Managing MCommunity Groups and UMICH Passwords for Google Shared Accounts

Overview

U-M Google Shared Accounts allow teams to use a Google account for shared email and calendar access. The account is owned by the team instead of an individual. (For more information about requesting and managing Shared Accounts, refer to Shared Accounts in U-M Google.) This document provides information about:

• The MCommunity Directory group associated with a Shared Account.
• Resetting the UMICH password used for a Shared Account.

MCommunity Groups Associated With a Shared Account

Each Shared Account has an associated group in the MCommunity Directory. When you request a Shared Account, an MCommunity group for your account is created for you.

The MCommunity group allows email to be sent to the Shared Account using an @umich.edu address. It also allows certain individuals (i.e., the MCommunity group's owners) to change the UMICH password associated with the Shared Account.

Some things you may notice about the MCommunity group profile for your Shared Account:

• In the Group Details on your group's MCommunity profile page, the Rules Summary section will state that the group has not been sent to U-M Google. Shared Accounts are linked with an account in U-M Google differently from other MCommunity groups and are not synchronized.
• The owners of the group will be the owners of the Shared Account. Shared Account owners must be updated using the ITS Shared Account Manager tool. Changes made to owners directly in MCommunity will be reverted within 24 hours.
• One external member will be listed with an email address made up of your Shared Account's name and @go.mail.umich.edu. This external group member must be in your group for your Shared Account to receive email.
• The ITS Shared Account Owner ([email protected]) is added to all MCommunity groups associated with a Shared Account and is necessary for the lifecycle management of the account.
• No individuals will be listed as group members. The Shared Account owners can delegate access to the account through other means. (Refer to Shared Accounts in U-M Google for information about giving people access to Shared Accounts.)

Please keep the following in mind when managing the MCommunity group for your Shared Account:

1. Do not delete the group from MCommunity. The Shared Account will be deactivated and scheduled for deletion if the group is permanently deleted. It also won't receive email.

2. Do not delete the external group member. The external group member, an address ending in @go.mail.umich.edu, delivers email to the Shared Account. It allows your Shared Account to receive mail sent to it at its @umich.edu address. If you delete the external group member from the MCommunity group, the Shared Account cannot receive email.

3. Do not change the group settings. Do not make the group private/moderated or make any other changes to the settings. Such changes can stop emails from being delivered to your Shared Account.

4. Renew the Shared Account (and its group) on an annual basis. This ensures that the group does not expire. The Shared Account owners will be notified via email 30 days before it expires to remind them to renew it.

5. Ensure there are always at least two eligible owners (i.e., faculty and regular staff). Shared Account owners must be updated using the ITS Shared Account Manager tool. The owners are responsible for renewing the account and its group, adding and removing owners, updating the account's Google display name, and resetting the password for the account. Having more than two eligible owners makes it more likely that someone will be available to take care of these tasks as needed, even when an individual owner is away from the office or leaves the university.

Reset the Password for a Shared Account

To reset the password for a Shared Account, you must be an account owner and have an eligible university role (i.e., faculty or regular staff). If you are an eligible account owner, refer to Google: Reset a Shared Account Password for instructions.

If you change the UMICH password for your Shared Account, it is your responsibility to save and share the new password with the other owners securely. It is most secure for you to convey the password verbally, either in person or by phone.

• Do not send a password via email.
• If you are on the phone, be sure you are speaking to the right person.
• Do not leave the password in a voicemail that someone other than the intended recipient might be able to access.