Penn State Accounts

Your official Penn State email account is a vital part of a successful educational and communication strategy, as you will receive communications from your various academic partners (advisors, instructors, research collaborators, etc.) as well as notifications from various University offices, including The Graduate School.

As you are already participating in this orientation, the good news is that you have already finished the steps necessary to create your Penn State Access Account.

All official University communication is going to be directed here. Because of this, it's important that you check your email often! At the very least, you should check your account daily to make sure that you stay current with all of your communications.

User ID

Anyone with a Penn State Account is assigned a unique username (called a “user ID”) that consists of three letters followed by a series of digits. These are the letters and numbers before the @psu.edu part of your email address. You will use your user ID to access the various Penn State systems and resources that require secure login. Forward your email, change your PSU Access Account Password, create an email alias, and configure away messages at the Penn State accounts website.

Office 365

Your official Penn state email is accessed in the Outlook application in the Office 365 (O365) suite. Depending on your preference, you can either use O365 applications from your browser screen or install them on your computer. Visit the Penn State Office 365 website for additional information, training guides, and support resources.

Some Friendly Reminders About Email

Often, we hear about online etiquette, or “netiquette,” in various settings. As you have already passed the significant hurdle of demonstrating academic and professional excellence by being admitted to The Graduate School and your program of study, you already possess the judgment and discretion necessary to successfully utilize technology as a communication strategy. However, it serves all of us to periodically get a few reminders, such as:

Use short and descriptive e-mail subject lines.
Stay focused in your e-mail narrative to ensure it matches the subject.
Keep the length and breadth of the e-mail message succinct and as brief as possible while still getting the salient points across in your words and messaging.
Be courteous and respectful in your messaging, and remember to consider the tone. Be sure to re-read your messages from the standpoint of your audience before you hit the send button!
Lastly, keep in mind that e-mails are often forwarded and/or viewed by others throughout and outside of the Penn State community. Be sure that you are cognizant of language, avoid sarcastic references, and keep in mind that what you may consider as humor or idioms may not be considered as such by others.

Canvas

You're already here!: canvas.psu.edu

Tips for Canvas:

Be sure to set up your Contact Preferences.
Be sure to set up Notifications. Notifications apply to all courses, not just a single class. Recommended notifications to come immediately include:
- Announcements
- Grades
- Submission Comments
Color code your Course Cards on your Dashboard. These colors will then color-code assignments on the Calendar.

LionPath

Connect to LionPath to search for and schedule courses and view your tuition bill.

Pro Tip: Do NOT count on the "usually offered" schedule in LionPath. It's not accurate.

Turnitin

Turnitin is a site that faculty members can use to ensure that essays and written assignments are free of plagiarism. You can submit draft assignments if your instructor allows it so that you can ensure you haven't accidentally copied something.

Connecting to Penn State

Wireless

To connect via a laptop or mobile device, connect to the access point pennstate and then go to wireless.psu.edu. You will not be able to go to other websites from this access point, but you can connect to get the instructions for connecting to psu as a network.

VPN

Virtual Private Network (VPN) software exists to allow you to connect to Penn State while off-campus. VPN will allow you to access your network drives, should you need to. Download the Cisco AnyConnect client at Penn State's Software Request website.

Software

Free Software from Penn State

Software Purchases

EquatIO for math equations

View all software available for students and faculty

Google Workspace

Penn Staters are all able to use Google Workspace, which includes Google Docs, Sheets, Jamboard, Hangouts, Sites, and a host of other software. Your GSuite account, which uses your Penn State Access Account, can also be used to activate EquatIO (see above).

Adobe Creative Cloud

Adobe Creative Cloud is available to all Penn Staters. You can have Acrobat, Photoshop, Portfolio, InDesign, Premiere Rush, and a number of other creative applications at your fingertips.

Kaltura

Kaltura is Penn State's cloud based media management platform. Kaltura has a mobile app that makes video recording and editing on the go easy for students and faculty, and can host videos for public and private viewing.

Storage

OneDrive

OneDrive is the University's document storage and sharing platform. It also allows collaborative editing using Microsoft Office online.

Cloud Storage

Other cloud storage services, including your U Drive space and PASS space, are available through the cloud storage page. Find out more on Penn State's Data Storage page.

Services

Zoom

Zoom is good for online video conferencing and webinars. To configure your account, visit the the Penn State Zoom website and log in with your Penn State account.

Click on Profile, and you'll see your personal meeting room. Recommended: Upload a photo so that instructors aren't viewing a black square with your name on it during remote classes.

Pro Tip: You can change your meeting ID or create an alias for your personal meeting room. I recommend creating an alias and (if possible) changing your personal Zoom room number to your phone number—then you'll never forget it!

Recommended settings:

Video: Turn off my video when joining a meeting
Audio: Mute my mic when joining a meeting

You can also chat with anyone at Penn State using Zoom if you are logged in and using the desktop client.

Websites/Blogging

Sites at Penn State

Penn State's blogging platform is Wordpress, and is known as Sites at Penn State. You can set up a site easily using this platform, add other users, and easily create your own online presence. When you graduate, you can export your site and host it externally using any hosting platform that supports Wordpress.

Portfolio

Portfolio is part of Adobe Creative Cloud. You can create a personal portfolio of your work here, as well. Please note: You get one year of Portfolio hosting for free after you graduate, but after that it's a paid service.

Training

Tutorials on major software packages, Business applications, and even programming languages are available through LinkedIn Learning at Penn State. You can create a playlist of training for yourself, or go through one of the many available learning paths.