Identity Authentication For Student Portals

1. Gone are the days of initial passwords consisting of information your mail carrier knows! Learn how Anne Arundel Community College changed its process to set and reset student passwords to college computer lab and portal accounts while still complying with FERPA. Identity Authentication For Student Portals AACRAO Tech 2013 Tucson, Arizona Monday, July 15, 2013 Erin K. Reeder Assistant Registrar

2. About AACC • Community college in central Maryland (near Annapolis) • Established 1961 • FY12 enrollment profile • Credit enrollment 26,080 • Noncredit enrollment 29,522 • Combined unduplicated enrollment 53,476 • 49% of credit students took at least one online class Student Services Building

3. Ohhhh, But It Was So Easy! • Student passwords were not secure • Portal & computer lab (NT) = first four last name & last four SSN • Phone registration = birth month & day • FERPA told us to stop using commonly known information to authenticate users • HERA 2008 said we had to be sure of identity • Our NT account and portal passwords were not synced

4. How it Works. Short and Sweet. • Step 1: Apply (Credit or Continuing Education) • Step 2: Create an account • Step 3: Create a password

5. It’s Not Short and Sweet! • New Credit Students • Apply online • Apply on paper • New Continuing Education Students • Current Students (Credit and CE) • Deactivated Accounts • Faculty and Staff

6. 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

7. Internal Stakeholders • Registrar’s office • Continuing Education • Help Desk (Technical Call Center) • Network Security Administrator • Database Administrator • Database Programmers • Distance (Online) Learning Department • Dean of Enrollment Services • Admissions office

8. AACC Technology Background • Datatel/Ellucian Colleague • Datatel/Ellucian Recruiter online admission application • LuminisSungard portal (at time of implementation) • Datatel/Ellucian portal (as of May 2013) • Fischer identity management • 2 Colleague database administrators • 8 programmer/analysts • 2 technical Records & Registration staff

9. New Credit Students Online Admission Application

10. Apply Online We collect: • Demographic info • High school info • Previous college info (if applicable) • Program of study/major • Previous discipline and/or felony convictions • Answers to challenge questions • Other miscellaneous info

12. I Do Solemnly Swear.

14. A Few Minutes Later… An email is sent to the applicant’s home email account with instructions on how to request his/her college computer account (MyAACC and NT account)

16. College Account Request Formto get a user name/create accounts Uses information already provided by applicant to verify that the person who completed the application is the person accessing the college computer account (MyAACC and student NT account)

20. Three of These Don’t Belong

24. A Few Minutes Later… User name is created for MyAACC and NT account An email is sent to the applicant’s home email account with instructions on how to create a password.

26. Have a User Name? Great! Now Create a Password.

29. User names and passwords are synced

30. New Credit Students Paper Admission Application (provided home email address)

31. Paper application is entered into Colleague.A Few Minutes Later… An email is sent to the applicant’s home email account with instructions on how to request his/her college computer account (MyAACC and NT account)

33. Name Corrections We permit new students, never enrolled, to correct their legal name before we assign a user name. This also updates their record in Datatel Colleague. User names are assigned for life and do not change when name is updated in Colleague. In extenuating circumstances, a student or employee may request a new user name.

34. Answer Challenge Questions for the First Time

35. Verification Password was Provided in Email We use this because we didn’t know the answers to challenge questions until just a few seconds ago.

36. A Few Minutes Later… User name is created for MyAACC and NT account An email is sent to the applicant’s home email account with instructions on how to create a password.

37. Have a User Name? Great! Now Create a Password.

38. New Credit Students Paper Admission Application (do not provide home email address)

39. Same Process via Snail Mail • Students still use the College Account Request Form to create accounts • Instead of emails, students are sent mailers with same info

40. New Continuing Education Students

41. Same Process as Credit Students • Follows either email or mail process • Validation questions slightly different

42. So Yeah, I Lost My Email/Mailer… There’s a screen for that.

44. What We’ve Learned Since November • Students are notoriously bad with data entry • Email address • Date of birth • Mailing address • Students won’t request an account right away • Students will forget the answers to their challenge questions

45. We Could Only Help with that Last One • 4 chances to answer challenge questions correctly • Can clear answers • Email generated with verification password

46. A Few More Finishing Touches • Change message of original email to create the account • Email reminders to students who do not start process 2 weeks after first email sent • Email after request process has expired with info on how to start over Reminder!

47. Thank you AACRAO Tech 2013! Let’s go O’s!