Responding to a Friend Guest Account Notification

Environment

UMICH login

Issue

You receive an invitation to create a friend account for U-M guest services and need to respond.

Resolution

What Is a Friend Account Invitation?

Many web resources at the University of Michigan require you to first log in with a login ID and a password before you can access the webpage or site. Members of the U-M community can use their uniqnames and UMICH (Level-1) passwords to do this.

Sometimes, members of the U-M community want to give guests access to their web resources. They can then send these guests invitations to create Friend guest accounts.

If you have received an invitation to create a Friend guest account, it is either because you requested access to a particular web resource at U-M or because someone at U-M believes that you want/need such access.

A Friend guest account invitation can be customized by the person or U-M unit that sends it, so each invitation may look a bit different. In general, though, Friend invitations are sent via email and include, at a minimum, the following information:

  1. The email address of the person or service that sent you the invitation.
  2. A Create Friend Account link that you can click to create your guest account.
  3. A link to this documentation—Responding to a Friend Guest Account Invitation.
  4. A link to information about Information Technology Policies at the University of Michigan.

Responding to the Invitation

To respond to the invitation and create your own Friend guest account, begin by clicking the Create Friend Acount link in the text of the invitation. Here are the account setup steps:

  1. Click the Create Friend Account link in the email invitation you received.
  2. Your web browser will open to a page where you will be asked to provide your email address and to choose a password. After you do so, click the Set Password button.
  3. You will see confirmation that your Friend account has been created. On that confirmation page will be a link you can click to log in and to connect to the web resource(s) that you were invited to use. You will also receive an email message confirming the account creation and providing you with some additional information. We recommend that you save that message for future reference.

Troubleshooting Tips

If You Do Not Receive the Account Confirmation Message

After you select your Friend password, an email message is sent to the email address you provided. This message confirms creation of your Friend guest account.

Most people who report not receiving this message find that it has been caught by their spam filter. If your email program files suspected spam messages in a junk or spam folder, please check that folder for the message. The message will be from friend-noreply@umich.edu, and the subject line will be U-M: Your New Friend Account.

If Your Invitation has Expired

The personalized Create Friend Account link in your invitation expires after 24 hours. If you click the link after it expires and provide a password, you'll see an error message letting you know the invitation has expired.

You can request a Friend account for yourself without an invitation by going to the Request a Friend Account page.

Additional Information

Need additional information or assistance? Contact the ITS Service Center.

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Create a Friend Account for Guest Access to U-M Computing Resources
This document describes how to create a U-M guest access account—called a Friend account. The most frequent use of Friend accounts is to allow parents or others access to pay student bills. Incoming students may need one to check their financial aid notice. Friend accounts are used for other situations as well, such as by participants in some research projects.