Email problems experienced due to password reset

Russell Preston

Students and professors at Sacramento State have been encountering issues when accessing their SacLink email in the past couple weeks due to a required password reset.

When students try to open their SacCT account using their username and password, they see: “You have entered an incorrect username or password.” Many tried to retrace where they made a misspelling in their entry, when they actually have entered it correctly.

“It was driving me crazy,” said sophomore kinesiology major James Roman.”I tried maybe 15 times before I realized it wasn’t my spelling, but I had to reset my password.”

Last December, the system run by the school required all users to change their passwords to ensure all passwords were safe and harder for hackers to get through.

“Passwords reset automatically exactly one year from when they were changed last year,” said IRT desk consultant Greg Desmond.

The main cause of the password confusion is the automated change of passwords by the system the school controls.

“We are always available to help students and professors out with any password help or any other problems they may encounter,” Desmond said.

Some students said they felt blindsided when they could not sign in to their SacLink account.

“I understand why they change our passwords for us, but I think there should have been some sort of notification to let us know to change it,” Roman said.

Another reported problem with SacCT has professors like assistant geology professor Bruce Gervais frustrated.

“I absolutely cannot stay online for more than a minute with inactivity or else it will kick me off,” Gervais said.

Desmond said SacCT is intended to keep accounts secure by logging off its users who are inactive for one hour.

“It’s been a nightmare,” said Gervais. “In my opinion, the system is a complete and total failure.”

When asked what the problem may be, Desmond could not decide on a single cause for that kind of issue.

Desmond welcomes any students or faculty with SacCT or SacLink trouble to stop by the Information Resource and Technology service desk in the Academic Information Resource Center room 2005 for help or call (916) 278-7337.

Russell Preston can be reached at [email protected]