This article outlines the authentication and access policies at the university, including account types, access requirements, and password guidelines. It provides details on NetID, ADMNET/AD, Banner, and Guest accounts, as well as the procedures for requesting, managing, and troubleshooting account access.
Who is Eligible?
Active Faculty, Staff or Students
Account Types
- NetID – Primary account used for network access, email, MySAIL, and single sign-on identity. No form required.
- ADMNET/AD Accounts – Domain access account for employees and authorized users to access protected resources, Banner, classroom computers, and administrative forms.
- Banner – Enterprise resource planning system requiring an access request form.
- Guest Accounts – Required for Independent Contractors, Unpaid Interns, and Volunteers. Must be requested via the NetID Guest Account form.
Special Account Access for Students, Independent Contractors, and Volunteers
Student Employees may require special approval for access to some critical university services. Unusual account access for those who are not authenticated university constituents is typically handled as a Guest Account. Guest Accounts include Independent Contractors, Unpaid Interns, and Volunteers.
- Placeholder for Account Access Request Types (VPN Access Request for Students, Shares Access Requests for Students, AD account access for vendors)
- Placeholder for "Account Access Agency from Temporary Employees" article reference
Password Guidelines
Please note that by university policy, passwords should not be shared and care should be taken to protect the privacy of any password. These documents are guidelines for your password security
For more information regarding Banner Password Management guidelines, please see the related articles.
NetID Accounts
The NetID Account provides authenticated access to networks, email, and other resources. All active OU students, faculty, and staff are entitled to have an OU NetID for network access, email, resource access, etc.
Newly hired faculty, staff or admitted students can activate your NetID account, visit the NetID website and click the heading “Create Your NetID Account”. Your GrizzlyID and PIN are required to create your NetID/email account.
The NetID account will remain active while your relationship to the university is active.
- Student NetID/email accounts can be created by students when they are admitted to the University. Student accounts are moved to restricted access if a student has not registered for one year from the semester end date of the last semester of active registration. Students who stop out will also move to restricted access after the student has not registered for one year.
- Student NetID/email access will continue with no expiration date even under the restricted access.
- The restricted access allows previous students access to a limited set of services as outlined below:
- Students with questions about their student status can contact the Office of the Registrar at 248-370-3450 or by emailing regservices@oakland.edu.
- Staff NetID accounts are also moved to restricted access on the termination date entered by UHR, the Google account will be deleted on the last day of employment. The NetID will remain to access W2’s, payroll information, etc in SAIL.
- Staff members with questions about their status may contact University Human Resources at 248-370-3482.
- Faculty NetID/email accounts are also moved to restricted access after one year from the termination date entered by UHR, the Google account will be deleted after one year from termination date, then the NetID will remain to access W2’s, payroll information, etc in SAIL.
- Faculty with questions about their status may contact Academic Human Resources at 248-370-2195.
- Emeritus Faculty are able to keep their Oakland University e-mail and NetID accounts, but must renew the account each year. Monthly e-mail notifications are sent each year beginning in January and ending in April. The Emeritus Faculty e-mail and NetID accounts expire May 1st each year. Emeritus Faculty must also renew to keep access to library resources, etc.
- Full details can be reviewed on the Emeritus Account Information. The Office of the Provost enters an emeritus indication on the PEAFACT form in Banner.
- Faculty with questions about their status may contact Academic Human Resources at 248-370-2195.
- Guest NetID Accounts are sponsored by a department for individuals with a relationship to the university. Sponsorship must be renewed annually by the department. The guest account owner will be notified 45 days in advance of the guest NetID/email being deleted.
- Shared NetID accounts are associated with an owner. Shared accounts must be renewed annually by the owner. The shared account and the owner's account will be notified via email 45 days before the shared account will be deleted, if not renewed.
- To request a new Guest or Shared account or to renew, complete the electronic form at:
Forms - University Technology Services
- Select the "NetID — Shared Account Request Form" for creations, renewals, and deletions of shared NetID accounts
- Select the "NetID — Guest Account Request Form" creations, renewals, and deletions of guest NetID accounts.
- All types of accounts are expired and deleted 30 days after a person is recorded as deceased.
- The following documents are available by emailing uts@oakland.edu:
- NetID Password
- If you do not know your password or wish to reset your password, you can visit the NetID website or contact the OU Helpdesk, https://oakland.edu/helpdesk/
- Reactivate your NetID.
- The Reactivated NetID application is used by all previous faculty, staff and students. - i.e. those that were associated with the university (attended, graduated or left) - to reactivate their NetID’s to access transcripts, W2 information, pay stubs, etc.
- Full details are located here Reactivate NetID Application Help
- To Reactivate your NetID visit Reactivate NetID
NetID services include:
- Network Access: You can access the University network, including GrizzNet, GrizzNet-Secure, and the wireless network.
- E-mail: You can send and receive e-mail using your NetID account. Your e-mail address is netid@oakland.edu. You can check e-mail from public, home, or office computers. The preferred client for e-mail access is the Web-based interface at https://webmail.oakland.edu/. For information on how to configure other e-mail clients for use with your account, visit the Webmail Gmail Services section of the UTS website.
- MySAIL portal access.
- Moodle access.
Special NetID accounts are available for Guests or for departments as Shared accounts. These accounts require sponsorship that must be renewed annually; the accounts do not automatically renew. There is a one-time setup fee for the accounts and there is no fee to renew the account if the renewal is processed before the account expires
Active Directory (AD/ADMNET Accounts)
The Oakland University ADMNET and AD domain account provides access to the broad range of directory-based identity-related services. OU constituents log in to the local ADMNET/AD domain to obtain access to local computers, services, shares, and privileges.
ADMNET/AD accounts are created for faculty, staff, students, guest and shared accounts,
Existing students have an ADMNET/AD account. To activate the account, it is required to reset their password using NetID Password Manager utility located at NetID Password Manager. This utility will set the NetID, Google and ADMNET/AD to the same password.
Faculty and staff ADMNET/AD passwords are required to have password changes every 180 days; they should be reset using the “NetID Password Manager” found at NetID Password Manager. Students ADMNET/AD passwords do not expire, but they may be notified if their account password age exceeds our recommendations.
Employees who change roles and student employees who are terminated or change roles will keep their ADMNET/AD accounts. A ticket should be submitted to remove all security groups and access associated with the old position.
Banner Accounts
Active OU faculty and administrative staff who, as part of their duties, need access to university information in the Banner system may obtain an account. Banner is an enterprise system with many modules; users of the system generally only have access to modules and processes that align with position responsibilities. To determine what Banner access is needed, an employee may need to discuss work responsibilities with their supervisor, department chair, or with a Banner Data Steward (and the Data Steward will ultimately approve access). Data Stewards and their responsibilities are described in Policy #860 Information Security, with a table of contacts found linked from that policy.
Once access needs have been determined, the appropriate Banner Access Request forms must be completed and submitted (on the Forms menu under letter B).
Once a form is submitted, a review and approval process is initiated. A supervisor or department chair will approve the access request verifying that the request is appropriate for job responsibilities. The appropriate Banner Data Steward will approve the request based on data security and need to know standards. The form is then routed to UTS for completion. When all form completion requirements are met, access is granted.
Access to the Banner system is governed by strict guidelines. Oakland University takes measurable steps to ensure that information is protected and that those with access to information understand the rights and privacy of all constituents of the university.
Additional Support
- OU Technology Center
- 44 Oakland Center
- Rochester, MI 48309-4479
- (248) 370-4357
- Office Hours: M-F 8:00am - 5:00pm