Identity Management Project

Information Technology will implement a commercial Identity Management (IdM) system in early June 2009. IdM will replace the existing Network ID creation and password management application. IdM will provide SIUC Students, Faculty and Staff with new Network ID creation and management processes as well as new authentication and authorization tools

For the individual user this means an improved user interface including more advanced account management options. This will allow individuals to change passwords, reset forgotten passwords, and recover locked accounts without having to rely so heavily on the Computer Support Center for assistance.

IdM administrators and Computer Support Center staff will benefit from an improved administrator interface. This will give our administrative users the necessary tools to manage user accounts more efficiently, better controls over access to end resources, and faster response times to security related concerns.

Additionally, the IdM system will provide a new Enterprise Directory LDAP server (ED) which can provide authentication, authorization and personal information from a single system. No longer will end systems have to rely on manual processes or multiple authentication sources to function correctly. The IdM system will also populate our existing campus Active Directory (AD) with more complete details about each user account.

The IdM system will communicate directly with Banner (Student Information) and AIS (Human Resource Information) systems, so when a new student or employee appears in those systems they will be able to request their Network ID immediately. This is an improvement over the current Network ID system which relies on a manual processes to obtain student and employee data.

Network ID Policy Change

June 2009 will also bring changes to the policies governing the creation and management of the Network ID. Currently, the SIUC Network ID is a user selectable alphanumeric electronic identification that members of the Campus Community (Faculty, Staff and Students) use to access various network based resources such as e-mail, personal web pages, computer lab access, etc. The Network ID has become synonymous with the ‘@siu.edu’ e-mail address since the Network ID matches the first part of the e-mail address.

When the IdM system is brought online, the Network ID will no longer be user selectable but will become system generated. The format of the Network ID will be the alpha characters “SIU” combined with the individuals unique nine-digit University ID number (Dawg Tag). An example of the newly formatted Network ID will look like this: SIU850123456. This change will affect the entire Campus Community as all existing Network ID’s will also be converted to the new format.

For all existing Network ID accounts, your e-mail address WILL NOT change. For new accounts created after the June 2009 IdM implementation, individuals will receive a system generated Network ID but will be able to select their own customized “@siu.edu” e-mail address. For example; Sally Jones is a current student with a Network ID of “sallyj” and an e-mail address of sallyj@siu.edu. After June 2009, Sally Jones’ Network ID will become “SIU850999999” but her email address will still be sallyj@siu.edu.

After June 2009, Network ID’s will no longer be deleted when an individual severs ties with the University. Consequently the number of Network ID’s will increase year after year. By moving to a system generated ID, based upon your Dawg Tag, we will ensure that your Network ID will not be reissued during your lifetime.

We anticipate that this change may cause some confusion and inconvenience as it is enabled but long-term the implementation of IdM will improve the processes associated with access to SIUC computing resources.