2012
Edgewood College
Prepared by the:
Information Technology
Services Office
[GUEST USER ACCOUNT POLICY
& PROCEDURES]
Contents
Purpose ..........................................................................................................................................................................2
Systems Available for Guest Access ...........................................................................................................................2
Overview ........................................................................................................................................................................2
Account Request Process ...........................................................................................................................................2
Account Access Granted ............................................................................................................................................3
Guest Accounts for SharePoint Search Committee Members ........................................................................................3
Guest Accounts for Blackboard Course Instructors ........................................................................................................4
Guest Accounts for Groups, Organizations & Special Events .........................................................................................5
Guest Accounts for Board of Trustee Members .............................................................................................................6
Revision Table ................................................................................................................................................................7
Purpose
To provide non-Edgewood community members access to Edgewood technology resources on a limited basis with a
defined account expiration.
Systems Available for Guest Access
Guests with a current Edgewood sponsor may request access to Edgewood College technical resources. Systems
available for guest access include, but are not limited to the following:

Blackboard course management system

Active Directory

SharePoint

Email

ePortfolio system

And any other associated files and software
Overview
This section outlines the overall process that will be followed for setting up guest accounts for non-Edgewood
community members. ‘Guests’ include anyone who is not currently a member of Edgewood College’s staff, faculty,
student, or alumni populations. Procedures for specific guest account scenarios are also included in this document.
Account Request Process


The guest user is identified by an office or department requestor
o Any request for guest user access must be submitted by a current faculty or staff member.
Approval obtained from Edgewood sponsor
o For each guest account, the current office or department supervisor must approve of the access
in a written or digital format.

Expiration date for access established
o As a best practice, the IT Services Office prefers to see expiration dates no further than 60 days
out from the date the account is set up for special events and search committee members. For
guest lecturers needing access to Blackboard courses, a grace period of up to 1 month after the
end of the term is allowed. Unless a set expiration is provided, the guest account will not be set
up.

HelpStar service request created
o Requests for temporary accounts should be submitted electronically via email to technologyassistsance@edgewood.edu. For certain scenarios, the requestor must be a specific Edgewood
staff or faculty member to be accepted. For example, Search Committee Member access can only
be requested by Edgewood Human Resources staff and Special Event access for groups can only
be requested by the Edgewood Events & Conferences staff. Those specific situations are
explained in the following sections of this policy.
o The email request should include the following information:
 A short statement explaining the need for the access
 The guest user’s full name
 The name of the office or department that person is working with
 The name of their Edgewood sponsor

 The expiration date that guest user’s account should expire.
If all the required information is not included in the electronic request, the request cannot be processed
until the missing information is sent to the appropriate parties.
Account Access Granted

Access will be granted only after the user acknowledges Edgewood College’s Acceptable Use Policy either
in written or digital form.

Account username and password information will be relayed to the office or department requestor for
distribution to the user.

Following completion of the term of access, the IT Services Office will confirm the account has been
deactivated on the appropriate expiration date.
Guest Accounts for SharePoint Search Committee Members
This is the process that will be followed for setting up guest accounts for non-Edgewood community members who
are recruited for Edgewood College search committees. ‘Guests’ include anyone who is not currently a member of
Edgewood College’s staff, faculty, student, or alumni populations, and the Board of Trustees.



This process is only for people who are current members of active search committees run by the Human
Resources Office (HR).
These accounts will be logons only so they can access SharePoint resources. These accounts will not have
email accounts/mailboxes associated with them.
HR will manage the SharePoint permissions for these accounts independently once the Active Directory
account is made.
Requests for Search Committee Member access must be submitted by the Director of Human Resources via email
to the Technology Assistance Center (TAC) at technology-assistance@edgewood.edu. Requests from other
members of the Edgewood College community will be directed to work with Human Resources to resubmit their
request through HR. These email requests will always require the following information be included:
o
o
o
o


A short sentence that states the account is needed for a search committee member.
The guest user’s full name
The name of the search committee that person is serving on.
The expiration date that guest user’s account should expire. This can be the date the search
committee is anticipated to conclude. IT prefers to see expiration dates no further than 60 days
out from the date the account is set up.
i. If it is found later that the expiration is not long enough, IT can always extend that
expiration date by the Director of Human Resources emailing TAC at technologyassistance@edgewood.edu and requesting an extension for a particular search
committee, and including a new expiration date.
If all the required information is not included in the email to TAC, the request cannot be processed until
the missing information is sent to TAC.
Once an account is set-up, a member of the Information Technology Services Office (IT) will email Human
Resources with the user log-on and password. This email will come from an IT staff member’s email
account. We are doing this so that the password information will not be saved in our Help Desk system for
others to reference.
o HR is responsible for letting the user know their log-on information, SharePoint permissions, and
what websites they have access to.
o
HR is responsible for maintaining a list of expiration dates and usernames if that is a piece of
information they want to be aware of.
Support for Resetting Passwords, and Expiration Extensions


If a user with an account already set-up is experiencing issues logging on, it is expected that they will
contact HR. The Director of Human Resources will relay the need for password resets, extensions of
expiration dates, or other unforeseen trouble-shooting to TAC via technology-assistance@edgewood.edu.
o IT will not be working directly with the non-Edgewood College users on the search committees
with account issues, unless it has first been brought to our attention by the Director of Human
Resources.
o IT will direct any search committee members to HR in the event they contact us without the
Director of Human Resources first contacting IT.
The technicians at the Technology Assistance Center (TAC) will not be able to personally reset the
passwords or extend expiration dates on these accounts. This function will be limited to Enterprise Level
Administrative staff in the IT Services Office. However, all requests should still be emailed to technologyassistance@edgewood.edu, as they will route the request to the most appropriate staff member in IT.
Internal Troubleshooting and Escalation




These accounts will be housed in the ‘Employee Search Committee’ OU housed here:
‘edgewood.edu\Specialized or Disabled Accounts\Temporary Accounts\Employee Search Committee’.
This OU, and all the accounts that will be in it, are not visible to TAC staff. The administrative assistant, or
systems and network staff, will need to maintain these accounts. This includes, password resets, disabling
and enabling of the accounts, and expiration adjustments.
TAC may be responsible for trouble-shooting issues between HR and these users if there are unforeseen
technical issues for these users that are not related to account administration directly.
If TAC receives contact from a user that they can’t find in the system, it is expected as basic troubleshooting for them to ask the user what their current role with the college is: Are they faculty, staff,
student, alumni, or search committee member?
o If they are a search committee member, and there is not a currently open HelpStar ticket from
HR regarding their issue, TAC should (1) instruct them to contact HR, in which case they can
provide the Director of Human Resources’ contact information.
i. If for some reason they state they have already contacted HR, but didn’t have a
response, then you can start a new HelpStar request that will be escalated to the
Administrative queue with the below information:
1. A short sentence that states the request is regarding a search committee
member.
2. The person’s full name.
3. The name of the search committee that person is serving on.
4. A statement of the problem.
5. Their contact information: an email address and a phone number.
Guest Accounts for Blackboard Course Instructors
This is the process that will be followed for setting up guest accounts for non-Edgewood community members who
are recruited to teach or assist in teaching Blackboard courses. ‘Guests’ include anyone who is not currently a
member of Edgewood College’s staff, faculty, student, or alumni populations, and the Board of Trustees.
Requests for Blackboard course access must be initiated by the user by first contacting the Academic Dean’s Office
for approval. The Academic Dean’s Office must then request the account for the user via email to the Technology
Assistance Center (TAC) at technology-assistance@edgewood.edu. Requests from other members of the
Edgewood College community will be directed to work with the Academic Dean’s Office to resubmit their request
through that venue. These email requests will always require the following information be included:
o
o
o
o



A short sentence that states the account is needed for a Blackboard course.
The guest user’s full name
The expiration date that guest user’s account should expire. This can be up to 30 days after the
end of the term, but no longer than 30 days.
Contact information for the user: an email address and phone number.
If all the required information is not included in the email to TAC, the request cannot be processed until
the missing information is sent to TAC.
Once into the HelpStar system, the request will be escalated to the Systems & Network/ERP staff to
create the account using a CSV file into Active Directory and Blackboard.
Once an account is set-up, a member of the Information Technology Services Office (IT) will email the user
with their log-on and password.
Guest Accounts for Groups, Organizations & Special Events
This is the process that will be followed for setting up guest accounts for non-Edgewood community groups holding
an event on the Edgewood campus, which requires access to technology. ‘Guests’ include anyone who is not
currently a member of Edgewood College’s staff, faculty, student, or alumni populations, and the Board of Trustees.
Requests for special event access must be initiated by a member of the Edgewood College Special Event’s staff.
Requests should be sent via email to the Technology Assistance Center (TAC) at technologyassistance@edgewood.edu. Requests from other members of the Edgewood College community will be directed
to work with the Special Events staff to have their request submitted through that venue. These email requests will
always require the following information be included:
o
o
o
o





A short sentence that states the account is needed for a Special Event.
The organization or group name
The dates the group will be on campus
The expiration date that guest user’s account should expire. This should be within 2 days of the
group’s last day on campus.
If all the required information is not included in the email to TAC, the request cannot be processed until
the missing information is sent to TAC.
Once into the HelpStar system, the request will be escalated to the Systems & Network/ERP staff to
create the account using a CSV file into Active Directory and Blackboard.
Once an account is set-up, a member of the Information Technology Services Office (IT) will email the
Special Events staff with their log-on and password.
If a group comes on a regular basis, the account should not be kept on indefinitely. If a group is off
campus for more than 30 days, the account will be deactivated, and Special Events will need to request a
reactivation when the group returns.
All copying and printing charges accumulated by group or organization using their provided log-on will be
charged to Special Events. It is up to the Special Events staff to invoice the group independently if that is a
cost they want to recover.
Internal Troubleshooting and Escalation




These accounts will be housed in the ‘Temporary Accounts’ OU housed here: ‘edgewood.edu\Specialized
or Disabled Accounts\Temporary Accounts\Temporary Accounts’.
This OU, and all the accounts that will be in it, are not visible to TAC staff. The administrative assistant, or
systems and network staff, will need to maintain these accounts. This includes, password resets, disabling
and enabling of the accounts, and expiration adjustments.
TAC may be responsible for trouble-shooting issues between Special Events and these users if there are
unforeseen technical issues for these users that are not related to account administration directly.
If TAC receives contact from a user that they can’t find in the system, it is expected as basic troubleshooting for them to ask the user what their current role with the college is.
Guest Accounts for Board of Trustee Members
This is the process that will be followed for setting up guest accounts for non-Edgewood community groups holding
an event on the Edgewood campus, which requires access to technology. ‘Guests’ include anyone who is not
currently a member of Edgewood College’s staff, faculty, student, or alumni populations, and the Board of Trustees.
Requests for Board of Trustee access must be initiated by a staff member from the President’s Office. Requests
should be sent via email to the Technology Assistance Center (TAC) at technology-assistance@edgewood.edu.
Requests from other members of the Edgewood College community will be directed to work with the President’s
Office to have their request submitted through that venue. These email requests will always require the following
information be included:
o
o



A short sentence that states the account is for a new Board of Trustee Member.
The Board of Trustee member’s full name
Board of Trustee Members receive access to the Edgewood College network through an Active Directory
log-on only. There is no mailbox associated with these log-ons. Access to the Board of Trustee’s intranet
site is not set up by the IT Services Office. The President’s Office is responsible to ensure that once the
accounts are set up by IT, that the proper website/SharePoint permissions are applied to each user.
No expiration date is set on Board of Trustee accounts. It is the responsibility of the President’s Office to
provide current lists of the Board members for IT to disable and create accounts accordingly.
Once the account is created, IT will provide a spreadsheet of log-on information to the President’s Office.
It is the responsibility of the President’s Office to relay the information to the users in an official letter or
notification as they see fit.
Internal Troubleshooting and Escalation



These accounts will be housed in the ‘Board of Trustees’ OU housed here: ‘edgewood.edu\Users at
Edgewood College\Board of Trustees’.
This OU is visible to TAC staff, and TAC can perform basic trouble-shooting on these accounts, such as
password resets. Disabling, enabling, and creation of the accounts will be done by administrative or
systems level staff.
TAC may be responsible for trouble-shooting issues between Special Events and these users if there are
unforeseen technical issues for these users that are not related to account administration directly.
Revision Table
Date
1/23/2012
Revised By
Stephanie Wippermann