Topics Map > •Accounts, Authenication & Passwords > -NetID
WhooRU: Complete Guide to NetID
- WhooRU?
- What is a NetID?
- Managing Your NetID Account
- Managing Profile and Contact Information
- Managing Rice Online Directory Information
- Troubleshooting
- Has your NetID been enabled?
- Have you claimed your NetID?
- Are you using the correct password?
- Have you changed your password recently?
- Did you receive an email that your account has been locked?
- Is the service experiencing problems?
- Has your affiliation with the University changed recently?
- None of these steps helped.
- FAQs
- Basic Identity Profile Example
- NetID States
- Key Terms
- See Also
NOTE: WhooRU.rice.edu is replacing MyNetID.rice.edu on June 18, 2025. Watch this video about exciting changes. Certain links and commands in this document will not become active until the switch.
WhooRU?
How do we know who you are? Why do we care? Your NetID is all about your online identity at Rice and helps us determine if or how you're affiliated with the university to provide access to the services you need.
WhooRU.rice.edu, formerly MyNetID.rice.edu, is the online account management system used for self-service account management. This system provides all information about your profile and accounts.
What is a NetID?
Your NetID is your Rice identity account used to access university systems and services. This account is unique to each individual and is meant to be used only by the person it belongs to.
Purpose
The purpose of a NetID account is to provide access to resources based on an individual's affiliation with the university. An affiliation refers to the connection or relationship that an individual has with Rice (e.g., student, employee, or visitor).
Eligibility
Everyone affiliated with the university has one NetID account, which they can use and manage to access university services. This includes:
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Students
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Employees
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Visitors (academic and service)
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Other affiliates of the population
Availability
Your NetID is generally created and enabled as soon as the Identity and Access Management (IAM) Team learns that you will be joining Rice. Before activating and using your NetID, we will first need to learn WhooRU?.
Managing Your NetID Account
Claim your NetID
Before you can use your NetID and access any services, you must claim and activate your account using the Identity Claim Portal. The Identity Claim process will set up your account and assign your NetID. Please take note of your NetID and store it in a safe place for future reference.
To begin the claim process, you must have your:
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Student ID Number (students) or OwlID (employees and visitors) (provided in an email from Rice about activating your NetID)
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Legal First and Last names
If you have not received any email or instructions, please contact the Office of Registrar if you're a student, or the Office of Human Resources/Visitor Management if you're an employee or visitor.
Once you initially claim your NetID, you will be prompted by Duo Mobile to set up your access method(s) that will be used for multi-factor authentication (MFA). Rice uses Duo Mobile for MFA to protect your accounts. To learn more about Duo, please see: Duo: Complete Guide to Duo.
Password Management and Authentication
Please use a strong and unique password for your NetID account according to the instructions in the WhooRU.rice.edu portal. The password should be long, 30 characters or more, random, and include letters, numbers, and special characters. We strongly recommend using a password manager like 1Password, LastPass, or Google Password Manager to make and store these credentials.
For more guidance on the required password criteria, please see: [Link for document 150880 is unavailable at this time]. You must be logged in to view this document.
Managing Profile and Contact Information
Change My NetID Password
NOTE: You must have previously activated your NetID to change your password.
If you know your NetID password, you can change it anytime by visiting the WhooRU.rice.edu web page. Log in and select the My Passwords option from the home screen.
Recover A Forgotten NetID Password
If you don't remember your existing password, you can use the recovery feature to reset it by visiting WhooRU.rice.edu and selecting the Forgot Password link. You can also step through the Password Reset Portal.
Updating Contact Information
You can update your contact information anytime in the WhooRU Portal. Profile and contact information, including your phone or external email, should be kept current for better account management.
See also: WhooRU: Updating Contact Information in WhooRU.rice.edu
Managing Rice Online Directory Information
Changing your Published (Primary) Email Address
Your published (primary) email address is one public entry in the Rice online directory. Log in to WhooRU.rice.edu to change your published email address in the Rice directory.
Creating An Alternate (Alias) Email Address
By default, a netid@rice.edu email address will be created and assigned to you when your NetID is initially created. Each individual can create up to three alternate or vanity email aliases that will all send to your one email mailbox. Log in to WhooRU.rice.edu and select My Aliases from the options on the home screen.
NOTE: When creating and choosing a new alias, please be mindful. An alias cannot be deleted once it has been created.
Examples of acceptable new alias formats:
sammyowl@rice.edu
SammyOwl@rice.edu
sammy.owl@rice.edu
Sammy.Owl@rice.edu
Troubleshooting
To troubleshoot what to do if you can't log into your account, walk through the following steps:
Has your NetID been enabled?
Have you received your onboarding packet or email from the university? If you haven't, your NetID is likely not yet enabled.
If you have not received any email or instructions, please contact the Office of Registrar if you're a student, or the Office of Human Resources/Visitor Management if you're an employee or visitor.
Have you claimed your NetID?
If you've received instructions about activating your NetID and have your Student ID or OwlID, you must use the Identity Claim process to claim your account. Go to WhooRU.rice.edu and use the Claim Your Identity link at the bottom of the front page.
This claim process can only be completed once, and an error message will be received if an attempt is made to activate the NetID again.
Are you using the correct password?
You can check to see if your password is correct by signing in to WhooRU.rice.edu. If you can log in successfully, you've entered the correct password for your NetID account. If you receive an error message, you can select the Forgot Password link to initiate a password reset.
Have you changed your password recently?
Anytime you change or update your password, update any other accounts and systems that may reflect the old password, including anywhere on your computer, tablet, or smartphone. Failure to update the password across your devices and/or software may result in the inability to access the system.
Places where you can check for and update your previous password:
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Applications or Software (E.g., Zoom, Teams, Gmail, etc.)
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WiFi and other wireless settings
Did you receive an email that your account has been locked?
If you receive an email that your account has been locked by an administrator, this is likely due to a security concern. In most cases, when an account is locked, that account and user will be disabled from accessing the Identity portal.
Is the service experiencing problems?
To check and see if the system you are trying to access is working, check the Rice status page at http://status.rice.edu/. Any service outages will be automatically updated here by OIT Staff.
Has your affiliation with the University changed recently?
An affiliation is the connection or relationship that an individual has with the university, for example, a student, employee, or visitor.
The services available to an individual will depend on this affiliation(s). If you are unsure about your affiliation status, please contact the Rice OIT Help Desk.
None of these steps helped.
Take some time to evaluate any points where your account may have been compromised or if there are any other potential problems affecting your access to university resources.
If an administrator has blocked your account due to a security concern, it will take time to clear automatically. Otherwise, if you have investigated the error and are still having issues, please contact the OIT Help Desk for assistance (713-348-HELP (extension 4357)).
FAQs
Q: Why is it essential to have a NetID?
A: Your NetID account is your ticket to sign in and access campus systems. You only need to remember and use this account to gain access to most other university services.
Q: How does a NetID account work?
A: A NetID account ties specific attributes to an individual account (Identity), automatically allowing access to resources based on your affiliation with the university. (E.g., student, faculty, or staff)
Q: Will my NetID expire?
A: No. You will keep the same NetID throughout your entire affiliation with the university, even if you leave and come back later. So if you are a former student returning as an employee, you will have the same NetID.
Q: I'm returning to Rice University after an extended period. What if I can't remember my account password to log in?
A: If you do not remember your previous password, you can use the Forgot Password or Password Reset process to change it.
Q: Can a NetID be reassigned?
A: No, once a NetID has been assigned to an individual, it will remain with them for life. It will not be transferred to anyone else, even if that individual leaves the university and returns after an extended period.
Q: Can I change my NetID?
A: No, it's not generally IAM policy to change a NetID. There are allowed exceptions to this policy, for instance, if the NetID causes emotional distress to an individual. However, we cannot guarantee that there will be no data loss or service disruption to the individual.
Q: I am a former student returning as an employee, will I have a new NetID?
A: No. You will have the same NetID as during your student affiliation.
Q: How do NetIDs get created?
A: NetIDs are automatically generated as an individual's data is received by the Identity and Access Management (IAM) group. The format of the NetID is generally two or three alphabetic characters followed by a number.
Basic Identity Profile Example
NetID: so1912
Legal First Name: Samuel
Legal Last Name: Owl
Preferred Name: Sammy
Affiliation: Student/Mascot
Title: Best Mascot Ever, Rice University Mascot, Marching Owl Band (MOB) Drum Major
NetID States
A NetID can exist in four possible states. These states follow a user's life cycle and track their affiliation with the university to understand what kind of access should be granted. Please refer to the table below to understand these life cycle states.
NetID State |
Description |
|---|---|
| Enabled | A NetID that has been created and is ready to be claimed. |
| Claimed | A NetID that has been activated and is fully usable by the individual to access Rice services. |
| Locked | A previously claimed NetID that has been blocked by an administrator for some reason, likely due to a security concern. |
| Disabled | A NetID that is no longer usable by the individual. |
Key Terms
Term |
Definition |
Example |
|---|---|---|
| Alias | An alias is a way to personalize your email address. |
Official email address: Samuel.Owl@rice.edu NetID email address: so1912@rice.edu New email Alias: Sammy1912@rice.edu |
|
NetID Account |
A special type of account that allows you to access university services based on your affiliation. |
so1912 so1912@rice.edu |
| NetID | The NetID is a combination of your initials and numbers that individuals get assigned and use to sign in and access university services. | so1912 |
| Identity | An Identity is a set of attributes that uniquely identifies an individual. | See the Basic Identity Profile example |
| Identity and Access Management | The Identity and Access Management Team (IAM) handles central authentication, authorization services, identity management, account provisioning, and de-provisioning. IAM receives incoming data about all new identities to understand their affiliation with Rice. |
|
| Service | A service is a tool or resource that assists an individual with tasks such as email, coursework, file storage, networking, etc. |
Learn more about services here: https://oit.rice.edu/oit-services |
| Provisioning | A process that grants access to services based on a person's unique attributes tied to their affiliation with the university. |
Student gets access to Banner and Canvas. Staff get access to the HR Performance Application. |