Student Accounts for Current and Former Employees

Starting in Summer Term 2023, Employees who wish to take courses will access the student portion of their account separately from their employee account. Users will use the new student account to access their student email on o365, Canvas and SuccessNet. Users will use their current employee username with "@my.hancockcollege.edu" appended to the end to access their student account through Hancock College's SSO system.

Setting up the New Hancock College Student Account

All employees will need to set a new password for this student account by using their username and date of birth to set an initial password:

1. Visit https://accounts.hancockcollege.edu/AccountSetup.html
2. Select "Student" for the account type
3. Enter the username 
4. Enter the date of birth
5. Set a new password that must be at least 12 characters long, and not have been in our list of compromised passwords.
6. Open a different or private/incognito browser window and log in to the new account using username@my.hancockcollege.edu and the newly created password.

Working with Multiple Accounts

Many of the Hancock College services such as the portal, o365 and Canvas use a technique known as cookies to store data about the user in the browser. This is what allows you to visit a site like the portal, close your browser and visit the portal again without needing to log in again. This is a great convenience most of the time, but can create some problems when a user has multiple accounts trying to access the same website. 

Cookies work on a per browser basis. A cookie stored in Firefox will not be available on the same computer in Chrome. Also a cookie stored in Safari on one device, will not be available on a cookie stored on a different device. Browsers also have some functionality that will help users keep their accounts separate. ITS recommends three different ways to keep these accounts separate.

Use Different Browsers

The simplest option is to isolate the use of browsers for specific accounts. For instance a user might use Chrome for all employee related activity and then use Firefox when they would like to access their student account. Or, the user might segregate their accounts by device. At the work computer, the user only accesses their employee account and the user uses a different device like a phone, tablet or personal computer to access their student account. 

Use a Private or Incognito Browser

All modern browsers have a mode that tells the browser to not read the current cookies, nor to write new cookies. In Chrome, this is known as Incognito mode. In most other browsers, this is known as a Private (or InPrivate) window. Directions on how to start this mode on common browsers is available on the Launching Web Browser in Incognito or Private Mode knowledge base article. One possible method users could use is to use their browser in the normal method for all employee activity. Then, when they want to access their student account, they would launch a new private/incognito browser window and log in to Hancock College SSO using their student username and password. Since student accounts only require a password by default (and not an OTP) this is fairly effortless.

Use Browser Profiles

The final, more permanent option that requires some setup is to use a feature most browsers have and refer to as profiles. A browser profile will store multiple sets of cookies into segregated sections. With this feature a user could have two windows of the same browser open. One window would be tied to the employee account, another could be configured to be accessing the web pages with the student account. Most browsers use an icon in the top right corner to indicate which profile the particular browser is open to. This method can also be used to separate an employee's personal account with a service like Microsoft o365 from their Employee and Student Microsoft accounts. 

Instructions on setting up profiles on Chrome can be found on the Using Chrome Profiles and Multiple Hancock College Accounts knowledge base article. Other browsers use a nearly identical process to set up profiles. 

When to Use the Student Account

Currently the following systems can be accessed by using the student username (username@my.hancockcollege.edu):

• MyHancock Student Portal
• Self Service Banner (through the student portal)
• o365 for student email
• Canvas (see below for information on redirecting Canvas notifications to the student email account)
• More applications as needed 

The following applications will need to be accessed using your employee account (even when using as a student)

• All Library applications
• SucceessNet

Starting in Summer of 2023, student focused email will begin to be sent to the student email address. If the user is currently registered and has an active my.hancockcollege.edu mailbox, the message will be sent there. If the student does not have a my.hancockcollege.edu account active, the message will be sent to the personal email address. The employee address will receive messages relevant to employee activity on their employee hancockcollege.edu address. General, campus-wide messages like RAVE alerts will likely likely be sent to both addresses.

Canvas Email Setup

Users are encouraged to set up their student email account as the default email address for Canvas. This requires a few steps to confirm the email address and then to set the student address as the default option. To get the student email address set up go to the account tab, click the "Settings" link and then "+ Email Address":

Here you will enter the student email address in the format of user@my.hancockcollege.edu and click "Register Email":

Shortly after an email should arrive from Instructure Canvas <notifications@instructure.com>. Then click the "Click here to confirm this registration" link:

Once confirmed, the @my.hancockcollege.edu email should be shown on the settings page. To change the default email address, click the "Edit Settings" button:

in the Default Email section select the user@my.hancockcollege.edu and click the "Update Setings" button.

Additional notification settings are available in the Account > Notifications menu.

Problems Signing In

Should an employee or former employee who had a student account find that they are unable to sign into a student service with their student account, a Sign In Problem ticket can be created. 

Employees who end their employment at Hancock College while taking a class might experience a delay of up to a month before their employee account has been completely removed from the system. To request this process be expedited, a Sign In Problem ticket can be created.