Upcoming Changes to TES User Accounts

by | Aug 31, 2016 | Product announcements, Training

Webinar for Training Changes to TES User AccountsCollegeSource is implementing a number of changes that affect TES user accounts. These changes will be staggered in order to provide more focused customer support and troubleshooting at each stage. The changes are designed to promote security and stability going forward, and are tangentially related to the behind-the-scenes integration of TES and Transferology user tables. In all cases, the changes represent a move toward industry best practices.
Most users won’t notice anything is different! We anticipate minimal discomfort to users during this process. The changes will primarily affect users who have more than one account in TES or users who use fake or non-standard email addresses for their account.
The anticipated changes to TES are:
Duplicate Username Filters. This is a UI-based restriction on creating or updating a user that has the same email address/username as an already existing user, i.e. a “duplicate.” If you try to add a new user and an older user exists with the same username, TES will offer you options for reactivating that user; you will not be able to create a duplicate. We have done our best to remove duplicates already, but any remaining duplicate users may not be updated (no changes to their user information or rights). Instead, anyone attempting to update a duplicate user will be given a screen for creating a tech support case and troubleshooting will proceed from that point with the aim of removing the duplicate.
Multi-Account Access. Some users have access to more than one TES account. A good example is a system or state level coordinator who needs to peek into multiple campus accounts. In the past, such users had a different username and password combination for each account to which they had access. With this change, the user will have one account, grounded in a default institution, and be provided with a selector to quickly switch from one account to another. This should be a welcome enhancement that saves users quite a bit of logging in and out.
For more information, join us for the following online presentation:

The Multi-Account User Enhancement Webinar
Wednesday, September 7th, 1pm EST
Register Now

 
Encrypted Passwords. CollegeSource currently stores TES passwords in an unencrypted form. This means tech support can send a password to a user or even log in “as” that user for troubleshooting purposes. For security, we will be encrypting these in the database. Any user who forgets his or her password will be sent an email with a reset link. This means that users that employ fake email addresses as their username will be unable to reset their password. Once we implement this change, all users will eventually have to have a valid email address. (We will be requiring an annual password reset on the anniversary of each user’s creation in the system.) The most likely pain point in this process will be schools who create generics like “advisor 1,” “advisor 2,” etc. Schools may still have these generic users, so long as they actually create email accounts to match.
Restricted Email Extensions. CollegeSource will be requiring users to have email extensions that match the official email accounts provided by the organization/institution that purchased TES access. This means no gmail, hotmail, etc. email addresses will be supported. Also, an account will not be able to include users from other institutions, which is a breach of the TES Terms of Use in any case. Institutions that have purchased access for multiple campuses and/or have more than one valid email extension will be supported. Here’s a (fictitious) example. Babylon Technical college purchased TES access for two campus, the main campus in Babylon and the branch campus in Nineveh. The official email extensions of those schools are @babtech.edu and @bt-nineveh.edu. All users in that account will be required to have one of those extensions.
The first two changes will be occurring this month:

  • Duplicate Username Filters: 8-31-2016 
  • Multi-Account Access: 9-8-2016

If you have any questions or concerns about these changes, please contact us.

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