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.

Environment

UMICH Login

Issue

You would like to access U-M computing resources but do not have a U-M uniqname and UMICH password.

Resolution

You can create a Friend account. 

A Friend account is a guest account that allows a person without a U-M uniqname or UMICH password to log into U-M websites or services. However, no U-M services can be used without verifying your account and/or receiving authorization to use the service.  

Friend accounts are used by: 

1. People applying for admission to U-M. They use Wolverine Access to perform various actions, including viewing their application status, completing an application for in-state tuition, and checking their financial aid. Applicants need to create and verify their account before they can use Wolverine Access. See the Verify Your Friend Account section of New and Prospective Students: Verifying Friend Accounts in Wolverine Access.
2. Parents or others who need to access their student's tuition-related information. They use Wolverine Access>My Student’s Information to view billing statements, view financial aid data, and make payments. While parents and other individuals can create a Friend account, they must be authorized by their student in order to access any information. 
3. Other individuals who need access to U-M systems, such as visiting professors or researchers. They must be authorized by the applicable service provider before accessing any U-M service. 

If, at any point after creating a Friend account, you are given a U-M uniqname and UMICH password, you will stop using the Friend account. For example, admissions applicants who accept an offer of admission to U-M will set up a uniqname as a full member of the university community.

Create Your Friend Account

A non-university email address (does not end with umich.edu) is required to set up a Friend account. An email is sent to that address as part of the account creating process in order to verify you own the address. To create a Friend account, see the Create a new Friend Account article.

Authorize a Friend Account to Use a Service

• Applicants need to verify their Friend account before they can use Wolverine Access. See the Verify Your Friend Account section of New and Prospective Students: Verifying Friend Accounts in Wolverine Access.
• Parents who want to access Student eBilling need to have their accounts authorized by the student. UM-Ann Arbor students can log in to Wolverine Access to authorize access to their eBills, account data and financial aid data for up to four email addresses. See instructions at Finance: Parents and Family Authorization.
• Individuals who need access to U-M systems for other reasons must contact the U-M office or representative that had them create a Friend account to request the account be authorized for the applicable service(s).

Use Your Friend Account

Use your Friend account any time you are prompted to log in while accessing a U-M website or service. Your login name is the full email address you used when creating the Friend account. 

If You Forget Your Password

If you forget your Friend password, you can reset it at Reset Friend Password.

Additional Information

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