All SUNY Potsdam students are assigned a Campus Computer Account (CCA) once they have made their admissions deposit to the college or registered for a course. All SUNY Potsdam faculty/staff are assigned a CCA when their signed contract is received by Human Resources, PACES or the Research Foundation. The CCA is used for all campus services including Potsdam email, BearPAWS, logging onto campus computers, on-campus and Brightspace, publishing web pages and proxy access to campus restricted web sites. The same username and password is used for all of these services.
FAQ's
What is my student username?
What is my faculty/staff username?
What is my alumni username?
How do I get my password?
How can I reset my password if I forget it?
What if I'm a Cross-Registered student from another college or if I am faculty and have a Cross-Registered student in my class?
What if I'm a former student who just wants access to my advisory transcript on BearPAWS?
Who should I contact if I have other questions about the Campus Computer Account or I have technical difficulties?
Is it possible to change my CCA username?
What is my student username?
The student username is the first six (6) letters of the last name, followed by the first letter of the first name, the first letter of the middle name and a number calculated from your admission term. Your username is the first part of your Potsdam email address, without the '@potsdam.edu.' Current students can look up their username in the student directory on our web site at https://www.potsdam.edu/about/directory.
What is my faculty/staff username?
The faculty/staff username is the first six (6) letters of the last name, followed by the first letter of the first name, and the first letter of the middle name. For John M. Doe the username would be "doejm". Your username is the first part of your Potsdam email address, without the '@potsdam.edu.' Current faculty/staff can look up their username in the faculty/staff directory on our web site at https://www.potsdam.edu/about/directory.
What is my alumni username?
The alumni username is the first six (6) letters of the last name, followed by the first letter of the first name, the first letter of the middle name and an automated personalized number. If you had a student username while attending Potsdam, your alumni username is the same as your student username. Your username is the first part of your Potsdam email address, without the '@potsdam.edu.'
Please use the following to determine your initial password in this order:
- The last 3 characters of your zip/postal code (uppercase letters if there are any)
- The first initial of your first name (uppercase)
- The first initial of the last name (uppercase)
- The 2-digit day of your birthday
- The 3-letter month of your birthday (lowercase)
- The 4-digit year of birthday
- End with a “!” character
As an example, if John Stewart has a zip/postal code of 37011, and was born November 23, 1994, this would be his password:
011JS23nov1994!
You will be asked to set a permanent password upon first log in.
How can I reset my password if I forget it?
If you forget your password and you cannot answer the security measures in the Microsoft Self Service Password Reset Portal and you are not able to come to the SUNY Potsdam campus in the near future, you can have your password reset by sending an email to passwordreset@potsdam.edu. A representative with be in contact with you with more information on how to reset your password.
If you are on campus, please stop by the IT Service Desk in Stillman Hall 103.
What if I'm a Cross-Registered student from another college or am faculty with a Cross-Registered student in my class?
Please refer to the below links for more information. For any questions please reach out to One Stop: https://www.potsdam.edu/current/one-stop
Potsdam/Home Students: https://www.potsdam.edu/about/offices/registrar/cross-registration
Host Students: Please reach out to your home university to start the process. You may review our class offerings here: https://www.potsdam.edu/about/offices/registrar/class-schedules
What if I'm a former student who just wants access to my advisory transcript on BearPAWS?
If you are a former student who wishes to get access to your student records through BearPAWS, you can have your BearPAWS account reactivated and your password reset by sending an email to passwordreset@potsdam.edu. A representative with be in contact with you with more information on how to reset your password.
Who should I contact if I have other questions about the Campus Computer Account, or if I have technical difficulties?
If you have technical problems or other questions about your CCA, please contact the IT Service Desk at itservicedesk@potsdam.edu or (315) 267-4444.
Is it possible to change my CCA username?
CCA usernames are unique and generated automatically using an algorithm specifically designed to prevent future username collisions. As such all requests for CCA username cosmetic modifications are denied. Any student/faculty-staff who has legally changed their name and has subsequently notified the Registrar Office and/or Human Resources is eligible to have their CCA username "renamed". CCA rename requests must be made in person at the IT Service Desk and persons can not request specific usernames.