Accounts and Passwords

On this Page:

Faculty and Staff Network Accounts

Kalamazoo College faculty and staff members may be assigned a network account for his or her use in teaching, research activities, and supporting College business. Upon hiring, Human Resources will facilitate your account setup with you.

The network account includes:

  • Exchange email mailbox
  • Access to network based applications and websites
  • File and print services

Use of the network account implies agreement with Information Services Computing Policies.

Account Termination – Faculty and Staff

Accounts are terminated immediately if the faculty or staff member leaves the employment of the College. Requests for exceptions can be made to the Chief Information Officer. Currently, retired faculty and staff members may retain their email account indefinitely, by request, but other technology resources and access are generally not provided. Retiree email accounts left unused for one year will be considered abandoned, and will be terminated. Retirees seeking only email forwarding should contact the Help Desk to request this.

Network account access for an employee is disabled via notification from Human Resources, normally effective on the day that the employee leaves the employment of the College.

At the request of the supervisor, the department may retain access to a departed employee’s electronic files for 30 days, to enable transition of ownership and responsibilities. After thirty days the departed employee’s electronic files are deleted.

See the Addressing Technology for Topics for a Departing Employee page for information about items for the supervisor and departing employee to address.

Student Network Accounts

Each Kalamazoo College student will be assigned a network account. Accounts for First Year students are created automatically during the spring or summer prior to their first year Fall Quarter, and throughout the year for students that start at other times.

The account gives access to:

  • Email
  • network based applications and websites
  • File and print services via the College’s computer labs and library

Please note: The Kalamazoo College email account is the official way that the College will communicate with current students.

Use of the network account implies agreement with Information Services Computing Policies.

Account Termination – Students

Students who complete their course of study at K may retain their network account for ten months after the end of that course of study (graduation, completion of a year as a visiting international student, or completion of the engineering 3/2 program). Accounts will be terminated immediately if the student withdraws or is dismissed from the College.

Students who complete their course of study will receive reminders in the months and weeks approaching the end of this period. The student accounts and associated electronic files are then permanently deleted.

Passwords

Never share your password with ANYONE.

Information Services will NEVER ask you to give us your password. If you get an email asking to verify your account or provide your password, do not respond to it or click on the link. If you ever have any questions about the authenticity of such a request, please contact the Help Desk before responding.

Kalamazoo College uses a central directory to authenticate sign-on to most of our systems.

For security purposes: DO NOT use personal information such as: name, date of birth, social security number, or previously used passwords. They will not be accepted.

Use your KNET password for…

  • Hornet Hive
  • Hornet HQ
  • Moodle
  • Signing into a college computer
  • Using a computer lab
  • Printing
  • Email
  • Colleague
  • Logging into the mobile app
  • Accessing network file shares
  • WordPress
  • Viewing campus.kzoo.edu pages
  • Online directories
  • KSecure Wireless Access
  • Electronic Reserves
  • Accessing your library account in Library OneSearch
  • Off-campus access to the library’s indexes and databases
  • Requesting items through MeLCat
  • Accessing your interlibrary loan account

How to Choose a Good Password

KNET passwords must contain at least eight characters, and should contain a combination of upper and lowercase letters, as well as numbers, and special characters. You should never reuse passwords.

Specifically, passwords must contain characters from three of the following five categories:

  • Uppercase characters of European languages (A through Z, with diacritic marks, Greek and Cyrillic characters)
  • Lowercase characters of European languages (a through z, sharp-s, with diacritic marks, Greek and Cyrillic characters)
  • Base 10 digits (0 through 9)
  • Nonalphanumeric characters: ~!@#$%^&*_-+=`|(){}[]:;”‘<>,.?/ or space (” “)
  • Any Unicode character that is categorized as an alphabetic character but is not uppercase or lowercase. This includes Unicode characters from Asian languages.

Do

  • Use a mix of capital letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters (like !@#$%^&*[]{}|:;’”?/.><,)
  • Use a passphrase – tack a few random words together to make a super-secure password
  • “Nuclear Muffin Registration Vitamin” would be a great password, and easy to remember
  • Use mnemonics to help create memorable passwords that are secure
  • “SWsIJC2SIly” for “Stevie Wonder sang I Just Called To Say I Love You”
  • “1o2MPasPcRPO!” for “One or two minutes picking a secure password can really pay off!”
  • “sPae-wUum” for “Secure passwords are easy – when you use mnemonics”
  • Use eight or more characters

Don’t

  • Use personal information about yourself (names, addresses, phone numbers)
  • Use names (family members, pets, fictional characters, favorite places, computers)
  • Use phone numbers, social security numbers, or numeric patterns
  • Use a single word (in any language)
  • Use common phrases
  • Repeat previous passwords

Absolutely never give your password to anyone; not your coworker, not your spouse, not anyone claiming to be from Information Services.

Absolutely never store your written password anywhere someone could see it. If you forget your password, we’ll always be glad to help you reset it. Just call the Help Desk at 269.337.5800.

Changing/Resetting your KNET Password

  1. Use the change password page.
  2. If your password has expired or reset by the help desk, you will be prompted to change it.
  3. If your password has met the security requirements, you will receive a message stating “Your password has been changed. Click OK to sign in with your new password.

Forgot your Password?

If you have forgotten your KNET password, and you need Information Services to reset it you may complete the secure Password Reset Request Form. If we are able to verify your identity against our records, your password will be reset within two business days.

The reset password will be good for a one-time logon, where it will say that the password has expired and must be changed. You will need to change it to something known only to you. Use the “reset” password as the “old” password, and create a “new” password.

Note: If you know your KNET password you can change it using webmail and get immediate results by resetting your password yourself rather than using this form.

For security purposes: DO NOT use personal information such as: name, date of birth, social security number, or previously used passwords. They will not be accepted.

Also note that, by using Kalamazoo College’s electronic services, you agree to all Information Services Computing Policies.

Authorized User/Proxy Accounts for Hornet HQ

An authorized user is a family member or friend of a student that has been given proxy access to designated portions of their records. Authorized Users (proxies) can optionally also make payments to a student’s account on the student’s behalf. The Authorized User accesses these records through Hornet HQ. Please note that the student has the right to rescind access granted at any time.

Student information on granting Proxy access can be found on the Instructions for Students to Grant Access page. For information on Authorized User/Proxy topics such as, logging in and resetting passwords, visit the Authorized User/Proxy Account Instruction page.