Back in the electronic dark ages — 1995 — Cornell, as always a bit ahead of the pack on this new-fangled Internet thing, issued the first comprehensive university information technology policy anywhere, titled "Responsible Use of Electronic Communications."

That policy could be boiled down to a simple rule: "You must be a good citizen when using the Cornell network," said Tracy Mitrano, director of information technology policy for Cornell Information Technologies (CIT).

Early in this century, CIT added policies on security and privacy and began a revision of "Responsible Use" that would evolve into an overall IT policy framework. And finally, "It's done," Mitrano announced. "People don't appreciate that it took 10 years." In part, she explained, this was because the technology as well as social norms kept changing, and in part because it involved many stakeholders.

"We had to reach outside to consult, to vet, to listen, to learn," she said. "There's much more in this framework now than in the single policy promulgated in 1995."

What's a "policy," anyway? Ideally, it is a set of rules to make decisions consistent across the university. Some policies are driven by laws, such as those protecting privacy of education records or requiring accessibility for those with disabilities. A policy can describe how Cornell implements the law, and in some cases, the existence of a policy is proof that the institution is complying with it. But policy can go beyond the law.

"It becomes the rules that define citizenship within our community, and we may establish a higher standard," Mitrano said.

But mostly, "I think of policy primarily as education," she said. "And we have done a lot of education as we moved the IT framework along in the Cornell community!"

You can find the revised policy, now titled "Responsible Use of Information Technology Resources," at http://www.dfa.cornell.edu/treasurer/policyoffice/policies/volumes/informationtech/responsibleuse.cfm.

And now that the framework is done, of course, "We getting ready to revise it," Mitrano concluded.