Accounts: FAQ for USNH Accounts

Summary

This article provides answers to frequently asked questions regarding USNH Accounts, including how and where to log in, as well as who is eligible for an account and when. This applies to people associated with any of the University System of New Hampshire (USNH) Institutions - Keene State College (KSC), Plymouth State University (PSU), or University of New Hampshire (UNH), as well as the USNH Systems Office.

 

Questions

Q1. Where do I log in to my USNH Account?

Q2. How do I log in to my USNH Account?

Q3. What is my username?

Q4. When do I use username@usnh.edu to log in?

Q5. What is my email address?

Q6. Who is eligible for a USNH user account?

Q7. When will my user account become available?

Q8. What if I have trouble logging in?

Q9. What resources can I access with my account?

 

Answers

A1. Where do I log in to my USNH Account?

These are the primary portal login locations. Many individual resources also have direct login links that you may find in other documentation.

Back to Questions

 

A2. How do I log in to my USNH Account?

When you sign in through the Microsoft authentication screens, use your username@usnh.edu to identify yourself.

• If prompted by Microsoft to Pick an account, be sure the account you choose has your username@usnh.edu (e.g. jbd2519@usnh.edu). Enter your current password on the next screen. Important: If Pick an account shows your campus email address, choose "Use another account" instead.
• If a generic Microsoft Sign in screen asks for your "Email or phone", enter your username@usnh.edu (e.g. jbd2519@usnh.edu) then enter your current password on the next screen.
• If required, verify your identity with one of your multi-factor authentication (MFA) sign-in methods.

Back to Questions

 

A3. What is my username?

Your username is:

• a string of letters and numbers that uniquely identifies you among all the people within USNH, for example John Doe might have username jbd2519.
• private and should be shared sparingly.
• provided to you by the Admissions office; by your college, department, or program; or by the Human Resources office when you first join a USNH institution.
• does not change, even if you leave USNH and return again at a later date.

Your username@usnh.edu (fully qualified username) is:

• comprised of your unique USNH username followed by @usnh.edu, for example jbd2519@usnh.edu.
• your unique identifier in the Microsoft authentication environment, used to sign in through Microsoft authentication and displayed under your initials/profile picture when logged into Microsoft resources.
• private and should be shared sparingly.
• is not your email address, even though there is an "@" symbol in the middle of it

This unique identifier of username@usnh.edu plus Microsoft Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) will authenticate your access to many services, regardless of campus affiliation.

Back to Questions

 

A4. When do I use username@usnh.edu to log in?

At any Microsoft login page where it asks for email or phone or username, you should identify yourself with your fully qualified username - username@usnh.edu (e.g. jbd2519@usnh.edu).  Your username@usnh.edu and current password are your unique identifiers in the Microsoft authentication environment. These are private and are not meant for sharing.

• Any resources tied to USNH Single Sign-On (SSO) will go through this Microsoft authentication process, including multi-factor authentication (MFA) from time to time.

If you are on a non-Microsoft login page (such as Adobe) that asks for your email address, you should enter your primary campus email address - first.last@campus.edu (e.g. Jill.Doe@keene.edu or John.Doe@unh.edu).

• These resources will first identify you by your email address, then they may pass you over to the Microsoft SSO login page where you will log in with your fully qualified username as above.
• There may be some resources that are not tied to our SSO that will ask you to log in differently.

Back to Questions

 

A5. What is my email address?

Your email address is:

• in the form of first.last@campus.edu, formed from your name and primary campus affiliation. (In rare cases numbers or initials are added if needed, such as John.Doe4@plymouth.edu.)
• public and meant to be shared.
• listed under your name in your campus directory and in the email Global (USNH-wide) Address List.

Back to Questions

 

A6. Who is eligible for a USNH user account?

An official USNH user account is created for all users who have an official status within the University System of New Hampshire or any of its institutions (KSC, PSU, UNH). This includes:

• actively enrolled students
• active employees, including faculty and staff (full-time, part-time, adjunct, lecturers, or emeritus/emerita)
• active sponsored contractors and guests

In addition, active PSU alumni and some UNH prior students may retain email-only user accounts, as long as they continue to comply with USNH Password Policy. These accounts do not include access to licensed or campus resources or applications.

Back to Questions

 

A7. When will my user account become available?

The timing of user account creation depends on how you apply to your USNH institution(s):

• For students, an official user account is created within 24 hours of your acceptance of admissions.
  • For undergraduate students, this usually means paying your deposit. Contact the Admissions office where you submitted your deposit to determine if your deposit has been received and processed.
  • For graduate students acceptance varies depending on the program. Contact your graduate program to determine if your acceptance has been received and processed.
  • For CPS Online (formerly GSC) students, contact your College of Professional Studies Advisor to determine if your student status has been activated.
• For employees, an official user account is created within 24 hours after your hiring information and required documents have been processed by the Human Resources (HR) department. Contact HR to determine if your employment information has been completely processed, including a valid job start date. No account is created without a job start date.
• For sponsored contractors or guests, an official user account is created within 24 hours of approval by the USNH department sponsoring your account. Contact your sponsoring department to determine if the request for sponsorship has been approved.

Back to Questions

 

A8. What if I have trouble logging in?

There are several reasons you could be having trouble:

• If you have any other Microsoft accounts, your web browser might still have you logged into that account, or may be remembering your other account's login credentials.
  • If you see your name in the upper right, click on it and choose Sign Out. Quit your browser completely, then try again to sign into your USNH account.
  • If prompted by Microsoft to Pick an account, be sure the account you choose has your username@usnh.edu (e.g. jbd2519@usnh.edu). Important: If Pick an account doesn't show you the option for username@usnh.edu, then choose "Use another account" instead.
  • At the login screen, be sure to TYPE IN your username@usnh.edu and password, rather than accepting any dots or filled-in values.
• Another possibility is a web browser cookie that is causing something to be remembered that should not be. Please see How to Clear your Web Browser’s Cache, Cookies, and History .
• If it seems like your password is not working, you may need to reset your password. Please see MyAccount: Resetting Your Password .

Back to Questions

 

A9. What resources can I access with my account?

The resources you have access to depends on your role within USNH.

• Actively enrolled Students have full access to the resources they need for school, including the myUSNH portal, Microsoft Outlook email, OneDrive, Microsoft Teams, and M365 office apps.
• Active Employees have full access to the resources they need for work, including the myUSNH portal, Microsoft Outlook email, OneDrive, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, M365 office apps, and WISE (Web Info. System for Employees).
• Active faculty, authorized staff, and enrolled students have access Canvas (myCourses), UNH WebCat, PSU Banner SSB, KSC Colleague, and other course software.
• Faculty Emeritus/a, non-active adjunct faculty, and sponsored users/friends may only have limited or cloud access to some apps and services such as M365.

When you leave USNH, depending on your campus and the role(s) you had, you may have access to certain resources for a set period of time, but only if you keep your password current.

• Former employees will retain access to WISE long enough to retrieve document for tax purposes.
• Former faculty may have a grace-period before their access to all resources is fully removed.
• Former students either lose access entirely, or in some cases may retain access to email only (not OneDrive or M365, not Canvas, not academic software, etc.).  See details in FAQs for Graduating and Departing Students.

Back to Questions

 

Further Readings

MyAccount: Resources - knowledge articles related to managing your USNH account and password

How to Clear your Web Browser’s Cache, Cookies, and History

MyAccount: Resetting Your Password

FAQs for Graduating and Departing Students

College of Professional Studies (CPS) Personalized Advising 

USNH Password Policy 

 

Need additional help?

Visit the Technology Help Desk Support page to locate your local campus contact information or to submit an online technology support request. For password issues you must call or visit the Help Desk in person.