ITS Documentation

Using the MCommunity Sponsor System Via the Web

S4356 • April 2013

This document explains how to use the MCommunity Sponsor System via the web. It provides sponsorship administrators with general instructions for using the system to create and manage online identities—including uniqnames and UMIDs—for sponsored individuals. For an overview of the Sponsor System, see MCommunity Sponsor System Overview (R1458).

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About the Sponsor System

The MCommunity Sponsor System allows authorized U-M staff members to create online identities, including uniqnames and UMIDs, for people who are affiliated with the university but who do not appear in any of the official university data feeds. Sponsored individuals include, for example, conference attendees, contractors, incoming faculty who need access to U-M resources before the hiring process is complete, conference participants, and others.

For more detail about the concepts behind, and terminology for, sponsorship, see MCommunity Sponsor System Overview (R1458). That document includes information about uniqname types, identity types, sponsorship lengths, minimum data requirements, notifications sent by the system, what happens when a sponsorship expires, who can reset passwords for sponsored individuals under what circumstances, and more.

To use the Sponsor System, you must be an authorized sponsorship administrator. To learn how to become a sponsorship administrator, see MCommunity Sponsorship Administration Policies and Agreement (R1459).

Departments can also request sponsorships from the ITS Service Center by using the MCommunity Sponsorship Application forms.

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Connecting to the Sponsor System

To use the Sponsor System, you must

The MCommunity Sponsor System is at this URL:

TIP: For best results, we recommend that you use the Firefox web browser.

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Sponsoring an Individual

To create an online identity and get a uniqname for someone, your university department must sponsor that person.

  1. Log in to the Sponsor System. You will see a View and Modify Sponsorships screen.

  2. Click on the Create tab on the blue navigation bar along the top of the screen.

  3. In the Sponsor People box, fill in the appropriate information, then click the Begin Sponsoring button.

    IMPORTANT! Pay special attention to the expiry date. The sponsorship will expire on the expiry date, and the sponsored person will lose access to computing services and be unable to log in to U-M systems. (See Sponsorship Expiry in MCommunity Sponsor System Overview (R1458) for details.)

    Screen shot of Sponsor System page for beginning a sponsorship. Type the name of the sponsoring department. NOTE: If you are authorized for only one department, the department box will be filled in for you. If you are authorized for a small number of departments, you will choose the appropriate one from a drop-down list. ITS accounts staff and others who are authorized to create sponsorships for departments too numerous to list in a drop-down box will need to type the first three or more letters of the department name, and will then see a list of department names that include those letters. Select the reason for the sponsorship. You are the sponsorship administrator, so your name will be here. Type the uniqname of the U-M employee who requested the sponsorship. Suggested Start and Expiry dates will be filled in based on the reason you select for the sponsorship. You can change the Expiry date if you wish. Choose who will receive email confirmation of the sponsorship. Choose who will receive email notice before the sponsorship expires and when the notice(s) will be sent.

    IMPORTANT! If you need a UMID for the person you are sponsoring, or the person already has one, select one of the sponsorship reasons associated with a regular uniqname plus UMID. Then the Sponsor System will either create a UMID for you or pull the existing UMID and associated information from Wolverine Access. Sponsorship reasons are grouped to help you find the best one for your needs.

    Screen shot of sponsorship reasons.

    TIP: For details about the sponsorship reasons, see Sponsorship Business Reasons in MCommunity Sponsor System Overview (R1458).

  4. You'll be prompted to search MCommunity to see if the person you want to sponsor is already in the system. This step is critical in preventing duplicate entries. See Appendix A. Tips for Searching the System to Prevent Duplicates at the end of this document for tips on effective searching. Enter information for your search, then click the Search button at the bottom of the window.

    The search screen you see will depend on the sponsorship reason you selected and whether the person already has a UMID.

    If the person already has a UMID:
    Click the Sponsor by UMID tab. You'll then be able to enter the person's UMID and click Search.

    Screen shot of searching by UMID. If you are sponsoring someone who already had a UMID, click Sponsor by UMID. Then type their UMID and click Search.

    If you are setting up a sponsorship with a regular uniqname, you can search by entering a variety of information.

    If you are setting up a sponsorship with a temporary uniqname, you can only search by first and last name.

    Screen shot of the search page for a sponsorship that will result in a regular uniqname To see if the person you want to sponsor is already in the system, enter one of these combinations: first and last name; SSN; last name and birthdaye; uniqname. There is a display to the right of the screen which shows where you are in the sponsorship process. The bold text shows you which step you are on.

  5. If the person you wish to sponsor is not in MCommunity, there will be no match to your search. Click Add a New Person to continue. If you get a number of matches, see Appendix A. Tips for Searching the System to Prevent Duplicates at the end of this document for tips on examining the available information to identify which, if any, entry matches the person you are sponsoring.

    Screen shot of the search results page showing no matches. Click on Add a New Person Button.

    If the person you wish to sponsor has an MCommunity entry, you can add a sponsorship to it. Select the person to sponsor and click Use Selected. See Adding Sponsorships to an Already-Sponsored Person below for details.

  6. Next, enter the required information about the person you wish to sponsor. The amount of information required depends on the relationship the sponsored individual will have to the university.

    IMPORTANT! Once a uniqname is generated, it is very difficult to change. By taking the time to request a uniqname, and reviewing uniqname options with the sponsored individual if the requested uniqname is not available, you can save a lot of time and trouble. Once a uniqname is generated, it may only be changed if it meets certain guidelines. See Changing Your Uniqname for more information.

    For new sponsored people with a regular uniqname plus UMID, you must provide the minimum data required by Woverine Access because a Wolverine Access entry will be created for the person. The sponsored person will receive a regular uniqname and UMID.

    Screen shot of the data entry page. Under Uniqname Creation section, the sponsored person has the option to select a uniqname or you can generate one now. If you want to request a particular uniqname, type it in the box called Requented Uniqname, then click Check Availability to see if it is available. A green checkmark will indicate that it is available, and a list of available options will be given if it is not available. Leave this box blank to have MCommunity generate a uniqname for the person. MCommunity does not store social security numbers. It passes them on to Wolverine Access so a UMID/Emplid number can be created. After that, it deletes the copy of the SSN. For sponsorships with a UMID, you must provide one of the Wolverine Access Required Data Combinations. This box shows you three options. The checkmarks indicate what data you have provided.

    For long-term guests, only a name and a non-UMICH email address are required. The sponsored person will receive a regular uniqname, but will not get a Wolverine Access entry or a UMID. When sponsorships for long-term guests expire, the uniqnames cannot be reactivated because there is not enough identity information on file to do so.

    Screen shot of the data entry page, pointing out that long-term guests receive regular uniqnames, so you can request a specific one in the requested uniqname box and see if it is available. For long-term guests, minimal identity data is required. The screen demonstrates that only first and last name are required.

    For guests who will get a temporary uniqname, only a name and a non-UMICH email address are required. The system generates a temporary uniqname for the sponsored person. It does not generate a Wolverine Access entry or a UMID.

    Screen shot of the data entry page. Short-term guests and conference/programs participants receive a temporary uniqname made up of UM plus numbers. You do not have the option to request a specific uniqname. Minimal identity data is required: first and last name and email.

  7. Scroll down to the bottom of the window, and click the Add Person button.

  8. You will see confirmation that the individual is now sponsored. It is important that you write down, or copy and paste, the password. This is the only opportunity you will have to do so.

    Screen shot of the confirmation page. If the sponsored person has a UMID, it will be listed here. The uniqname is listed here. Click the Show Password button to see the password. Important! Write down (or copy and paste) the uniqname and password, so you can provide them to the sponsored individual. If you do not get the password here, it will need to be reset later.

    Depending what you selected for confirmation notifications, either, both, or none of these messages will be sent:

    • An email confirmation message to the requester providing the uniqname (but not the password). That message will instruct the requester to contact the ITS Service Center if computing services are needed for the newly sponsored individual. Either you or the requester can request computing services by filling out the Computing Services for Sponsored Persons Request Form, which is available on the MCommunity Forms page.

    • An email confirmation message with the new uniqname to the sponsored individual (sent to the non-UMICH address you provided).

    It is your responsibility to convey the password to the sponsored individual in a secure manner.

  9. Click Finished Sponsoring to return to the Sponsor System home page. Or, click Create another sponsorship if you want to sponsor another person with the same sponsorship information (that is, the same sponsoring department, business reason, and requester).

    Screen shot of the Finished Sponsoring link and Create another sponsorship button.
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Adding Sponsorships to an Existing Identity

You cannot change the reason for a sponsorship, but you can add sponsorships for a person. The option to add sponsorships allows for an individual having different sponsored relationships with different departments. It also allows for cases when an individual finishes one role with a department and moves into another one.

When you add a sponsorship to an existing identity, the person maintains their existing uniqname and UMID.

IMPORTANT! If a person has a temporary uniqname, you cannot add sponsorships that result in a regular uniqname. You must instead create a new identity with a new regular uniqname. The identity with the temporary uniqname, and the temporary uniqname itself, can be allowed to expire.

WARNING! Combining sponsorships with strong and weak identities is problematic; it can lead to creation of duplicate entries. If you need to add a sponsorship of one identity type to the entry of someone who has a different identity type, please contact the ITS Service Center for help.

  1. Follow Steps 1-2 above to log in and enter information about the sponsorship (sponsoring department, reason for the sponsorship, and so on), then search MCommunity for the person for whom you want to add a sponsorship.

    If the person you are sponsoring already has a UMID, you can sponsor them by using that UMID. See Sponsor by UMID Walk-Through for details.

  2. On the page showing your search results, click the radio button next to the entry for the person for whom you want to provide an additional sponsorship, then click the Use Selected button.

    Screen shot of selecting a person to sponsor from the search results. Click the radio button next to the person you want to sponsor. Then click the Use Selected button.

  3. If you are prompted for additional information, provide it. In this example, the sponsorship being added (for an incoming staff member) requires more identity information than the sponsorship the person already has.

    Screen shot of screen where additional identity information is entered. If the new sponsorship requires additional information, you will be prompted to provide it. Refer to the Required Data Combinations section.

  4. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Save Information.

  5. You'll see confirmation that the new sponsorship has been added. Depending on which notification options you selected, email confirmation notification may be sent to the requester, as well as to the sponsored person. A Wolverine Access entry is created only if one does not already exist.

    Screen shot of confirmation screen.

    IMPORTANT! If you see a Show Password button on the confirmation page, it means the person's password has been reset. If you sponsor someone whose password is inactive (a terminated staff member, for example) the Sponsor System will reactivate their uniqname and set a new password for them. Be sure to pass the new password on to the sponsored person. If you do not, they will need to contact the ITS Service Center to get their password reset.

  6. Click Finished Sponsoring to return to the Sponsor System home page. Or, click Create another sponsorship if you want to sponsor another person with the same sponsorship information (that is, the same sponsoring department, business reason, and requester).

If you'd like to see how many sponsorships a sponsored individual has, you can search for and display that person's Sponsor System entry. See Searching for and Editing an Individual Entry below.

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Sponsoring Multiple People by Importing a File

If you need to sponsor a group of people for the same reason, such as a number of people attending a conference, you can import the data about those people from a file.

IMPORTANT! The file import method can only be used for sponsorships that result in temporary uniqnames. This includes conference/program participants and other short-term guests.

For instructions, see MCommunity: Sponsoring Short-Term Guests Using File Import (S4370).

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Editing Sponsorships

Follow these steps to edit an existing sponsorship entry:

  1. Log in to the Sponsor System. You will see a View and Modify Sponsorships screen. From this screen, you can update the expiry date of one or more sponsorships and edit individual sponsorship entries.

  2. To change the sponsorship expiry date, select the checkbox of one or more sponsorships.

    Then enter the new expiry date and click Update Selected.

    Screen shot of View and Modify Sponsorships. To change the expiry date, select the checkbox of one or more sponsorships. Then enter the new expiry date in the Expiry date box and click on the Update Selected button.

  3. To select a sponsorship for editing, click the uniqname.

    Screen shot of View and Modify Sponsorships. Click on a uniqname to edit the entry.

  4. Make your changes, then click Save Changes.

    Screen shot of View and Modify Sponsorships. Edit information about the sponsorship. When editing is complete, click the Save Changes button.

  5. To edit Expiry Notification options, click Edit.

    Update notification options, then click Save.

    Screen shot of View and Modify Sponsorships. To edit Expiry Notification options, click Edit. Update the notification options, then click the Save button.

  6. IMPORTANT! Click Save Changes when finished.

    Screen shot of changed Expiry Date and Save Changes button. Important! The changes are not updated unless you click Save Changes.
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Resetting Passwords for Sponsored Individuals

See Communicating and Resetting Passwords for Sponsored People (S4371).

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Additional Resources

Visit ITS's Information System to obtain ITS computer documentation and other resources. A list of relevant documents follows:

The ITS Service Center provides a variety of computing help resources.

For further help with this or any other topic, call 734-764-HELP [4357] or submit an online service request.

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Appendix A. Tips for Searching the System to Prevent Duplicates

Before you sponsor someone, you are prompted to do a search to see if that person already has an entry in U-M systems. Your goal here is to find any other entry, especially if the person already has a uniqname and/or UMID/Emplid. You can then add your sponsorship to that person's entry.

You do this to prevent the creation of duplicate entries and the creation of multiple uniqnames for one person. Duplicate entries and multiple uniqnames create confusion, interfere with access to computing resources, and take many staff hours to correct. You can prevent these problems by conducting a thorough search to see if the person you want to sponsor is already in the system.

The Sponsor System's search tool searches data in MCommunity that comes from these data sources:

  • Wolverine Access for faculty, staff, retirees, and professors emeritus for all three campuses, as well as for Ann Arbor students. The Sponsor System interacts with the Wolverine Access SMBIO search-match tool.

  • MCommunity, which consolidates identity information from Wolverine Access as well as from

    • MCommunity Sponsor System for sponsored individuals.

    • Dearborn Banner System for Dearborn students.

    • Flint Banner System for Flint students.

    • Donor Alumni Relationship Tool (DART) for alumni.

When searching,

  • Find as many potential matches as you can.

  • Examine the potential matches carefully.

Tips: Find as Many Potential Matches as You Can

  • Try searching by the first few letters of the person's last name to help you catch possible mispellings of the name. If you get too many results, add more letters to your search.

  • Try searching by likely mispellings of the person's name (for example, Smith and Smyth, Lee and Li, Mitchell and Michell).

  • Try searching on common nicknames or variations of the first name (for example, Jim, James, Jimmy).

  • Ask if the person has a former name, such as a different last name because of marriage or divorce, and search for that former name. The person may already be listed in the system under that name, and you can then update the entry and add your sponsorship.

  • Try switching the first and last name if the person is from a country where family name or surname is traditionally listed first.

  • If you have information such as Social Security Number, birth date, and so on, use it in your search.

Tips: Examine the Potential Matches Carefully

  1. Review the search results to see if the person you are sponsoring is already in the system.

    Screen shot of search results. Examine the search results carefully to see if any of the people listed are the person you are sponsoring. For more information about an entry, click its i (info) button.

  2. Use the info, or i, button to get more detail about a particular entry. Within the identity record, you can click different tabs to see data from different sources:

    • M-Pathways tab. Shows data, if any, from Wolverine Access/M-Pathways.

    • Alumni tab. Shows data, if any, from the Donor Alumni Relationship Tool (DART) database.

    • Sponsor tab. Shows data, if any, from the MCommunity Sponsor System.

    • Dearborn tab. Shows data, if any, from the Dearborn Banner System.

    • Flint tab. Shows data, if any, from the Flint Banner System.

    Screen shot of i button and the information it reveals. Click an i button to see a complete record. Here, the M-Pathways tab is selected, so the data shown is from M-Pathways/Wolverine Access. Click other tabs to see identity information from other sources.

  3. If you find a match, select it and use it. You will then add your sponsorship to the existing entry.

    Screen shot of selecting a match. If you find a match, click the radio button next to it to select it, then click the Use Selected button.
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