All new students should have received a booklet called Computing at Carleton by the end of May. If you didn't get the booklet, contact Student Computing and we'll send you a new one.  On the front page of this booklet is a label with the username and password that will give you access to Carleton’s network.

Your username doubles as your email address, and along with your password will give you access to just about every online resource that you’ll use on campus. Student usernames are formed from your last name and your first initial, with some slicing and dicing to accommodate an eight letter limit and some common last names.

Changing Your Password

The first thing you should take care of is changing your password to something that isn’t written down anywhere.  The starting password for your account is generated randomly and should only be used to sign in for the first time.  Once you've changed it you'll be asked to set up some challenge questions which will allow you to reset your password should you forget it in the future.

Email

If you received your Computing at Carleton document then you will have an active email account at Carleton; the address is found on your label. To begin using it, simply log in to Zimbra (Carleton's webmail service) with your username and password.  For more information on Zimbra, check out hte Student Computing knowledge base article.

If you already have a well-established email account, it’s tempting to just ignore your Carleton account, but please don’t. Over the summer some campus offices will send (non-critical) information to your Carleton address. Once you’re on campus, however, your Carleton email will be how professors, administrators, and other students will try to contact you.

We would recommend spending some time becoming familiar with Zimbra as it has a number of useful features in addition to email.  However, if you decide that you would prefer to work from an alternate existing email system such as gMail, you can configure your Zimbra account to forward mail automatically.

Come and Play

If you explored Carleton’s web site as a prospective student, you probably encountered sections that were blocked to you because you didn’t have the password. Your username and password now give you access to most of those, and you’re welcome to explore: the campus directory, library databases, the Caucus discussion boards, the events calendar, residence hall information, and much more.

You’ll also receive forms during the summer that you can fill out online rather than on paper by using your Carleton username.