UNI and Email

Setting Up Your Columbia Accounts

Accessing Columbia Resources requires having two separate IDs and passwords for two separate accounts:

  1. Your Columbia University “UNI account,” which gives you access to payroll, benefits, etc. information; and
  2. Your “Exchange e-mail” account, provided by Columbia University Medical Center e-mail account and required for all ICAP work.

Setup and management of these accounts requires that you follow two separate workflows. As you must have a UNI account before you can get an Exchange e-mail account, we’re starting with UNI activation.

UNI Activation

Upon hire you will receive a e-mail from ICAP NYC IT with a request that you activate your UNI and a link to the Columbia University (CU) Website to do so.  On the "Manage My Uni" page you will select “Activate My Uni and be walked through the online form to complete your UNI account setup.

Important

  1. On the “Manage My UNI” page, you will be asked to “Enter your University Network ID.”  You do not have one. INSTEAD, CLICK “Don’t know your UNI? Click here to activate.”
  2. The “Account Activation” page then requests that you provide the “last four digits of your Social Security Number.”  You do not have one, simply LEAVE THIS FIELD BLANK.
  3. After your UNI has been generated, you will be required to set a password in compliance with these rules:
    1. It must be a minimum of 8 characters
    2. It cannot contain common words or personal identifiers
    3. It must include a mix of alphanumeric characters
    4. You must store this password in a safe location
  4. You will next be prompted to set 5 security questions and answers. This is a REQUIRED step, as the data will be used to help you reset your password if you forget it.
  5. Once you are finished, you will be presented with a confirmation page acknowledging the successful activation.  The second bullet on the page will read “Your email address is <insert uni>@columbia.edu. THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO YOU.  Your e-mail is setup by NYC ICAP IT and requires a separate activation process.  Your e-mail address at ICAP will be: <your uni>@cumc.columbia.edu.

Exchange Email Activation & Configuration

Within a week of your hire, you will receive an email from NYC ICAP IT stating that your email account has been created.  This e-mail will contain a temporary password to get you started.

  • Confirm your account is active by visiting the CUMC IT Outlook Website. Enter: mc\<insert your uni> (Example: mc\es2225), and the temporary password from the email. If you are able to access the Web Outlook portal, your email is ready to be configured.

Change Your Temporary Password

Change your password from the temporary one that was provided in the e-mail IMMEDIATELY.  To do so, go to the My Password Website and login with your official UNI Password (not the temporary password you’ve been given.)

  1. Required: Set up your email profile here. Login with your official UNI password (not the email password you just created.) Login with your official UNI password (not the email password you just created.)
  2. The "MyPassword Self-Service" page will appear. Select the link to Edit my Profile. 
  3. Select “Edit my Profile” and login with the e-mail password you created. 
  4. Required: Complete all the security questions and answers. This data will be used to help you reset your password if you forget it.
    1. The answers are case sensitive - any capitals or lowercase that you use in your answers will be required when typing in the answer in the future.
    2. You will be asked to select three questions from a list of prepared questions and create three of your own. All six are required. Store the questions and answers in a document on a password-protected computer and do not share the information with ANYONE. To do is to violate CUMC policy. 

Select the Update button at the bottom of the page when done. You will be returned to the logon window.

Reminder: You are required to save your password as well as the responses to these security questions in a document on a password-protected computer. You will need these responses in order to reset your password. 

Your myPassword profile is now set up and can be used any time your account is locked, you forgot your password or you want to change it. Simply use any computer connected to the Internet to visit here. The myPassword site to fix any of these password problems instantly.

Important: CUIMC prohibits the automatic forwarding of your email to an outside provider such as Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud, etc. Exchange email is the only email that can be used for ICAP business.

Accessing Your Email

You can access your email two ways:

  1. Visit CUMC’s Web Outlook page here.
  2. Request that IT install a local email software client on your computer, such as Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird.

Change My UNI Password

Columbia Policy requires that you change the password for your Uni account every 120 days. To do so click here. On the “Manage My Uni” page you will select “Change Your Password” and be walked through the online form to change your password.

Note:

  • You will have the opportunity to update your security questions, but you are not required to. If you do, remember:  Store the questions and answers in a document on a password-protected computer and do not share the information with ANYONE. To do is to violate CUMC policy.
  • Your new UNI password must be a strong one. 

Change My Exchange Password

Columbia Policy requires that you change the password for your Exchange email account every 90 days. You will be automatically prompted to do so when the deadline approaches. To do so visit CUMC’s My Password page. Select “Change Password” and login using your UNI password, not your email password.  Once you are on the Self Service Password Management Page,  select “Change my Password” and follow the steps to do so.

Note: Leave the ”Domain field” on the form blank.