University Account General Information

cds CDS-Group rc-administrator group-management active-directory single-sign-on

Your University Computing Account is the single identifier used across nearly every Pitt technology service — Office 365, Pitt Email, Student Computing Lab PCs, and more — for students, faculty, staff, applicants, and alumni alike. Behind the scenes, two directory services check that username and password and then provision access: broadly, like a cloud service such as Office 365, or granularly, like read/write permissions on a single department file share.

Central Directory Service

The Central Directory Service (CDS) is the authoritative source for individual identity at the University — a unified directory of everyone affiliated with Pitt, and the system enterprise applications check to determine access. A core design principle is that each affiliated individual has one, and only one, user account. Identity information in CDS comes primarily from source systems like the payroll and student information systems, with manual entry available for people who participate in University programs without a formal student, faculty, or staff affiliation.

Enterprise Active Directory Service

Enterprise Active Directory (AD) authenticates and authorizes users connecting to the Pitt network with their University Computing Account, and is available to every unit, school, and department. Where CDS establishes who you are, Enterprise AD governs what you can reach — access to a specific resource is granted primarily through group membership, with individual users gaining access based on the groups they belong to.

Who manages this?
Pitt Digital administrators manage CDS and Enterprise AD centrally. Some administrative privileges are delegated to department staff: Responsibility Center Account Administrators ("RC Administrators" or "RC Admins") manage account privileges at the responsibility-center level, and Active Directory Administrators manage their department's AD resources. In most departments, the same staff hold both roles.

CDS vs. Enterprise AD: Benefits at a Glance

Benefits comparison between the Central Directory Service and Enterprise Active Directory Service
Central Directory Service	Enterprise Active Directory Service
Provides single sign-on access. With your University Computing Account username and password, you can access most University-wide systems, and even some resources outside the University. Depends on the HR/Payroll System, ID Center System, myPitt, and University email as source systems. Provides accountability for a secure computing environment while staying flexible enough to meet diverse technology demands across the University. Functions as the central registry for individual identity and manages University Computing Accounts under the one-account-per-person principle described above.	Provides a centralized, authoritative repository of network-based resources — computers, printers, applications, and file shares — simplifying management while controlling access. Enables single sign-on to network-based resources for departments that use Enterprise AD, using the same University Computing Account username and password. Enhances network security by centrally managing account provisioning (who receives an account), account lifecycle (activation and, importantly, deactivation once no longer needed), monitoring for unusual activity, and logging for investigating compromised devices.

Find People

Find People is an online directory of Pitt students, faculty, and staff — look up a campus address, phone number, or email address. To update your own contact information, use the Accounts Administration service; for a campus phone number or mailing address change, contact your department's payroll administrator.

The University's Departmental Listings are also available at find.pitt.edu. Using the Departmental Listings link, you can search, download, or print the listings as a PDF, complete with a table of contents and bookmarks for scrolling through the alphabetized entries.

Single Sign-On: Pitt Passport (InCommon Federation / Shibboleth)

Your University Computing Account can also grant access to valuable resources at other institutions and government agencies. Using just that account, you can currently access resources from the National Institutes of Health and Educause.

This is made possible by the University's membership in the InCommon Federation and Shibboleth, a behind-the-scenes authentication and authorization mechanism.

How It Works

Visit the external website whose resources you want to access (see above).
If asked to identify your institution, select University of Pittsburgh. If you're not asked, the service likely already recognizes Pitt users, or you've visited the site before.
Log in with your University Computing Account username and password at the standard login window.

Print and Electronic Directories

The University discontinued its printed telephone directory in 2013. If your contact information is incorrect in the online directory, ask your department administrator to update your employee payroll record.