Your Computing Account

Getting a computer account
What your account provides
Using your account
When does your account expire?
What happens when your account expires?

Getting a computer account

If you are a GSD student: Your account is usually created automatically when you enter a degree program at the GSD.

If you are a cross registered student: If you are from another school at Harvard or another university, please fill out this form.

If you are a faculty member: The Faculty Planning Office requests accounts for new faculty. Visiting faculty accounts are requested by the sponsoring department.

If you are a staff member: (This includes temporary or casual staff members) Your account is either requested by the Human Resources Office, or by your supervisor.

What your account provides

Usually, a computing account provides the following:

E-mail account
Data storage on our network (50mb by default)
Public web space
Access to software needed for your studies
Access to applications needed to do your job

Your account features are covered in other parts of this manual.

Depending on your job, or course of study at the GSD, your account may not provide all of the above. Temporary employees do not often have e-mail accounts, for example. Any questions should be directed to accounts@gsd.harvard.edu.

Using your account

There are many places in this manual where you will see reference to your account. It is usually as simple as typing in your login name and password at the correct prompt. Familiarity with your account features, and user utilities will enable you to take full advantage of all the resources available to you.

When does your account expire?

About a month after your relationship to the Design school ends; unless some special arrangements have been made. Your account remains active for the duration of your association with the GSD. Cross-enrolled student and visiting faculty lose their accounts one month after the end of the current semester.

For :

full-time students: July 1 after you graduate (also applies to students graduating in the fall).
cross-registered students: a month after the end of the semester for which you are cross-registered.
staff and visiting faculty: a month after your employment has terminated.
faculty: three months after your contract has terminated

Graduating students who will continue on over the summer as Career Discovery Instructors, or are working within the school, need to submit an account-extension request, signed by the faculty or staff supervisor. To request an extension, fill out the Account Extension Form at least 2 weeks before your account is scheduled to be terminated.

What happens when your account expires?

You can no longer log-in to any GSD computer.
Any files in your home directory are permanently and irrevocably deleted.
Your email address is no longer valid; email sent to it will be returned to sender.
Any email you may have saved in your online account is permanently and irrevocably deleted.
You must submit a new account request form to open a new account.