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IT Exception Request

July 3, 2024

Over the past several months, McLennan Community College (MCC) has expanded our Cybersecurity footprint.

ISS focused on Security Awareness to help you understand the important role you play in keeping our campus safe. There’s now a whole suite of webpages to educate you about keeping you, your family, and our community safe. We completed a project to implement a logging and auditing tool ( Splunk) to help us quickly detect and eliminate potential Cybersecurity threats. ISS also implemented our Information Security Controls Catalog.

New Cybersecurity Manager

Our latest news is the hiring of the new Cybersecurity & Online Technologies Manager: John Segovia! John has a wealth of Cybersecurity knowledge, and we look forward to the contributions he will make as he leads and expands our Cybersecurity efforts. John will begin sending these newsletters next month.

What is an IT exception request?

Our controls are in place to secure our systems. Sometimes systems may have a valid reason for not meeting one or more of these standards. For these situations, we created an IT exception request, to help document and mitigate the risk. This is similar to requesting an “exception to the rule”.

When do I submit an exception?

Any exception to these security controls, or IT policy, must be requested by a current MCC employee and approved by Cybersecurity.

Examples of possible requests:

  • Administrator rights
  • Use out-of-date software
  • Use out-of-date operating systems (e.g. Windows 7, instead of Windows 11)
  • Unblock certain websites/countries from the firewall

Request an Exception

To request an exception, complete the  IT Exception Request (via Softdocs Etrieve). You will need to supply the following information:

  • Detailed description of the specific exception request
  • Business justification, or why you need the exception
  • Business impact, if the exception is denied

The exception request will be reviewed by Cybersecurity. You will be notified if your request is approved/denied or requires additional information to decide.

Term of Approved Exception

Approved exceptions will be valid for a period of time, as determined by Cybersecurity.

Appeal of Denied Exception

Should your request be denied, and you wish to appeal, work with your supervisor to appeal with the Chief Information & Technology Officer (CITO), Mario Leal.

We understand this is a learning process for everyone. If you are unsure if you need an exception, please feel free to ask us. We are happy to work through your concerns, with you.

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