PASSHE and InCommon Develop Standard Agreement that Increases Collaboration Opportunities
Managing collaboration, security and privacy has just become easier for the 14 Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) universities. PASSHE has developed a standard agreement with InCommon, the federation that provides for shared management of access to online resources for the U.S. research and education communities.
InCommon, operated by Internet2, allows researchers, students, faculty and staff to use their university usernames and passwords to access online resources – both on-campus and those offered by third-party providers. Identity providers control the release of user information, and service providers manage the authorization for access to their online resources. The result is a secure and privacy-protecting method for providing individuals with single sign-on access to protected or licensed online resources.
PASSHE joins other state university systems in California, Texas, and Maryland that have established system-wide agreements with InCommon.
“The InCommon federation and trust services are increasingly seen as a foundation for system-wide initiatives and resource sharing designed to save money and increase collaboration,” states Jack Suess, chair of the InCommon Steering Committee and VP of IT at UMBC. InCommon welcomes the opportunity to work with the PASSHE member institutions and their service providers.”
The template agreement between PASSHE and InCommon allows all PASSHE members to join InCommon under the same terms and conditions, simplifying the process for both parties by ensuring that the legal and policy issues are addressed consistently for PASSHE institutions.
“It is clear that the future of higher education is about collaboration and academic partnerships. Executing this agreement gives our institutions the ability to more effectively connect with our partners and simplify technology access for our employees and students”, said Dr. John C. Cavanaugh, Chancellor of PASSHE.
PASSHE member institutions can visit www.incommon.org/passhe for specific information, including how to join, or can email incommon-admin@incommon.org. InCommon now serves more than 300 higher education institutions, research organizations, and sponsored partners.
ABOUT InCOMMON
InCommon, operated by Internet2, serves the U.S. education and research communities, supporting a common framework of trust services and operating the InCommon Federation and the community-driven InCommon Certificate Service. The InCommon Federation, the U.S. trust federation for research and education, enables scalable, trusted collaborations among its community of participants. The InCommon Certificate Service offers unlimited security certificates to the U.S. higher education community for one fixed annual fee. For more information, see www.incommon.org.
ABOUT PASSHE
The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth, with nearly 120,000 students. The 14 PASSHE universities offer degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. About 500,000 PASSHE alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.
The PASSHE universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. PASSHE also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Freeport, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg.