham P5 P6 M2

also promote a strong public image which is extremely important in SRC as it needs to look
good to ensure they have new students interested to enrol
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For example, a
person may feel passionate about a football team and love to wear clothing associated with
it
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However, the purpose of ethical issues in the college is to set
up rules and protocol which must be followed so it does give structure to the college and
everyone is given the same treatment so it is definitely a positive thing that they are in
place
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The policies take in to
account the company’s vision and its daily operations
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The
purpose of operational issues are to provide clear direction for the entire business
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Operational issues are vital to the efficient running of SRC
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For example, they ensure the security of information and it is vital to back up
information at all times
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They set direction for the business and this is followed
up by good strategic decisions
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Disadvantages of operational issues are the additional costs required to maintain them
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Operational
issues can prevent people from carrying out tasks
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As well as this, operational issues are expensive to
maintain and keep up
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They provide clear direction for the college and can help the college
in a lot of cases
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It’s with these policies that have
allowed SRC to become the successful business it is today

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