IdentiKey - FAQ

IdentiKey usernames are generated automatically by Identity Manager and consist of the first two letters of your first name, the first two letters of your last name, and four random digits. If you have a new legal name or privacy concerns, the letters in your login name can be changed to reflect your new legal name. Please contact the IT Service Center to request the change or refer to our privacy FAQ for more information. Requests to remove the digits or not following the algorithm cannot be accommodated at this time.

OIT will respect the privacy flag set in the Student portal (visit the Registrar's Website for more information about Student Privacy). This means we will not publish your email or contact information in the CU directories. Every employee privacy need is different; employees should work with campus HR and the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance to ensure their needs are met.

Further requests for privacy may include:

• Requesting a new IdentiKey username (note that this can be very disruptive to access to services and mail delivery)
• Requesting a new or additional email address (see FAQ question about alternate email addresses below)
• Changing published email address or display name

OIT will do our best to ensure privacy needs are met to the extent that we can. Requests are handled on a case-by-case basis at the time of request – no automated procedures or triggers update a display name, name attributes, or email address at this time.

Provisioning of an IdentiKey depends on your affiliation. Learn more about account creation.

You will use your IdentiKey to access a variety of IT resources on campus including email, computer labs, learning management systems (Canvas), and CU System Portals like Buff Portal and myCUinfo.

Your IdentiKey is a combination of your IdentiKey username and a unique password set by you. IdentiKey usernames are created automatically by OIT and composed of the first two letters of your first name, the first two letters of your last name, and four random digits. Passwords are created by you according to University security requirements.

If you need to reset your forgotten IdentiKey password, you will need your IdentiKey username and the answers to your security questions. Use the IdentiKey Manager - Forgot My Password tutorial to get started.

If you've never logged in to IdentiKey Manager and you need to reset your password, click on the Activate My IdentiKey button on the login page. You will be guided through the activation process that entails accepting a policy, setting security questions, and setting a password. Activation requires personal information like your employee or student ID number, date of birth, etc. Use the Activate Your Account tutorial for assistance. 

IdentiKeys must be activated through IdentiKey Manager. New faculty, staff, students, and affiliates should click on the Activate Your IdentiKey button on the login page. The activation process includes accepting a policy, setting security questions, and setting a password. Activation requires personal information like your employee or student ID number, date of birth, etc. Learn more, including how to find your employee number or SID on the Activate Your Account tutorial.

If you are an incoming first year undergraduate student at CU Boulder, you will be provisioned with an IdentiKey after receiving admission (usually February 1). You can follow the instructions on the Activate My IdentiKey tutorial, or you can activate your IdentiKey from the Application Status page in Slate. Log in to Slate and click the Activate Now button. For more information or assistance with Slate, visit the Admissions Office website.

Federal legislation and System Policy require employees to conduct university business on a university-owned or controlled email account. Specifically, university policy stipulates that for faculty and staff:

University records (including email) shall be maintained in a medium owned or controlled by the university. University business shall not be conducted on private web-based electronic mail accounts, except where conducting such business on a university owned or controlled electronic mail account is impracticable. Learn more about the Retention of University Records policy.

If you are not faculty or staff (students and alumni), you can route your email to an off-campus email provider by following the instructions in the Preferred Email and Calendar Service tutorial.

An alternate email address (sometimes called an alias) can be added or changed to your account.

• Adding an address: When we add an address, there is no loss in mail delivery and the student has access to the old mail and any new mail that is addressed to the old address.
• Changing an address: When we change an email address, the mailbox that the mail is delivered to does not change (you can think of it as a physical mailbox with a new PO Box number). The old email will still be there, however, there wouldn’t be a “forwarding address”, so you won’t receive any mail sent to the old email address.

To add an alternate email address to your account, contact the IT Service Center at 303-735-4357 or email oithelp@colorado.edu.

There are a number of common errors you may encounter when changing your password or answering/creating security questions in IdentiKey Manager. Visit the IdentiKey Manager - Known Issues page to see a list of errors including how to resolve each error.

If you get an error that’s not on the list, sign out of IdentiKey Manager, clear your browser cache, and try again. If the error persists, try to take a screenshot and contact the IT Service Center for assistance.

Secondary Accounts (previously Group accounts) are created for a group of people or a department so that multiple people can access systems or communicate on behalf of a group, instead of using their primary IdentiKey. Secondary Accounts are most often used for generic email addresses, resources like conference rooms, departments, clubs, or managing websites.

Secondary Accounts must be requested by a faculty or a staff member currently affiliated with CU Boulder. If the account is being requested for a student group, that group must be affiliated with the Center for Student Involvement and requests must come from them. Contact the IT Service Center to request a Secondary Account.

If you know who the account owner should be transferred to, email oithelp@colorado.edu and request that the account be transferred to that individual. Make sure to copy the individual you are requesting the account to be transferred to in your email and provide the individual’s first and last name and the department in which they are rostered. The password should then be changed by the new owner of the account.

If you do not know who the account owner should be transferred to, contact the group that the account was created for and obtain the name of the individual to whom the account should be transferred. You can then email oithelp@colorado.edu and request that the account be transferred to that individual. Make sure to copy the individual you are requesting the account to be transferred to in your email and provide the individual’s first and last name and the department in which they are rostered. The password should then be changed by the new owner of the account.

Email oithelp@colorado.edu and request that the account be disabled. Make sure to provide the exact name of the account as it is listed in your list of secondary accounts in IdentiKey Manager.

Email oithelp@colorado.edu and provide the exact name of the account as it is listed in your list of secondary accounts in your IdentiKey Manager.

When an employee or student leaves CU Boulder (resignation, retirement*, graduation*, discontinuation, etc.), they are no longer entitled to most Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace services, such as Google Drive and OneDrive. The exact date they will lose access to these services depends on the circumstances of their departure, but it is best to assume they will lose access immediately after their last day. For more information, please contact the IT Service Center.

There is no automatic process at this time to maintain shared documents and email workflows that may be important to business continuity. It is the responsibility of the employee’s supervisor or department HR liaison to inform OIT if they would like the user account disabled and access completely removed and shared documents archived or transferred to another owner.

* retirees and alumni will retain access to a CU Boulder email on Microsoft Exchange.

Separation, termination, POI expiration 
When an employee separates from the university for reasons other than retirement, the affiliation on the account will be removed and access to resources based on affiliation will no longer be accessible. Former employees will not retain access to their CU Boulder email. Some services will remain accessible to conduct some personal business with the University. Decisions about affiliations and individuals that keep or lose access to services are handled by the appropriate service owner.

Retirement  
When an employee retires, the affiliation associated with the account is converted to “Retiree” which will continue to grant access to many, but not all, services. Retirees will retain access to a CU Boulder email on Microsoft Exchange (Outlook). For more information, please see Microsoft and Google Access After Retirement.

Graduation 
When a student graduates, the affiliation associated with the account is converted to “Alum” which will continue to grant access to many, but not all, services. Alumni will retain access to their CU Boulder email through the Email For Life program. However, their email will be migrated to Microsoft Exchange (Outlook) shortly after their graduation. For more information, see Alumni - Changes to Microsoft and Google Access.

Unenrollment 
When a student is no longer enrolled with the University, the affiliation associated with the account is removed and access to resources based on affiliation will no longer be accessible. Some services will remain accessible to conduct some personal business with the University (BuffPortal, for example). Former students will not retain access to their CU Boulder email. Decisions about affiliations and individuals that keep or lose access to services are handled by the appropriate service owner.

Sponsorship Expiration 
When a sponsorship expires, the affiliation on the account will be removed and access to resources based on affiliation will no longer be accessible. Some services will remain accessible to conduct some personal business with the University. Decisions about affiliations and individuals that keep or lose access to services are handled by the appropriate service owner. Former sponsored affiliates will not retain access to their CU Boulder email. If you are unsure if your or your sponsoree's sponsorship is expired, please contact the IT Service Center at 303-735-4357 or email oithelp@colorado.edu.