How to Activate Your University User Account

Introduction

A University Account is automatically created through the Office of Information Technology for individuals when they become associated with the university as a student, faculty, or staff.  To activate this account your are required to:

1. Verify your alternate email address
2. Set a password
3. Configure additional security information that you will use to sign-in with your account or reset your password in the future.

To complete these steps make sure you know your University Email Account, something like sycamoresam@sycamores.indstate.edu, or First.Last@indstate.edu, and are able to receive email messages to the personal email address you provided ISU. 

Estimated Time to Complete

Allow yourself 10 - 15 minutes to to complete the account activation process.

Steps To Set the Password for your University Account

1. Go to aka.ms/sspr or portal.indstate.edu and click on the "Activate Your Sycamore Login" link.
   1. Enter your University Email Account ( sycamoresam@sycamores.indstate.edu, or First.Last@indstate.edu) ​​​​​​
   2. Enter the characters in the picture or the words in the audio.
   3. Click Next
      
2. Select "Email my alternate email" and click "Email" to have a verification code sent to the personal email address you provided ISU.
3. Open your personal email client in a separate browser window and  look for an email from Microsoft - On behalf of Indiana State University.  This email contains a 6-digit code that you will need to complete the activation.​​​​​ 
   
   
4. Return to the Activation Process and enter the verification code that was sent to your personal email address and click "Next"
   
5. Enter and confirm your new password. 
   1. Microsoft's Password Protection identifies detects and blocks known weak passwords and their variants. 
   2. The password you choose will also need to meet the ISU password requirements configured in ISUAD.
6. You will see a confirmation that your password has been reset.
   1. You may now return to portal.indstate.edu and Log in with your new password. The first time you log in you will be prompted to configure your security info. 

Steps To Register your Security Info for your University Account

To complete the registration of your account, we need to setup additional security called "Multi-Factor Authentication" or MFA.  This extra step allows us to know that it is really you when you log into our networks and systems.  This step will also allow you to setup additional methods to recover your password, should you forget it.

1. Go to portal.indstate.edu and click on the "LOG IN" link.

2. Sign in with your University Email Account and your new password. 

3. Click "Next" when prompted to provide more information.
   

4. Follow the prompts to configure the additional authentication methods used to secure your account.

   1. You can update this security info at anytime by going to https://aka.ms/mysecurityinfo 

5. Once you have completed registering your authentication methods you will be redirected to portal.indstate.edu where you will be able to access additional resources.