Improvements to MyID processes take effect September 1, 2009

WRITER: Bert DeSimone, 706-338-9849, bert@uga.edu
CONTACT: Rehan Khan, associate CIO for EITS Application Development and Data Management, mrkhan@uga.edu, and Shawn Ellis, director of EITS Client Services, spellis@uga.edu

ATHENS, Ga.— Beginning September 1, current MyID owners who need to change their password, as well as those requesting a MyID for the first time, will see a new, improved process.

The UGA MyID is used by students, faculty, and staff to access a wide range of online services, including UGAMail, WebCT, MyUGA, and the Employee Self-Service Web site. All services related to the UGA MyID are accessed via the MyID Web site:

Visitors to the MyID Web site will see an updated opening page that will direct requests for new MyIDs, password change requests, and secret question management, to the new UGA Identity Manager System. This new identity management system has a wide range of applications for identifying UGA students, faculty, and staff and allowing them access to services; however, most UGA affiliates will see it as the way to manage their MyIDs.

Current MyID owners will notice that password changes will require that a new set of secret questions be set. Two sets of secret questions will be required, each providing different advantages.

One set of secret questions will be used for self-service password resets of a forgotten password. The other set will be used when requesting assistance via telephone at the EITS Help Desk, and other UGA departments requiring phone authentication/validation, thus eliminating the requirement to ask for the last four digits of the caller's Social Security number for identification.

For those requesting MyIDs, there is an improved process to expedite the issuing of MyIDs. New employees are currently processed through a paper system that often delays the MyID issuing process. The new process accommodates online approvals to ensure that new employees receive the access they need to online services in a timely fashion.

When visitors select the option to create a new MyID, they will see a privacy statement before being sent to the new request form. Visitors requesting passwords changes will log into the Identity Manager System using their MyID and current password.

These improvements to MyID processing are part of the overarching Identity Management Initiative at UGA. The Identity Management Initiative focuses on a systematic, multi-phased approach targeting an enterprise solution for managing, mitigating, and consolidating the UGA faculty, staff, and student identities, including the Social Security number; the UGA MyID, which is used to access email, online learning, and other electronic services; and UGACard Access Number, known as the CAN, which also serves as the UGA ID number.

The two principal goals of the initiative are 1) to create and sustain a managed and coordinated identity management foundation and 2) to eliminate reliance on the SSN as an identifier.

Interested individuals may also wish to contact Rehan Khan, associate CIO for EITS Application Development and Data Management, mrkhan@uga.edu, or Shawn Ellis, director of EITS Client Services, spellis@uga.edu.

About the Office of the CIO and EITS
The Office of the Chief Information Officer and Enterprise Information Technology Services (EITS) are committed to the mission of UGA as a land-and-sea-grant institution where academics come first and the research extensive university community encourages research efforts at the undergraduate and graduate levels. To that end, under the direction of the University´s Chief Information Officer, EITS endeavors to provide a robust, reliable, and secure information technology infrastructure, maintain essential production services, and offer world-class support.