Faculty/Staff NetIDs & Email

OTS helps faculty and staff gain access to the services provided by those accounts, and offers support via email, phone, in-person assistance, self-help documentation and self-help tools.

What is a NetID?

A "NetID" is the core computing account assigned to each faculty and staff member at Towson University. It consists of a username, email address, a password and a set of computing services to which the NetID provides access including:

• email
• online file storage
• file sharing
• web publishing
• chat
• videoconferencing
• remote access
• wireless access services

There are other types of faculty/staff-like NetIDs which offer a subset of services to:

• retirees
• faculty emeritus
• server administrators
• sponsored guests of the university

NetID Management

Several NetID management self-help tools are available to assist in tasks such as:

• activating a NetID for the first time
• resetting a forgotten password
• reviewing basic information about a NetID

All NetID holders should follow the university guidelines for responsible computing.

Getting a New NetID

You are eligible to receive a faculty/staff NetID if you are a:

• faculty member
• staff member
• retiree
• faculty emeritus

Faculty/staff can also sponsor "guest" NetIDs for vendors and visitors who need access to certain NetID services. The process for obtaining a NetID is dependent on the faculty/staff role.

Most faculty/staff will automatically receive a new NetID upon hiring. When your faculty/staff NetID is created:

• OTS will automatically notify you if your personal email address is on file.  
• Your supervisor will also be notified, if one can be identified.
• For new sponsored guest NetIDs, OTS will notify the sponsor of the NetID, who can inform the guest NetID holder.

For some faculty/staff, student employees and sponsored guests, a request to create a new NetID should be directed to OTS by submitting a TechHelp service request. Information about these types of NetIDs is available.

You can activate your new NetID by supplying basic information, choosing a security question and answer (to help with resetting your password if you ever forget it), and then setting your first password. After you set your password, you will be presented with some basic information about your NetID, and it will be ready for you to start using it.

Passwords

• NetID holders must maintain a password, and if forgotten, they can use a security question and answer previously chosen by them to reset that password. The same password is used by any Towson service that uses NetIDs for logging in.
• Passwords must be updated at least once every 90 days.
• Password expiration warning notifications will be sent automatically through email in advance. Never give out your NetID password to anyone - OTS staff never need your password.

Accessing Email

In partnership with Microsoft, the university provides TU faculty and staff with Microsoft Office 365-hosted email accounts. Email is accessible once you have activated your NetID.

To access your Office 365 email account:

1. Visit office.towson.edu
2. Enter your NetID and password, and log in.
3. Click the Mail icon to open your mailbox.

NetIDs After Leaving the University

• After a faculty/staff member's employment ends, their NetID will automatically be disabled in, and later purged from, the system.
• Retirees and faculty emeritus can continue to use their NetID after they leave the university, with a subset of services.
• For guest NetIDs, for some faculty/staff NetIDs that are sponsored, and for student employees, the sponsors will automatically receive an email one month prior to the NetID being disabled, and will have the opportunity to extend the expiration date up to one year.
• If the faculty/staff member returns to the university, they will be given the same NetID and email address.