UMass Amherst Information Technology

Students & most instructors

You will receive the appropriate SPIRE access automatically.

Staff, some instructors, & advisors

If your job requires you to work with student records in SPIRE, including advising, follow these steps for additional SPIRE access:

1. Complete FERPA Certification

FERPA (the Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act) is a federal law protecting the confidentiality of student records. All applicants for SPIRE for Staff or SPIRE for Advisors access must become familiar with the FERPA law and must complete FERPA Certification. We recommend that you take the online FERPA certification quiz as soon as possible.

2. Apply for additional SPIRE access

Log into SPIRE and navigate to Main Menu > My SPIRE > SPIRE Access Request. Follow the directions on the page, and your request will be sent to your department head and the Registrar’s office for approval. The table below contains descriptions of the types of access available, as well as the corresponding training requirements. If you need access that does not seem to fit into any of the training type descriptions, email us at spire-training@it.umass.edu.

3. Get SPIRE training

Once approved, we will email details of required training.

Access/Security Role in SPIRE	Description	Training Requirements	Training Mode
For Advisors Only
Academic Records for Advisors	View all academic and contact information needed to be an advisor. This and Navigate are all the access most academic advisors need!	Advising Foundations	In-person (2 hours)
Navigate	Navigate is an advising and retention tool utilized to support the undergraduate student population. All advisors to undergraduate students will need access to Navigate. Individuals supporting advising programs through appointment and office management will likely also need access. Note: Navigate is a unique student success management system that has quick links to SPIRE to best support advising needs.	Advising Foundations	In-person (2 hours)
Classroom Management
View Class Information in CAPS	View course & class offering and requests for changes in CAPS system.	CAPS	Online Training Course
Class Management using CAPS	View and update course and class offerings using the CAPS system.	CAPS	Online Training Course
Records & Enrollment
Academic Records & Class Rosters (SPIRE A)	View class schedules, unofficial transcripts, grades, GPA, academic statistics, test results, transfer information, personal information, academic requirements report (ARR) and class rosters.	SPIRE Academic Records	Online Training Course
ARR Exceptions	Add an exception to a student's degree requirements for the Academic Requirements report (ARR).	SPIRE Academic Records ARR Exceptions Training Guide	Online Training Course Self
Change Majors & Minors	Update student record to change a major, minor, track or honors (plans and subplans).	SPIRE Academic Records UMass Plan Change Training Guide	Online Training Course Self
Assign Advisors to Students	Assign specific advisors to students.	SPIRE Academic Records	Online Training Course
Service Indicators/Holds for Advisors or Staff	Place or remove service indicators/holds for students. Service indicators can limit access to certain functions such as registration or getting transcripts.	SPIRE Academic Records	Online Training Course
Enrollment Requests & Overrides (SPIRE B)	Enroll students in classes, drop or swap classes from a student’s schedule, add students to or change positions on class waiting lists, specify the instructor for an enrollment, change the instructor for certain types of classes, and modify the grading basis. Override class requisites, and enroll students in classes requiring instructor consent. Other topics include class rosters, data entry defaults, and instructor lookup.	SPIRE Academic Records Enrollment Requests & Overrides	Online Training Course Zoom Training
Academic Dean Functions / Credit Limit Overrides	Grant credit limit overrides, monitor student incompletes, view comments.	Dean’s Additional Functions SPIRE Academic Records	Online Training Course Online Training Course
Graduation Tracking & Clearance	Track and clear undergraduate students for graduation.	Grad Tracking	In-person (1.5 hours)
Student Directory Information	View publicly releasable information such as name, address, phone, email address, birth date, major, degrees & certificates, and athletic affiliation.	Student Directory Training Guide & Training Videos	Self
Undergraduate Reports	Using the SPIRE query system, view reports about course enrollment and departmental student data.	Undergraduate Reports Training Guide	Self
Graduate School
Graduate Milestones & Committees	View graduate students' milestones and committee data.	SPIRE Academic Records Graduate Milestones & Committees Training Guide	Online Training Course Self
Graduate Admissions Committee Member	Review admission applications via Graduate Application Review (does not have access to record admission decisions).	Must be Graduate Faculty	Self
Graduate Program Primary Support Staff Member	Review admission applications, record admission decisions, request SOL extensions, record load override, and access Grad School queries.	Training Guide	Self
Graduate School Queries & Reports	Using the SPIRE query system, view reports about course enrollment and departmental student data.	Training Guide	Self
Prepare Grad Student Appointments (GFAFs)	Enter job-specific information to initiate graduate student hiring process.	Training Guide	Self