A new electronic identifier for Mississippi State faculty, staff and student computer users is being introduced by the Office of Information Technology Services.

When fully implemented, NetID will be a person's unique identifier for accessing a variety of current and emerging network based systems and services. According to ITS head Mike Rackley, NetID, once operational, will eliminate the use of Social Security numbers—and the accompanying privacy concerns—for network access and authentication. In addition, the new system will allow the replacement of multiple, disparate log-ins and passwords with a single NetID and password for each individual.

"Given the number and diversity of systems and services on the MSU campus network today, these goals will not be achieved overnight," Rackley said. "This is a long-term project that will be accomplished through incremental change and evolution of systems, software and procedures."

NetID also "will not require faculty and staff to change existing e-mail addresses," he emphasized.

To be completed by the end of December, the first phase involves assignment of a unique NetID to each student and faculty and staff member. The general scheme for NetID assignment is a person's lowercase initials followed by a number for uniqueness.

"For example, John Michael Rackley might be assigned the NetID jmr12," Rackley explained. "Many will recognize this as the same scheme that has been used for years in assignment of logins on ra.msstate.edu. If a person already has a Ra login that conforms to this scheme, it will become his or her NetID. Otherwise a NetID will be generated and assigned."

The first use of NetID is expected during the 2001 spring semester by users of the WebCT and Blackboard online course management systems. Faculty using either of these systems will be getting more specific information prior to the start of the semester.

As efforts proceed to "NetID enable" other systems, information will be disseminated at appropriate times.

"By the beginning of the spring semester, it will be possible to determine one's NetID several different ways," Rackley said. "It will become part of the information displayed online at www.msstate.edu/directory. It also will become part of class rosters and other information available to faculty and students via Banner Web."

Future plans call for the NetID to be imprinted and encoded on new university identification cards, he added.