10.1. The automatic Oxford account creation

An Oxford username is now created automatically when a qualifying University Card is issued for a completely new student, staff member or visitor, or when a new card is issued after an extended absence. The Oxford account registration letter will normally be sent out by the morning messenger on the day following University Card creation. No letter will be sent if there is an existing Oxford account, even if your new card has a different status, college or department.

Card Types and corresponding Application Form details

1. Student categories - normally administered through the Oxford Student System
   • UG - Undergraduate
   • PG - Graduate (this status is superseded by GR and GT)
   • GR - Graduate (graduate student on a research course)
   • GT - Graduate (graduate student on a taught course)
   • PT - Registered PT Student (part-time student on a non-degree course, card administered by Department of Continuing Education)
   • VR - VRO Student - Visiting, Recognized or Other Student (for Recognized Students, administration is through the Graduate Studies Office). OUCS will not be able to issue an account if the card does not identify any college, department or faculty.
2. Member of Congregation - application form M handled by the individual
   • MC - Congregation
3. Staff - application form S handled by college, dept, or faculty admin
   • US - form S status (a) - University Staff
   • CS - form S status (b) - College Staff
   • DS - form S status (b) - Departmental Staff
   • FS - form S status (c) - Retired Staff
   • AV - form S status (d) - Academic Visitor
   • CL - form S status (e) - Card Holder - CL gets an Oxford account but not central email
   • CB - form S status (e) - Card Holder - CB gets an Oxford account but not central email (this status is for a Card Holder card issued to a person with Bodleian Library access on their previous card).
4. Virtual Access - application form VA handled by college, dept, or faculty admin
   • VA - Virtual Access. There is no physical card for this status. An Oxford account registration letter is printed, giving a barcode, as well as the usual details such as account name and activation code. The user has access to Webauth for purposes of identification for facilities like OxCORT, Graduate Student System, room booking systems etc but no other University computer access. The letter is sent via the University Card office to an administrator at the institution. Any lost password or similar enquiries must be routed through this person or IT Support Staff.
5. Non-qualifying cards - no entitlement to OUCS facilities
   • BR - Bodleian Reader
   • OR - OULS Reader
   • also Temporary Pass and some obsolete categories.

Letters should be sent to the College for UG, VS, PG, GR, GT, CS and also for VR, MC, FS, AV, VA where there is only a College on the card. However, cards will be sent to the Said Business School for any students or staff who have that departmental affiliation - this is to avoid delays, particularly with EMBA students. Letters for PT cards will be sent to the Student Registry at Continuing Education. Any other letters will be sent to the Department or Faculty (including Recognized Students).

We appreciate that some units may want to avoid generating accounts for ancillary staff but at present we have no way of identifying different classes of user for CS or DS cards, so an Oxford account will now be created for any card issued via the Card Office and the corresponding activation letter is sent out automatically. When Bodleian Reader or OULS Reader cards are issued by Bodleian Admissions, they are not recorded on the main card database.

10.2. Card updates

When a person's University Card is altered, OUCS will receive the information early the next day and OUCS account records will be updated by a combination of automatic and manual actions, depending on the exact details of the change. Individuals can check their own email routings and expiry dates via the self-registration pages. If there is a move to a new department or college, the email records will be updated but the Oxford username will remain the same. Any out-of-date email addresses will go ex-directory but will remain operational for two months.

10.3. Card cancellation

Please ask the Card Office to cancel the electronic record of a person's card when they leave earlier than the card expiry date. Even if you repossess the card, the barcode number can be used to access various library and computing facilities if the electronic record is not cancelled. This applies to Virtual Access cards as well as physical cards.

10.4. Course changes

The Student Information System should now notify the University Card Office of any change affecting a student's college, department or completion date. The College IT Officer can check the card expiry date via OUCS information pages for any current student if you are not sure. This will check the date on the electronic record, which may differ from the date on the physical card. It is important for the completion date to be correct, otherwise the student may fail to receive information on careers and alumni facilities.