Account Management Policy

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to establish a standard for the creation, management, and deactivation of the New York Institute of Technology account. The account provides access to electronic information and technology resources across New York Institute of Technology (New York Tech). It is used to access university computers and wireless network, nyit.edu email, file shares, VPN, my.nyit.edu portal, and many other services.

Scope

This policy is applicable to all individuals that require access to electronic information and technology resources at New York Tech. This policy covers only the New York Institute of Technology account. Email accounts and application-specific accounts for other university applications may be subject to different guidelines.

Definitions

Account

The account provided to you by New York Tech that grants access to centrally managed electronic information and technology resources across the university. A user's access and select associated privileges relating to access to electronic information and technology resources are secured and administered through this account. The account is your username (also referred to as your user ID) and your password.

Account Creation

A business process, managed by ITS, for creating the account and thus providing access to electronic information and technology resources at the university.

Account Deactivation

A business process, managed by ITS, for rendering an account inactive thus prohibiting access to electronic information and technology resources at the university.

Affiliate

Non-employees and/or non-students of the New York Tech community that require access to electronic information and/or technology resources. This may include, but is not limited to: guests, contractors, volunteers, observers, trustees, and other entities that have an official relationship with the university for some defined period of time.

Sponsor

An employee (faculty or staff) of New York Tech who requests an account for an affiliate. This person is the designated point of contact for ITS and will be responsible for reviewing affiliate accounts on a predetermined schedule. The sponsor is also responsible for the actions and electronic activity of the affiliate.

Username

The individual identifier of your New York Institute of Technology account; sometimes also referred to as user ID.

Policy Statement

New York Tech uses a unique username to represent the electronic identity of students, faculty, and staff, as well as other affiliates of the university. Each student, faculty, staff, or affiliate is assigned and provided a unique username. This unique username combined with a secure password is then used to generate the credentials needed to provide electronic access to university resources. In some cases, a second factor of authentication, in addition to the password, may also be required to securely authenticate to electronic information and technology resources supported by the university. Because the username is a unique identifier and becomes part of your electronic identity at New York Tech, only one username is provided to an individual at the time the individual initially assumes a relationship with the university. New York Tech reserves the right to change how the account is created, managed, and/or terminated at any time.

Account Changes

Because your username becomes part of your digital identity at New York Tech, ITS will only change a username on rare occasions (e.g., legal name changes). Requests for student name changes should be submitted to the Registrar; faculty and staff should request name changes through Human Resources. Once your official name change has been processed, you should then contact Information Technology Services if you wish to also change your username. All other requests to change your username without a corresponding change to your name, should be submitted to the ITS Help Desk along with a detailed explanation. These types of username changes are at the discretion of the Vice President for Information Technology.

Account Creation

In general, new accounts are generated nightly through automated processes. If the creation of your account results from an automated process, your username is generally the first initial of your preferred first name and the first seven letters of your last name. If your last name is less than seven letters, it will be your entire last name. If an account already exists using that naming convention, letters will be subtracted from your last name, if necessary, and appended with numbers starting with 01. The numbers will increment until the username is unique. If your username was manually created then other naming conventions may have been used (e.g., preferredfirstname.lastname). Your account should be activated as soon as possible after receiving your credentials (username and temporary password). If you need help with activating your account, please contact the ITS Help Desk. Your official New York Tech email address will be defined by your username (username@nyit.edu).

The account is created for the various constituents as follows:

• Students: Accounts for students who newly apply to New York Institute of Technology are automatically created through a nightly feed once their deposit has been received. For all other students, accounts are automatically created within 24 hours of registering for a class, becoming matriculated, or making a payment, whichever occurs first.
• Faculty (Full-time): Accounts for full-time faculty may be created up to a maximum of 45 calendar days prior to the official start date as registered in the Human Resource system. Required Human Resources onboarding documents must be completed and recorded in the university's Human Resource system before an account can be created.
• Faculty (Adjunct/Part-time): Accounts for adjunct/part-time faculty may be created up to 45 days prior to the official start date as registered in the Human Resource system. Required Human Resources onboarding documents must be completed and recorded in the university's Human Resource system before an account can be created.
• Staff: Accounts for full- and part-time staff may be created up to 45 days prior to the official start date as registered in the Human Resource system. Required Human Resources onboarding documents must be completed and recorded in the university's Human Resource system before an account can be created.
• Affiliates: Accounts for affiliates are manually created by ITS or an authorized New York Tech liaison. Identities are entered with an end date not to exceed 12 months or the work completion date—whichever comes first. The university sponsor is responsible for the management and oversight of requested accounts for affiliates.

Account Lock/Disable

In order to maintain the security of New York Tech's electronic information, ITS reserves the right to lock/disable any account, without advanced notice, if it has reason to believe that the account has been compromised or if the account is inactive for more than six months. If an account is locked for one of these reasons, ITS will attempt to contact the individual after the fact through other contact paths.

Account Deactivation

Accounts are deactivated when the individual ceases to have a formal role or relationship with the university. Under normal circumstances, the account will be deactivated according to the following schedule:

Students

Students will maintain their account and access to all the resources connected to it if they are registered for a class or on official leave from the university.

When you have completed your degree requirements or withdrawn for specific reasons (such as medical or military) you will retain access to your account for approximately 16 months after the last semester you were officially registered for classes. You will receive a notice sent to your official New York Tech email address one month before your account access is to be deactivated. If you are suspended, dismissed, or expelled from the university, access to your account may be suspended immediately and without notification.

If you are on an official leave from New York Tech, your account will remain active during that time. If you do not return within 180 days, you will be administratively withdrawn from classes, and your account will be deactivated approximately 16 months from that time.

You are responsible for backing up any personal data that you may have associated with your account (email, calendars, file shares, etc.). Otherwise, all data associated with the account will remain the property of New York Tech. Once access to your account is deactivated, New York Tech reserves the right to permanently delete any data associated with your account.

If a student dies while in attendance at the university, account privileges will be terminated immediately upon receipt of notification from the Dean of Students or General Counsel. Access to the account to retrieve personal messages and/or to conduct the business of New York Tech will be granted upon request by the appropriate administrator referenced above.

Upon request by the General Counsel, New York Tech employees may be provided access to data associated with your account to conduct the business of the university.

Faculty and Staff

Unless other provisions have been made, NYIT Accounts that belong to full-time faculty and staff (full-time or part-time) will generally expire at midnight on the last date of employment as recorded in the Human Resource system. NYIT Accounts for adjunct faculty will de-activated 12 months after the completion of the last class taught. Faculty and Staff who are dismissed from the university may have their NYIT Account suspended immediately upon notification to ITS from Human Resources.

Upon request by the Provost (for faculty), the Executive Director of Human Resources (for all other employees), or General Counsel (for anyone), other New York Tech employees may be provided access to data associated with your account to conduct the business of the university.

If a faculty or staff member dies while employed at the university, account privileges will be terminated immediately upon receipt of notification from the Provost (faculty), Executive Director of Human Resources (for all other employees), or General Counsel (for anyone). Access to the account to retrieve personal messages and/or to conduct the business of the university will be granted upon request by the appropriate administrator referenced above.

All data associated with the account will remain the property of New York Tech. Once access to your account is deactivated, New York Tech reserves the right to permanently delete any data associated with your account.

Affiliates

Account access will be automatically terminated on the end date identified on the account creation request, not to exceed one year (12 months). The university sponsor will be given the opportunity to review account access prior to termination in the event the relationship between New York Tech and the affiliate continues.

Some individuals have more than one affiliation with New York Tech—a faculty member may also be an alumnus, a staff member may also be a student, a staff member may be a part-time faculty member, etc. A person with multiple roles will receive the account that is associated with their primary role at the university.

Related Internal Policies

• Preferred Name Policy
• Ending Employment in the Employee Handbook, United States Based Employees
• Telecommunications and Information Technology Policy in the Employee Handbook, United States Based Employees