Q What is a NetID?

A The Network ID (NetID) is a Windows Active Directory account that is uniquely assigned to each Connecticut Community College (CCC) student, faculty & staff. It serves as your login to many CCC computing and networking services.

A The NetID is defined as follows:

If you are a student, your NetID is composed of the following two items:

• Username: BannerID (without the "@")
• Domain: @STUDENT.COMMNET.EDU

Example: A student with a BannerID of @87654321, will have the following NetID:

87654321@STUDENT.COMMNET.EDU

If you are a staff or faculty member, your NetID is composed of the following two items:

• Username: BannerID (without the "@")
• Domain: @CollegeDomain

College	College Domain
Asnuntuck	ACC.COMMNET.EDU
Capital	CCC.COMMNET.EDU
Gateway	GWCC.COMMNET.EDU
Housatonic	HCC.COMMNET.EDU
Manchester	MCC.COMMNET.EDU
Middlesex	MXCC.COMMNET.EDU
Naugatuck	NVCC.COMMNET.EDU
Norwalk	NCC.COMMNET.EDU
Northwestern	NWCC.COMMNET.EDU
Quinebaug	QVCC.COMMNET.EDU
Three Rivers	TRCC.COMMNET.EDU
Tunxis	TXCC.COMMNET.EDU
System Office	COMMNET.EDU

Example: A faculty member at Capital with a BannerID of @01234567, will have the following NetID:

01234567@CCC.COMMNET.EDU

Q How do I look up my NetID?

A You can find it using the NetID Lookup Utility.

A The initial password for all new NetIDs will be based on a combination of personal information (birth date and social security number). Specifically, the following three items will makeup the initial password:

1. 1st three characters of birth month (with first letter capitalized)
2. Ampersand character - &
3. Last 4 digits of Social Security Number

So, for a user with a birth date on 10/24/79 and social security number of 123-45-6789, then the initial password would be:

Oct&6789

NOTE: You will be forced to change your password the first time you logon.

A You can use the following process to reset a lost or forgotten NetID Password:

If you are a Student or Faculty, go to www.commnet.edu/netid and click Reset Forgotten Password on the left-side menu.

At that page, there are two choices:
  1) Reset Password via Email, or;
  2) Reset Password with Security Q&A.

Choosing the first option (Reset via Email) will send password-reset instructions to your personal Security Email Address. If you do not have a Security Email Address on file, then this option cannot work for you.

Choosing the second option (Reset with Q&A) will prompt you to verify your identity by entering personal information. Specifically, the following items:

• Social Security Number (last 4 digits)
• Birth Date (Month, Day, Year)
• Answer to your Security Question

If neither option will work for you, click here to find the appropriate support contact for your college.

If you are a Staff member, please click here to find the appropriate support contact for your college.

Q How do I set or change my Security Question?

A Your Security Question must be set up in advance using myCommNet. New users who log into myCommNet will be prompted to select a Security Question & Answer.

Q What is my Security Email Address and how do I set or change it?

A Your Security Email Address is a personal address that you specify as the email location at which you want to receive helpful information if you ever forget your NetID password.  The first time you log in to myCommNet, you are prompted to provide this address.

If you have already specified a Security Email Address and wish to change it, go to www.commnet.edu/netid and click Change Security Email Address on the left-side menu.

When you set or change this address, a confirmation message will be sent via email.  In that message, you will be asked to click a link to confirm.

A If you are unable to use the Reset Forgotten Password utility because you have missing or incorrect identity information (Social Security Number, Date of Birth), please click here to find the appropriate support contact for your college.

A Click here for errors on Reset Password via Email, or for errors on Reset Password with Security Q&A, click here.

A The following requirement (see CCC Password Policy for more details) must be followed when selecting a NetID password.

• Password must be at least eight characters.
• Password must be complex and difficult to guess. A password must contain characters from three of the four categories:

1. Uppercase characters (A through Z)
2. Lowercase characters (a through z)
3. Numeric digits (0 through 9)
4. Special characters (for example, !, $, #)

• Password must not contain all or part of the user's NetID account name.
• Password must differ from previous passwords.
• Password is forced to change every 90 days, but users have the ability to change them sooner.

The following are a few suggestions for creating a secure NetID password:

• Randomly pick alternating uppercase and lowercase vowels and consonants. Add in a digit or two; (e.g., eBiC92oD)
• Combine three and four character words with at least one digit between them. This will create passwords that can be easily remembered but difficult to crack (e.g., Egg123Salad).
• Randomly pick a book, poem, or song. Select a phrase from the work and use the first character of each word in the phrase as your password. Add in at least one digit, or change some of the existing letters to digits or special characters. For example, the phrase "Four score and seven years ago our forefathers…" might become this password: 4s&7yaof

If the password you select does not meet the requirements specified above, you will get the following error message and be asked to try again:

Your password must be at least 8 characters; cannot repeat any of your previous 24 passwords; must contain capitals, numerals or punctuation; and cannot contain your account or full name. Please type a different password. Type a password which meets these requirements in both text boxes.

If you have any questions, please click here to find the appropriate support contact for your college.

A The NetID will be use to access a variety of community colleges services over time. Services that will be immediately accessible using your NetID include;

• PC workstations throughout the community college system
• Outlook Web Access Mail (Faculty & Staff)
• Windows File Shares
• Access to the following services via myCommNet:
  • Blackboard Vista
  • Banner Self-Service (Students, Faculty, Finance)
  • Library Electronic Information Databases

A Student NetID is created within a couple hours of admission. Click here for a more detailed answer.

A Please click here to find the appropriate support contact for your college.