University of Wisconsin Knowledgebase

This document details the eligibility policy for NetID

All UW-Madison students and current faculty/staff must have a VALID UW-Madison Campus ID number in order to activate and keep their NetID accounts. New employees can activate their NetID prior to their start date, but must use an activation key provided by their payroll office.  Having a valid UW-Madison Campus ID number does not mean that you must possess an actual physical card.

To be considered valid for a NetID account; one of the following must be true:

• You must be an officially registered student in the current semester. Students studying/working abroad must retain their registered student status with UW-Madison. Special Rules:
  • All applicants are only eligible for NetID and My UW-Madison.  
  • Some former students may retain eligibility for NetID and My UW-Madison only for a period of time. For more information on former student eligibility please reference former student access.
• You must have an official, current, active UW appointment at UW-Madison or in Dane County. Special Rules:
  • Student Employees  from UW-Madison are not eligible. They have access because they are a students . 
  • Student employees on the Madison campus from other institutions (non-Madison UW, MATC, Edgewood) are considered eligible for NetID and My UW-Madison only.
  • UW Hospital, Clinics and UW Medical Foundation employees are eligible for NetID and My UW-Madison only.
  • UW-Colleges, UW-Extension and UW-System Administration employees without a Dane County office address are not eligible.
• You must be an officially retired faculty or staff member.
  • Emeritus staff need to be entered into the HRS database by the Academic Personnel Office.
  • Non-emeritus retirees must renew their status with their human resource department to ensure eligibility. See Privileges for UW-Madison Retirees for more information.
• You must be a member of a group holding special authorization status with UW-Madison. This status is not granted to individuals nor is it granted by any informal request. Instead, this designation is reserved for pre-determined organizational entities.

For those who are no longer eligible, the following rules apply to deactivation of NetID accounts:

• NetID account deactivation will take place shortly after the “last day to add” of the Fall and Spring semesters each year.
• We will not deactivate NetID accounts between the last day of the Spring semester and the "last day to add" of the Fall semester.
• We will not deactivate NetID accounts between the last day of the Fall semester and the "last day to add" of the Spring semester.
• The initial phase of deactivations will only disable the non-eligible individual’s ability to check mail, access My UW-Madison, and access WiscCal. Mail sent to that person’s address will still be accepted.
• A grace period is available, by request only, to allow individuals to continue using NetID related services for a specified amount of time. This grace period is intended to allow time to correct issues that may lead to reinstating eligibility or for those who are indeed not eligible, to allow time to establish a private internet service provider (ISP) and set a forwarding address. The grace period will end on an advertised date, generally 2-4 weeks after the initial deactivation.
• The final phase of deactivations will take place in conjunction with the end of the grace period. Anyone who has not resolved outstanding issue will have his or her NetID account completely purged.
• Forwarding addresses established before or during the grace period will be honored for a six month period. We reserve the right to exclude messages identified as highly likely to be bulk mail ( spam ) from the allowable forwarded mail. Forwarding addresses can be added by modifying your NetID account
• Faculty, staff, and student employees will retain access to the My-UW Madison portal for 24 months beyond their appointment termination date such that the final on-line pay statement will be available through the work records tab.