Authentication - UIC credentials
Choosing the appropriate method of logging in to UIC services provided by outside vendors
Some UIC services come from outside vendors, like Zoom and Google. These services allow people from other institutions and private individuals (anybody) to create their own accounts as well. To successfully connect to UIC-specific services, like accessing UIC-only Zoom meetings, or Google doc invitations to your UIC account, or to access your UIC Box files from a locally-installed app like Drive or Sync, it's important to log in *as your UIC identity* and not as a private individual.
Some people have created their own personal accounts on UIC-supported services using their UIC email address. This leads to the possibility of having *two* accounts on that service that are hard to tell apart. Logging in the appropriate way will direct you to the UIC-linked account.
SSO
If a UIC-supported application has "SSO" as a choice for logging in, that is usually the option that will grant you access to the full set of UIC services on that platform.
- Do not use the "Sign In" area with space for your Username and Password
Instead, look for the "SSO" or "Sign In with SSO" button or link elsewhere below or next to the direct login area.
Below is an example screenshot from a Zoom login client:
Here is the Box page about logging into desktop and mobile local Box applications with SSO.
If you have created a UIC Google account per the instructions here, but you already had a personal account you had created with your UIC email address separately, you may be asked by Google which of those accounts you are trying to access when you log in. This may be an additional screen, asking you to choose between your Organizational, Institutional, or Educational account and your Individual account.
To access UIC services, the Organizational/Institutional/Educational option is the correct choice.
Below is an example screenshot:
Bluestem
Making the correct choice to access either of the above examples will lead you to the Bluestem Authentication page. That's an indication that you are on the right track to access full UIC services.