Center for Information Technology

ObieID Account Administration Policy

This policy sets forth the policy of Oberlin College with respect to the generation and assignment of network identifiers to individual members of the community. An ObieID is issued to each Oberlin College constituent who wishes to access technological services and resources. 

This policy outlines the rules and practices by which CIT will assign and maintain usernames on behalf of the college as part of its identity and access management plan.

Policy #: 01.002
Policy Title: ObieID Account Administration
Responsible Position for Policy: Chief Information Technology Officer
Office/Department Responsible for Policy: Center for Information Technology
Division Responsible for Policy: Office of Finance and Administration
Original Issue Date: 02/09/2021
Last Revision Date: 09/15/2023
Log of Previous Revisions: 02/09/2021, 11/08/2021, 02/02/2022, 03/18/2022, 09/15/2023


Policy Purpose

This ObieID Policy (“Policy”) sets forth the policy of Oberlin College (“Oberlin” or the “College”) with respect to the generation and assignment of network identifiers (“usernames” or “ObieIDs”) to individual members of the community. An ObieID is issued to each Oberlin College constituent who wishes to access technological services and resources. 

This policy outlines the rules and practices by which the Oberlin College Center for Information Technology (CIT) will assign and maintain usernames on behalf of the College as part of its identity and access management plan.

Policy Statement

  1. Username Creation for Individuals
    1. ObieID Username Format: Each eligible individual obtaining an account will have a unique ObieID assigned based on their names (legal first name, last name) as recorded by the College. All ObieIDs will be a maximum of eight characters in length. The required naming pattern is as follows:
      1. The first initial of the legal first name followed by up to seven characters of the last name (e.g., arodrigu). In the case of a duplicate, the first initial of the legal first name will be followed by up to six characters of the last name, followed by a numeric tiebreaker (e.g., arodrig6). 
    2. ObieID Reuse: ObieIDs are unique for all time and never reused or transferred to a different individual, even when the individual originally assigned is no longer affiliated with the College.
  2. Username Creation for Groups
    1. Group Username Format: Each eligible group (department, organization, or student group) obtaining an account will have a unique group username assigned based on their organization name. All group usernames will be a maximum of 20 characters in length.
    2. Group Username Reuse: Group usernames are unique for all time and never reused or transferred to a different group, even when the group originally assigned is no longer affiliated with the College.
  3. Username Changes
    1. Changing an ObieID: Changing an ObieID often involves making coordinated changes to multiple information systems and may have unintended consequences due to technical limitations of some information systems. In general, changing an ObieID should be avoided, however CIT will change the ObieID for an individual upon request due to a legal name change, an offensive username, or for reasons of personal safety or confidentiality. 

Scope

This policy applies to all individuals and groups affiliated with Oberlin College that require a digital identity be established to access information systems.

Definitions

ObieID: the series of letters and numbers which uniquely identify an individual to various information systems. A username is often referred to by the terms, “username,” “login,” or “account name.” 

In Oberlin’s existing email system, the ObieID also functions as the email address when @oberlin.edu is appended (e.g., the username arodrigu becomes the email address arodrigu@oberlin.edu).

Administration

The Chief Information Technology Officer is assigned to administer this policy. This individual is responsible for keeping the policy up to date and coordinating a detailed review at least once every five years.