Your Penn State Access Account consists of two parts—your user ID and password—and gives you access to many University services.
User ID: Your unique user ID (or username) is automatically assigned to you and usually consists of your initials and a one- to five-digit number (such as xyz5000). This is the part you can share with others so they know where to send you email.
Password: This is part you of your account you do not share with others. It is used in conjunction with your user ID to log into protected Penn State Services.
The Office of Security (OIS) implements and maintains University-wide security programs. We will help you understand the sensitivity of that information and teach you how to protect it.
Canvas: Canvas is your online classroom portal, where you can view lessons, take quizzes, submit assignments, and communicate with professors and classmates.
The Center for Teaching Excellence: Our approach to learning design and instructional technology views faculty as drivers of excellence in teaching and students as benefactors of well-designed courses.
25Live: 25Live by CollegeNET is a system for scheduling courses, meetings, and events. Visit the site’s Guidelines for Faculty and Staff page to get started.
LionPath: On LionPATH, you can view transcripts, access financial aid information, pay tuition bills, schedule courses, and much more.
LinkedIn Learning: Visit LinkedIn Learning’s library of thousands of free, on-demand tutorials to enhance your coursework and build your resume.
IT Learning and Development: IT Learning and Development (ITLD) provides free, online, in-person, and personalized professional development resources for a variety of software systems and technology tools.
Adobe: An Adobe Creative Cloud (CC) account—which includes programs such as Photoshop, InDesign, Acrobat Pro, and After Effects—is now available to all Penn State students at no additional cost.
Office 365: Office 365 includes all of the Microsoft programs you’re familiar with—from Word to Excel—and many more. Explore new ways to unleash your creativity and increase your productivity.
G Suite for Education: A G Suite account—which includes apps such as Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Hangouts Meet and Chats, Sites and Jamboard - is available to all Penn State students at no additional cost.
Starfish:It is the suite of academic advising tools selected by Penn State to integrate with LionPATH and replace ISIS and eLion advising features that currently deliver advising notes, early progress reports (EPRs), and online scheduling of advising appointments.
Research Tools
Research Cyberinfrastructure: Penn State provides researchers and faculty with a variety of services and tools to help enable and aid them in their work. Here you will find all technologies, platforms, and services available at Penn State in Research Computing, Research Cyberinfrastructure, and Research Data.
Shared Governance of Research Computing and Cyberinfastructure:Penn State approaches the governance of Research Computing and CyberInfrastructure (RCCI) in a unique manner, utilizing a shared approach that engages faculty, IT professionals, and administrators from across the University, and providing a structure through which researchers can elevate their questions, suggestions, and problems to the highest levels of the University.
Institute for Computational and Data Sciences (ICDS): One of five interdisciplinary research institutes within Penn State’s Office of the Vice President for Research, the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences (ICDS) helps researchers team up to develop and apply innovative, high performance computation methods.
Research Network: The Research Network gives faculty access to secure, high-performance research data transfers. Learn more about the service on the Frequently Asked Questions page.
Research at Penn State: The Office of the Senior Vice President for Research supports a rigorous program of faculty and student research and creative accomplishment by enhancing the environment for scholarly and artistic endeavors, encouraging the highest quality standards, and fostering ethical conduct in research.
Qualtrics: Qualtrics is a web-based software program that enables you to create surveys to collect and analyze feedback from participants. For more information visit the Qualtrics website and contact your local IT administrator for licensing information.
Library Resources: Visit the Services and Research pages on the Penn State University Libraries website to learn more about and access important research tools including data bases, e-journals, course reserves, citation guides, and data archiving and preservation
Institutional Review Board Training: The Institutional Review Board (IRB) is a federally mandated entity that oversees the protection of human subjects in research. If you or your students are conducting research involving human subjects while at Penn State, you are required to be in compliance with the IRB.
Cloud Computing: The Cloud Program provides access to cloud-based IT infrastructure for easy and rapid acquisition, development, and scaling of secure resources, letting you focus on your research and reduce costs. For more information visit our support website.
Privacy and Security
Policies: Keep up-to-date with Penn State privacy policies by reviewing them regularly.
HIPAA:Penn State is subject to parts of both HIPPA and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH), two laws that protect health information. Learn more about the laws and how to file a complaint if necessary.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): Learn more about the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which requires a baseline set of standards for organizations that process personal information. GDPR safeguards the processing and movement of personal information for individuals residing in the European Union.
Personally Identifiable Information (PII) : Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is any information maintained by the University that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity. Learn more about specific types of PII and The Pennsylvania Data Security Breach Notification Laws.