Access to Alma is based on the staff member's job duties and related Alma roles. To ensure the correct roles are assigned, please follow the steps outlined below for new employees and for any changes needed to reflect a current employee's updated job responsibilities.
Once the steps are completed, the request is reviewed by Library Enterprise Systems department staff and employees notified of their change in access within 2 business days.
Employees can access Alma production by going to z.umn.edu/almaprod and log in with your University of Minnesota Internet ID and password. (Use the direct link if the z.umn.edu URL shortening service is unavailable.)
Please contact Library Enterprise Systems staff at [email protected] if:
- you need to use the Alma sandbox for testing purposes. Follow-up with your supervisor may be necessary.
- after filling out the form, you feel you have not received the correct roles to complete your work effectively.
Access for new employees
The following tasks must be completed for each staff or student employee who needs to use Alma for their job responsibilities.
Employee actions
- Enroll and complete the following courses:
- Information Security Awareness Training (https://training.umn.edu/courses/10109) — take the current year’s course
- FERPA Course (https://training.umn.edu/courses/10104)
- Forward the course completion emails you receive to your supervisor, or take a screenshot of the completion notifications and send to your supervisor.
- Work with your supervisor to determine what work you will be doing in Alma.
Supervisor actions
- Once you have received email confirmation that the Information Security Awareness Training and the FERPA Course have been completed, fill out a "new roles" request via the Alma Staff Roles Request Form (https://z.umn.edu/almastaff). Pre-populated links are available below for new student employees in units with 10 or more students.
- A PDF version of the form is available (https://z.umn.edu/almastaffpdf), to consult with your employee or other departmental staff prior to filling out the form.
- Remember the Libraries operate under the "principle of least privilege." Work described should be what they are doing now, not what they might be doing in the future.
- Pre-populated form are available for the following units with 10 or more student employees:
- Morris: https://z.umn.edu/almastudentMORRIS
- Twin Cities AIS: https://z.umn.edu/almastudentAIS
- Twin Cities ABES: https://z.umn.edu/almastudentABES
- Twin Cities HSL: https://z.umn.edu/almastudentHSL
- Twin Cities Minitex: https://z.umn.edu/almastudentMINITEX
- Twin Cities PSE: https://z.umn.edu/almastudentPSE
Changing access for current employees
When a staff member's job duties are changed, Alma roles may need to be adjusted to support their new work duties. To initiate this change, the supervisor uses the Alma Staff Roles Request Form (https://z.umn.edu/almastaff) and chooses either "add to existing roles" to add additional roles, or "change roles" for completely new roles from scratch.
Deactivation of access
Termination
When a staff or student employee with access to Alma functions terminates their position in the Libraries, the employee's supervisor must contact [email protected] in advance of the termination and ask them to delete that employee's permission to access Alma functions at the time the work period ends.
Extended leaves
When a staff or student employee takes an extended leave of absence (90 or more days, including student employees who leave for the summer), the employee's Alma user roles must be deactivated. The supervisor must send email to [email protected] in advance of the leave to ensure the account is deactivated at the time the work period ends. The supervisor must then submit a new Alma Staff Roles Request Form (https://z.umn.edu/almastaff) to reactivate the account when the staff member returns to work.
90 days inactivity within Alma
When an employee does not log into Alma within 90 days, their Alma roles will be deactivated. To reinstate access, the supervisor must submit a new Alma Staff Roles Request Form (https://z.umn.edu/almastaff) to reactivate the roles.
Reactivating access (for student staff or liaisons)
If a student staff or liaison has had their access deactivated, their supervisor can submit a "reactivate roles" request via the Alma Staff Roles Request Form (https://z.umn.edu/almastaff), which removes the need to answer any of the work questions in the form. This is only available if roles have not yet been deleted at 180+ days with no Alma login. If the roles have been deleted, a "new roles" request must be completed.