This document provides an overview of the MCommunity Directory. It describes the information about people and groups that is in the directory and details how that information gets into, and out of, the directory.
For tips and instructions on using the directory, see the list of MCommunity Directory documentation.
What Is the MCommunity Directory?
The MCommunity Directory is a public listing of individuals and groups at the University of Michigan. Additionally:
- All current members of the U-M community have profiles in the MCommunity Directory. This listing includes faculty, staff, students, retirees, alumni, and sponsored affiliates.
- Anyone who has a profile in the MCommunity Directory and logs in can use it to create groups in the directory.
- These groups typically are used to group people for email purposes. They may also be used to control access to university systems.
- Only individuals at U-M who are authenticated by logging in via U-M Weblogin can see MCommunity groups in the directory.
- The MCommunity Directory is an enterprise directory—that is, it covers the entire university. It is part of a larger identity management system that allows the university to know who is, and who is not, a member of the U-M community. This enables central offices—as well as departments, schools, colleges, and campuses—to grant and remove access to their online resources as needed and appropriately.
- IT staff at U-M can use LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) to access the MCommunity Directory via an LDAP Tree (see LDAP Access to the MCommunity Directory).
Searching the MCommunity Directory
You can use the Search box at the top of any page in the directory. The Advanced Search option allows you to refine your search with specific attributes, such as name or phone number (Tips for Searching the MCommunity Directory).
- Tip: It is much quicker to search for single word/name searches versus multiple search values separated by a space.
People Profiles
Each member of the U-M community has a profile in the MCommunity Directory. Official contact information in the profiles comes from university records. MCommunity receives up-to-date information from these official university information sources:
- Wolverine Access (for Ann Arbor students and all faculty and staff)
- Dearborn Banner System (for Dearborn students)
- Flint Banner System (for Flint students)
- Donor & Alumni Relationship Tool (DART)
- MCommunity Sponsor System (for sponsored individuals, i.e. conference/program attendees, contractors, wireless guests and others)
This information cannot be updated in MCommunity. It must be updated at the source, then the updated information will flow to MCommunity.
People can provide additional contact information, as well as other information about themselves in their profiles (About Your MCommunity Profile: View and Edit).
Group Profiles
Everyone who has a profile in the MCommunity Directory can create groups in it. These groups can be used to send email or for service authorization. For details, see
- Managing Your Membership in MCommunity Directory Groups
- Managing Groups that You Own in the MCommunity Directory
How People Get Into MCommunity
People get a profile in the MCommunity Directory when they become a member of the U-M community—and are therefore included in one of the authoritative information sources for the directory—and get a uniqname (Procedures for Getting a Uniqname).
- Faculty and staff become full members of the community when their information is entered into Wolverine Access during the hiring process.
- Students get MCommunity profiles when they matriculate (that is, they pay their enrollment deposit or otherwise indicate their intention to enroll).
- Sponsored people are entered when a sponsorship administrator enters information about them in the MCommunity Sponsor System.
Many people have multiple relationships with the university, and data about them comes from multiple official sources. Each person will have only one profile that consolidates the available information.
How People Are Removed from MCommunity
People lose their MCommunity Directory profile when all their relationships with the university end.
- Faculty and staff profiles are removed, after a grace period, when faculty and staff leave the university and their appointment is terminated. When a person's profile is removed from the MCommunity Directory, that person's uniqname and UMICH password stop working. Terminated faculty and staff need to be able to log in to Wolverine Access to retrieve their W-2 forms through April 15 of the year after they leave, so the grace period is long enough to accommodate this. Retirees remain in the directory for the rest of their lives.
- Students transition from one authoritative information source (Wolverine Access, Dearborn Banner System, or Flint Banner System) to another (DART) when they graduate and become alumni. Students who complete at least one term in a degree-granting program but who do not graduate are also considered alumni. Alumni remain in the directory for the rest of their lives.
- Profiles for sponsored individuals are created with expiration dates. The sponsoring department can renew sponsorships as needed. When a sponsorship expires, the sponsored person's profile is removed from the directory and the uniqname and UMICH password stop working (if this person has no other sponsorships or relationships to the university).
For more detail, see Uniqname Use and Online Access After Leaving U-M.