FAQs

Visit the CIT's Services Portal or 440-775-8197. The staff there can resend your initial email or reset your password.

The list below is not exhaustive. Visit oberview.oberlin.edu to see all services that can be accessed using your ObieID. As an added bonus, once you’re logged in to OberView, you won’t need to log in to each service individually; you’ll already be logged in!

• OberView
• Banner Admin
• Banner Self Service
• Blackboard
• Virtual Private Network (VPN)
• Software Downloads

Your ObieID will normally follow the form: first initial of first name, followed by first seven characters of last name. Thus, if your name is Martha Washington, your ObieID will be mwashing.

All ObieIDs are unique forever, so if two people on campus whose ObieID should be “mwashing,” the second person’s ObieID will have a digit appended with letters of the last name included to equal a total of eight characters.

Thus, Martha Washington and Mark Washington would be assigned mwashing and mwashin2, respectively.

Each person whose ObieID was created before February 2, 2022 was also assigned an alias in the form of firstname.lastname@oberlin.edu.

You cannot use this email address to log in to Gmail, Blackboard, or other websites that require your ObieID, but you can use it to receive and send email.

For security reasons, ObieID passwords expire every 122 days. You will receive an email message 10 days prior to expiration to remind you to change your password.

If your password has expired, you can use Okta to reset it.

Open a ticket containing the details of the change, and, if you have not already, notify the Office of the Registrar (for students) or the Department of Human Resources (for faculty and staff).

CIT will contact the appropriate office and ensure that the name has formally been changed with the college. Then, we will contact you to let you know that the ObieID change has been completed.

See more details about the process:

ObieID and Email Address Change Policy

If you need to have an account created for an organization, complete the Group Email Request form.

Read the instructions below or view a short screencast on How to Change Your ObieID Password using Okta.

1. Visit OberView. Search for and launch the Manage my ObieID Account task or go directly to okta.oberlin.edu.
2. Log in using your existing ObieID and password. If you’ve set up multi-factor authentication, respond to the MFA challenge when prompted.
3. Click on your name in the main menu bar.
4. Click Settings.
5. Click the green Edit Profile button.
6. Enter your current ObieID password and click Verify.
7. If you’re enrolled in multi-factor authentication, respond to the MFA challenge.
8. In the Change Password module located in the upper right:
   • Enter your current ObieID password.
   • Enter your new password.
   • Enter your new password again.
   • Click Change Password.

When you’re finished, make sure to log out completely.

1. Visit OberView. Search for and launch the Manage my ObieID Account task or go directly to okta.oberlin.edu.
2. Below the username and password fields, click on Need Help? Then click on Forgot your Obie ID or Password?
3. Enter your ObieID. Click on one of the reset options below to receive an SMS message, voice call, or email to your secondary address containing a verification code.
   Note: If you have not established a password reset phone number or secondary email address, this step will not work. Contact the CIT Help Desk at 440-775-8197 for assistance.
4. Use your secondary email account or phone number to retrieve the code Okta sends you. Enter that code on this page. Click Verify.
5. Set a new password using the onscreen guidelines. Click reset password.

You should not have any apps assigned to you in Okta; this is normal. To access your Okta settings page from this view, click on your name in the upper right portion of the main menu bar and click Settings.

MFA, powered by Okta, protects your ObieID account by verifying your identity with two forms of ID:

• Something you know, such as your password.
• Something you have, such as a passcode, a phone, or even a mobile app.

Some services, like your bank or healthcare portal refer to this as multi-factor login, two-step authentication, two-step verification, or login verification.

An authentication factor is a category of credential used for identity verification. For MFA, each additional factor is intended to increase the assurance that an entity requesting access to some system is who they are declared to be. The two most common categories are often described as something you know (the knowledge factor) and something you have (the possession factor).

When setting up Okta, Oberlin College will ask you to establish a relationship between your knowledge factor (your password) and a possession factor: the Okta Verify app, Google Authenticator, or a hardware token such as a YubiKey.

Passwords are not enough. They can often be stolen, guessed, or hacked, and you may not even realize your password has been compromised. With Okta MFA on your account, a compromised password doesn’t have to mean a compromised account.

MFA will be required for all ObieID accounts by the end of the Fall 2020 semester.

For detailed instructions on connecting to the network, please visit our network connection page. Kindly note that the procedure is subject to change.

Our office provides strategic guidance and support throughout the lifecycle of technology-related projects. We add value in a variety of ways including: 

• Working closely with our campus partners to prioritize projects and allocate CIT resources
• Ensuring that projects align with both your business needs and Oberlin's long-term strategic and financial plans
• Maintaining a register of current and proposed technology projects to streamline the process and identify any dependencies, benefits, and risks within and between projects
• Ensuring that new software meets the required security standards and does not duplicate existing functionality

Please visit the Project Governance Guide to learn more.

If your request is estimated to take fewer than 40 hours of staff time or involve fewer than three staff members, then it’s not a project—it’s operations. These efforts are not required to follow the full project management methodology. Use the CIT's Services Portal to open a ticket or a service request.

When using the MobileID, it will deactivate your physical card. We appreciate your understanding.

Box is a cloud content management tool, allowing you to access your content securely anywhere, on any device.

Box enables you to collaborate and share content between multiple departments in one simple tool. It’s also secure, a great place to store college-related files.

Active Oberlin faculty, staff, and students are eligible to use Box. Departmental or group accounts are not eligible.

Upon graduation, you will receive an email notifying you that Oberlin will be migrating your account to a personal account.

We recommend adding a secondary non @oberlin.edu email address on your account before your account migrates to a personal account. 15 days after you receive this email, your account will be automatically migrated to a personal account with a 10 GB quota. If your account contains more than 10GB, it will become read-only until you delete enough content that you are below this quota or you purchase additional space from Box.

After your account has been migrated, we recommend changing the primary email address so that you continue to receive notifications from Box. For further questions, please open a ticket using CIT’s Services Portal.

Upon leaving the college, you will receive an email notifying you that the contents of your Box account will be transferred to your immediate supervisor on your departure date. This data will stay with Oberlin. For further questions, please open a ticket using CIT’s Services Portal.

You should be able to access your Box account anywhere you have full access to the internet. In countries where internet access is restricted, Box may not be available. In restricted areas, using VPN (Virtual Private Network) may enable you to access Box.

Oberlin Box accounts:

•  1TB storage in the cloud
•  Maximum upload size of 15 GB for a single file
•  File versioning
•  Password protected sharing

Box Free accounts:

•  10 GB of free cloud storage 
•  250 MB maximum upload size for a single file
•  You cannot do password protected sharing
•  No detailed file version history

Box is intended for college data only. If you are a faculty or staff member, you should not store any personal content in Box. Upon your departure from the college, all content of your Box will be transferred to your immediate supervisor. 

If you are a student, you are encouraged to use Box primarily for school-related work, but you may also store personal content in Box. If you take a job with Oberlin College after graduation, you will be expected to remove personal content and use your Box account only for college data.

Sensitive college data should always be stored in secure systems and replicated as little as possible. If the data you're storing already exists in a database or system with a designated purpose, you should not also store it in Box. 

If the sensitive data you’re storing does not yet have a secure system in which it’s being stored and you need to share that data with colleagues, you may put it in Box. Box is secure for FERPA-subject data. If you would like to store HIPAA-subject data in Box, please contact the Help Desk.

If you have any additional questions about what data should be stored in Box or the best place to put your content, please contact the CIT Help Desk at 440-775-8197.

CIT Tech Support Portal Knowledge Base

Your first stop for Box help should be the CIT's Services Portal. Once logged in, visit the knowledge base and search “Box” to see all of the available how-to guides.

Inside Your Box Account

You can also log in to your Box account and look for the Getting Started with Box folder. This folder appears in each user’s account and contains a complete user guide, helpful video tutorials, and links to download Box software.

Open a Support Ticket

If you still have questions or would like to set up an appointment to meet with you, your department, or organization about how to use Box, open a ticket using the CIT's Services portal.

We’ll get in contact with you to address your questions or set up a time to meet for additional training.

CIT has discontinued the use of support@oberlin.edu. Please use the Services Portal to contact CIT with service requests, questions, or concerns. This method of contact is more efficient in addressing your questions and connecting you with the appropriate team to fulfill your needs.

Welcome to Oberlin! Here are some resources to get you started:

• Getting Your ObieID
• Setting Up Your Email
• Configuring Your Devices and Applications
• Connecting to the Network
• Mobile ObieID Setup
• Accessing Banner Services
• CIT Support

These links will guide you through setting up your digital life at Oberlin and provide support along the way.

Currently, the storage solution can vary, including options such as Box, OneDrive, Google Drive, or on-campus file share. We’re actively considering ways to streamline this process in the future. Thank you for your patience.

If you require a phone or need changes to your existing phone setup, please submit a request through our Telephone Repair & Change Order page.

CIT provides a variety of software and enterprise systems tailored to different roles within Oberlin College to support teaching, learning, and administrative functions. To see the software and systems you can access, visit our Devices and Applications page. There, you can use the filter tool to find applications available to your specific role, such as faculty, staff, or student.

For support with technology-enhanced teaching, refer to the Educational Technology/OCTET page. The Oberlin Center for Technologically Enhanced Teaching (OCTET) collaborates with faculty and students in areas such as science research, digital arts, high-end computing, and online teaching tools.

For audiovisual support, including equipment checkout and assistance with technologically enhanced classrooms and events, visit our Audiovisual page.

We provide a selection of software for academic and administrative use. To view the available software and download what you need, please visit our Software Downloads page.