Subsidiary IT Accounts


On this page:

 

Subsidiary Accounts are additional accounts, associated with a primary NetID, that can be requested by faculty and staff and are used for various purposes including departmental or academic projects, cross-group collaborations, student employees, and service/application accounts for servers. When subsidiary accounts are created, they are classified into a subsidiary account category (Course Account, System Account, Department Account, etc.).

Each Subsidiary Account may have a separate email account, blog, and Web site space if requested. 

Types of Subsidiary Accounts

There are several types of IT Subsidiary Accounts. Ensure that the account you are requesting falls under one of the following categories. 

Course Accounts

Used for course-related work and materials. For each course they teach, instructors can request an IT Course Account in SPIRE. Course accounts provide a separate Blog, online storage (OneDrive and Google Apps), email, and more. See Create & Manage Course IT Accounts.

Department accounts

A Subsidiary Account account that is being used by more than one person, most commonly shared with a group, or an entire department.

Individual (self) accounts

An additional account for use by faculty and staff to access IT services. An account which is intended to be used by the owner, and only the owner.

Student employee accounts

Used to allow student employees access to work related email, file storage, and other IT services. Usually owned by their manager or someone else in the department that they work for. 

System accounts

Used for automated IT system processes.

Vendor accounts

Assigned to authorized vendors for business related access to IT resources.

Resource accounts

Account placeholder for resources such as Exchange calendars/shared mailboxes, classrooms and conference rooms.

RSO accounts

Used by registered student organizations for maintaining websites, etc.

Request a Subsidiary Account

To request a Subsidiary IT Account fill out and submit the Subsidiary Account Request Form, which is found on the IT Service Portal. If you have questions about this form or Subsidiary Accounts in  general, please contact UMass IT via phone (413-545-9400 Opt. 1) or email (it@umass.edu).

Once your Subsidiary Account has been created, the Owner or Official User will need to activate the account through Spire by setting a password. Do this by logging into Spire with your main NetID account and navigating to the following menu; Profile > IT Accounts & Certifications > My IT Accounts. Once there, click on the account name to see management options for that account. Use the "Change Password" button to set/change the password for the account. There may be a five to ten minute delay before the password will work for logging into UMass services.

Note: Subsidiary Account usernames and passwords are different than your IT Account NetID and password.

Manage a Subsidiary Account

Use SPIRE to view a Subsidiary Account, change its password, or schedule a date to delete it.
Note: Changing your password for your Subsidiary Account does not change your main IT Account password.

  1. Log in to SPIRE with your IT Account NetID and password.
  2. Navigate through the following menus, starting at your Spire Center; Profile > IT Accounts & Certifications > My IT Accounts
  3. On the My IT Accounts page, click the Account Name to view an account's details. The My IT Accounts - Account Detail page opens.
  4. On the My IT Accounts - Account Detail page, you can reset your password, add an alternate name, or schedule a date to delete your account.

Assign an Official User to Subsidiary IT Account

If another UMass Amherst colleague or student is using a subsidiary IT account that you own, you can designate this individual as the Official User of the account. This can be done as part of the Subsidiary Account Request Form (if creating a new account), or at a later time by the account Owner through Spire.

The Official User has the ability to change the password for the Subsidiary Account to which they are assigned. 

  1. Log in to SPIRE with your IT Account NetID and password.
  2. Navigate through the following menus, starting at your Spire Center; Profile > IT Accounts & Certifications > My IT Accounts The My IT Accounts - Account List page opens.
  3. On My IT Accounts - Account List page, click the account name. The Account Detail page opens. 
  4. On the Account Detail page, under Account Assignment (mid-page), next to the Assign Official User field, click the magnifying glass. A search window opens, allowing you to locate the individual user by name, SpireID, or NetID. 
  5. In the search results, click the name of your Official User. After doing that you will be returned to the Account Detail page where the Assign Official User field has the individual's 8-digit SPIRE ID already filled in. 
  6. Click Save Assignment. A confirmation message appears in the top right corner of the page. Your subsidiary account now has an official user who can change the account password on your behalf if needed. 

Change Account Owner of Subsidiary Account

You may transfer ownership of a Subsidiary Account which you own to another UMass Faculty, Staff, or NENS account holder should you wish to do so. You cannot transfer ownership of a Subsidiary Account to a student, as they are forbidden from owning them. Please note that after transferring ownership of an account, you will lose the ability to manage that account in Spire, and it will be removed from your My IT Accounts page (unless you are listed as the Official User).

  1. Log in to SPIRE with your IT Account NetID and password.
  2. Navigate through the following menus, starting at your Spire Center; Profile > IT Accounts & Certifications > My IT Accounts The My IT Accounts - Account List page opens.
  3. On My IT Accounts - Account List page, click the account name. The Account Detail page opens.
  4. On the Account Detail page scroll down to the Change Owner section. Click on the magnifying glass icon next to the search field. A search window opens, allowing you to locate the individual user by name, SpireID, or NetID. 
  5. Click on the name of the search result which matches your desired New Owner. After doing that you will be returned to the Account Detail page, click on the Change Owner button to finalize the change. Read the warning in the pop up box, and select Yes if you want to proceed. 
  6. A pop up box will appear confirming the change. The New Owner of the account will now have the ability to manage this account through Spire.