Trusted Agent Program
Policy & Procedures
Social Sciences Division

The Social Sciences Division (SSD) asks that individuals interested in taking advantage of the Trusted Agent Program (TAG) start by contacting their respective department administrators for assistance. Before contacting your department administrator, please thoroughly review NSIT’s policies governing eligibility for this service. In brief, SSD procedures for the three services under TAG are as follows:

Pre-Feed Accounts for Faculty and Staff

SSD may provide advance account services to incoming, eligible faculty and staff on a very limited basis. The Division is not staffed to process more than a restricted group of people. In the vast majority of cases, the short wait for account services after starting is tolerable. The Division will provide advance accounts to new faculty and senior visiting professors who need this service. On a case by case basis, SSD may also create advance accounts for other new hires when the wait for account services greatly inconveniences their work at the University. These individuals should contact their department administrators about obtaining advance accounts.

Temporary Account Services for Short-Term Associations to the University

SSD may approve short-term, limited account services to individuals who will carry out University business for/with the University. This is a small subset of individuals who are otherwise ineligible for accessing the University’s network services and will never appear in the University’s data systems to receive regular account services. Individuals with short-term relationships with the University, typically for a few weeks, to whom temporary account services may be given, include guest lecturers, faculty associates, and visiting faculty. Individuals in need of temporary account services should contact their department administrators for assistance. They will consult with the appropriate personnel in SSD to determine eligibility for temporary account services.

Meeting ID

SSD may provide to groups of individuals access to a meeting or conference where very short-term access to the wireless network only is needed. SSD has limited capability to provide this service as there are very few wireless networks in the Division’s buildings. Individuals who would like to arrange a meeting or conference on a wireless network should contact their department administrators for assistance. They can advise you if wireless networks are available. If so, they will contact the appropriate personnel in SSD to determine technical feasibility and to establish this service if appropriate.

Procedures

Under certain circumstances and conditions, individuals otherwise ineligible for account services (i.e. an e-mail account) on the University’s network may request and gain them under NSIT’s Trusted Agent Program (TAG). Deans, through their Trusted Agents, have authority from the CIO to advance accounts to new faculty and staff, provide temporary account services for short-term associations and create accounts for meetings and conferences on the wireless network. The Trusted Agent for SSD is Mike Zachar, Director, Social Sciences Computing Services. The Division appreciates this program to better serve and support its people. However, we must be very judicious about when to extend this service to keep our computing environment secure and to minimize administrative burdens. The department administrators are integral to this process as they are the primary point of contact for faculty and staff in their respective units.

Requesting and Obtaining Account Services under TAG
The Division wants individuals who seek account services under TAG to contact their department administrators. The department administrators determine whether or not to seek account services for these individuals. The department administrators collect and submit the required personal information when making a request. The specific procedures for the three services under TAG are as follows:

Pre-Feed Accounts for Faculty and Staff
New hires who will obtain account services on the University’s network once they start are eligible for this service in advance of their start dates. SSD restricts eligibility for this service to 1) new full-time faculty and senior visiting professors for one or more quarters per year and 2) other new academic or staff hires when the wait for account services would greatly inconvenience their work at the University. For new academic hires to receive this service, the Provost must have approved their appointments and their start dates are within six weeks. For new staff, they must have accepted their job offers in writing and their start dates are less than two weeks away.

1. New hire asks Department Assistant about receiving advance account services.
2. Department assistant determines whether to request advance account services for the individual. Excluding new faculty and senior visiting faculty, in most cases, the short wait for account services after starting is tolerable.
3. If so, Department Assistant gathers the following information on the person to make a request: Full name, birth date, social security number, campus phone, campus address and email address.
4. Department Assistant asks Dan Nichols, Associate Dean for Administration, with the required information, to approve advance account services for the individual.
5. If approved, Associate Dean informs Department Administrator and Trusted Agent. Associate Dean gives Trusted Agent the individual’s personal information.
6. Trusted Agent enters the personal information for the individual into the University system.
7. Trusted Agent informs the Department Assistant when the personal information is in the University system.
8. Department Assistant informs the individual to go through the normal claiming process at the CNet website to receive a permanent CNetID and password.
9. Department Assistant asks the individual to read the Eligibility and Acceptable Use Policy for Information Technology.

Temporary Account Services for Short-Term Associations to the University
People eligible for these services are individuals who are not eligible for permanent account services but who need short term access (1 day to 1 year, renewable every 90 days if needed) to work with our faculty and staff and further the mission of the University. These people include faculty associates, guest lecturers, summer program participants, visiting faculty, consultants and casual employees.

1. Individual asks Department Assistant about receiving temporary account services.
2. Department Assistant consults with faculty or staff sponsor to determine validity and purpose of request and for how long.
3. If sponsor recommends providing temporary services to someone, Department Assistant gathers the following information on the person to make a request:
   Full name, birth date, social security number (if available), campus phone, campus address, and email address.
4. Department Assistant asks Dan Nichols, Associate Dean for Administration, with the required information, to approve temporary account services for the individual.
5. If approved, Associate Dean informs Department Administrator and Trusted Agent. The Associate Dean gives Trusted Agent the individual’s personal information.
6. Trusted Agent enters the personal information for the individual into the University system.
7. Trusted Agent provides directions to Department Assistant on how the individual should obtain his/her temporary CNetID and password. The Department Assistant advises the individual accordingly.
8. Department Assistant asks the individual to read the Eligibility and Acceptable Use Policy for Information Technology.

Meeting ID
This service is restricted to groups who need very short-term (1 to 7 days only) access to the wireless network for meetings or conferences and from whom we do not have individual identification.

1. Meeting/conference sponsor asks the Department Assistant for access to the wireless network for groups attending this activity.
2. Department Assistant asks for the name of the meeting/conference, the number of participants, and when access to the wireless network is required.
3. Department Assistant approaches the department’s computer support person to determine if a wireless network in space SSD controls and supports is available for the meeting/conference participants and if the participants have the appropriate computer hardware to utilize the wireless network.
4. If so, Computer Support person asks the Trusted Agent to create CnetID and password for the meeting/conference, providing sponsor’s name, meeting/conference name and dates.
5. Trusted Agent provides the CNetID and password to the Department Assistant and Computer Support person.
6. Department Assistant provides CNetID and password to meeting/conference sponsor.

January 04, 2005

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