Accounts: UnityID
Please visit http://itd.ncsu.edu for official documentation.
Creation
All NCSU faculty, staff, and students have accounts automatically created for their usage. For faculty and staff, these accounts are created within 24hrs of their HR paperwork being completed and approved by Human Resources.
For students, ......
Format
Your Unity ID has 8 or fewer characters and is automatically generated from your name in a two-step procedure:
- A string of letters is created using the initials of your first and middle names and the first six letters of your last name, all in lower case.
- If this string matches one previously created for someone else, the last letter will be replaced with or followed by a numeral. Here are some examples:
- George William Abernathy's would be "gwaberna."
- Mary Jones Smith's Unity ID would be "mjsmith."
- Melissa Jane Smith's would be "mjsmith2" because of the duplicated letters.
If you don't know your Unity ID, it may be frustrating or time-consuming to try guessing it, since it might contain a numeral. Contact the NC State Help Desk during normal business hours if you need help determining it.
Usage
Using your Unity ID together with your password, you can:
- Access your campus-based email.
- Access any workstation in a Unity or Eos lab.
- Manage files in your personal AFS file space.
- Access certain NC State web pages that are not available to the public.
- Access the Pack Tracks system (http://www.ncsu.edu/registrar/) to register for classes, review your class schedules and waitlist status, view your transcript and make address changes.
- Read articles on electronic reserve through Library Services (http://www.lib.ncsu.edu).
- Turn in homework electronically using tools such as WebAssign.
Passwords
NC State University employees have access to powerful online, web-based services that provide convenient access to personal information and confidential data. The number and sophistication of such services is increasing rapidly. Keeping this data secure is a priority for the university, and it is a responsibility that is shared by all of the members of the university community.
The primary means of restricting access to this data is via your online credentials--your Unity username and password. The Resource Management and Information Services (RMIS) division, and the Information Technology Division (ITD) have been working on developing standards and guidelines for passwords, and will be implementing these changes over the next few months. These changes will include a requirement for faculty, staff, and students to change their passwords on a more regular basis--at least one time per year.
More information on password standards is available at
http://www.ncsu.edu/security/prr/computer-use/PasswordStandard20070509.doc
Initial Password
Your initial paswd is: the last four digits of your Campus ID number plus the four digits of your birth month and day. For example, if your Campus ID number ends in 1234 and your birthday is January 31, then your initial password is 12340131.
Change Password
Once I've come up with a new password, how do I replace my old one? You can change your Unity password online by filling out and submitting the form found at https://sysnews.ncsu.edu/passwd/.
It may take up to one hour after you change your password for the new one to take effect. If you log in and your new password does not work, try the old one. Being logged in under the old password will not keep the new one from becoming active.
Reseting Passwords
Have you ever called up the HelpDesk, and when asking for your password to be reset, been told that you have to come in and present an ID in person? Would you like to avoid that in the future?
The University Help Desks use will now use the new User Identification and Authentication (UIA) system. The information you supply to the UIA web application is used to remotely identify customers requesting password resets or other changes wherein positive identification is necessary.
All faculty and staff should use the UIA web page to enter three security questions and answers. When, on a later date, you need to call a University Help Desk with a request requiring positive identification such as a password reset, the help desk staff will access these questions and answers to identify the calling customer. If the customer cannot answer his or her questions correctly, or has not entered the questions and answers, University Security Policy requires the customer to appear at the help desk to have his or her password reset.
All customers who have already entered their three questions and answers in the previous UIA application will not be required to re-enter them again in this upgraded version.
The UIA system can be found at https://www.acs.ncsu.edu/scripts/authentication/UIA_Main.pl
Deactivation
Student accounts are deactivated on census day (the last day of drop-add) of the first semester that a student is not registered. When an account is deactivated, no one will be able to log in with that userid or have access to files stored under it. (See notes below on "Extended access for newly graduated students.")
Accounts are deleted one year after account deactivation.
For example, if a student is not registered by census day of the spring semester his or her account will be deactivated. If that student is also not registered by the following fall semester's census day, the account will be deleted. Summer is not considered a separate semester for this purpose.
Extended access for newly graduated students
All recent graduates' retain access to their e-mail and Unity/Eos file space for four months after graduation. This policy is being offered as a courtesy to help the many students who use e-mail and Web resumes as part of their job search and career planning strategies. While recent graduates will not be able to login to public workstations in campus computing facilities (such as Unity labs) after graduation, they will be able access e-mail and file space remotely; Web pages on the www4.ncsu.edu server will remain accessible via the Internet while accounts are active.
Access can be further extended under the following scenarios:
1) If you are currently working towards another degree and have completed all your course requirements but will not attend commencement until next semester:
Have your advisor email us at "help@ncsu.edu" advising us of the situation and providing your Unity userid. Upon receipt, we will extend Unity account access to you while you await graduation and after commencement, the standard four months of "graduate" access to your Unity account will be provided.
2) If you are currently attending graduate school and been given an official leave of absence from graduate school:
Have your advisor email us at "help@ncsu.edu" advising us of the situation and providing your Unity userid and the date the leave expires. Upon receipt, we will extend Unity account access to you during your leave of absence.
3) You are currently working with a department on campus but are not on the the University payroll:
Your department can enter you into the Peoplesoft HR system as a "No Pay" employee so that you can maintain your account access. As long as you have an active assignment in the HR system, your account will remain active.
ECE requires that you have a faculty sponsor (your advisor) for this to be implemented.
4) You are not currently enrolled, but you plan to return to your studies at some time in the future:
In this case, your unity account will be disabled, but not removed from the system. If you subsequently re-enroll within one year, your Unity account will be automatically reactivated with its current password and all files intact.
We will be happy to implement forwarding on your Unity email account for five months. To have the forwarding service set up, please go to
https://sysnews.ncsu.edu/tools-bin/usmdb-forwards
and follow the instructions on the page. If no forwarding is implemented on your Unity email account, messages sent to your Unity address from off-campus locations will bounce back to the sender after your account is deactivated.