Understanding Directory Services 2

What is Directory Services 2?

Directory Services 2 (DS2) is a redesign of the way in which user information is stored in the VCCS. At the core, it is a single, central database storing user information, which is tied to PeopleSoft, Blackboard, the Email system, and other systems, using WebMethods.

From a technical perspective, DS2 allows for instant updates of user and password information across all our systems. It also allows for a user’s ID to be treated separately from their underlying key to our systems. The (infamous) EmplID becomes a hidden key that people no longer have to memorize, and a person’s VCCS Username becomes the critical piece of information they need to know. One of the other critical changes is that we no longer use a student’s birth date as their default password for access to our systems.

DS2 will go into production at the same time as PeopleSoft8 (March 7th).

What does this mean for Students, Faculty and Staff?
Most students, faculty and staff will experience DS2 through http://my.vccs.edu/

Directory Services Background
Currently, if students are not told their VCCS Username by their college, they look it up using the WhoAmI web service: https://whoami.vccs.edu/whoami/. This same service will also tell them their EmplID.

Faculty and staff are typically told their EmplID to access PeopleSoft and manually assigned a username for Blackboard by their local Blackboard Administrator. Typically neither faculty nor staff can access the student e-mail system.

Faculty and staff taking courses as a student do not automatically have accounts in either the Blackboard or E-mail system created for them and Blackboard administrators have to run special processes to identify them.

Passwords in each system are currently changed using the confusing CAAM Pin Request form:
https://vccserver01.vccs.edu/DSChangeCAAMPINRequest.htm


Directory Services 2 – Improved and Enhanced Services
In response to feedback from the colleges, the student experience will now change. Some of these changes are usability improvements, some are process improvements, and there are also new features and services for faculty, staff and students.

The core location for looking up information and logging on to our systems will now be:
http://my.vccs.edu/

At that site, people may look up their VCCS Username here: https://my.vccs.edu/jsp/vccsidLookup.jsp

If they need to know their EmplID, they will look it up here:
https://my.vccs.edu/jsp/ssnLookup.jsp

They may change their password here:
https://my.vccs.edu/jsp/changePass.jsp

When a student looks up their VCCS Username for the first time, they will automatically be taken through the process of creating a new, secure password. They will not be able to access any systems until they have done this.

Students with duplicate information, e.g. multiple EmplIDs, duplicate SSNs, will need to contact their college to get their information.


New features:
Single sign-on
After a person logs on to my.vccs.edu, they are presented with links to the systems to which they have appropriate access. Typically, students will see PeopleSoft, Blackboard and E-mail. From this page, they can click into each system without having to log in again. They can still
choose to access each separately, but they will need to use their VCCS Username to access Blackboard and Email, and their EmplID to access Peoplesoft.

Once someone knows their username, they will not need to know their EmplID. Instant Account Generation Usernames are generated the moment someone is entered into Bio/Demo in PeopleSoft. It is recommended that their username is the critical piece of information that colleges give to students. All new PeopleSoft entries, whether faculty, staff or students, will have Blackboard and E-mail accounts created for them.

Controlled Access
Students will be able to access PeopleSoft once they are term-activated. They will be able to access Blackboard and E-mail as soon as their username is created. This may be changed in the future to depend on term activation.

Password Security
A student’s first access to my.vccs.edu will lead to a new password creation process with secure constraints on what is allowed and not allowed. This is no longer a number and should be a mix of numbers and letters and of a minimum length.

Separate IVR/Phone registration access code
Students will need to designate a separate numerical access code for IVR. The advantage of this is that they will have a much more secure password for web-based access, but they will need to be informed of this change.

Usernames
New usernames are not as overtly tied to surnames, but are still memorable. Existing users will keep their username, but new users will have a new username based on their initials and a number. This is shorter, still memorable, but not as immediately revealing as the former option.
Usernames can also be changed (by an administrator) if a student changes their name, e.g. due to divorce, without affecting their underlying records.


Other My.VCCS.Edu Services
There are also other services at http://my.vccs.edu/ that can be made available to selected personnel:

Person Info/Lookup
This is a read-only interface designed to help student support personnel troubleshoot student problems. As of this writing, it has screens with data from: directory information, enrollments, Blackboard, the Email system, and the online application (if it exists). It is recommended that college support personnel, including Learning System Administrators, be given access to
this tool.


Directory manager
This is an interface designed for College Security Managers. It has an interface for resetting passwords and setting PeopleSoft security levels.


Web Security Manager
Designed for IT security managers, this allows them to control who at their college can access which my.vccs.edu applications.