Article Intended For
Penn State faculty, staff, students, and other affiliates who want to learn what User Managed Groups (UMGs) are and how they may be used.
Introduction
This article answers the following questions:
- What is a Penn State User Managed Group?
- What can Penn State User Managed Groups be used for?
- Who can create a Penn State UMG?
- Who can be included in a Penn State UMG?
- What is the role of an owner, administrator, or user?
Article Body
What is a Penn State User Managed Group?
A User Managed Group (UMG) is a list of people created and managed by one or more students, faculty or staff members to facilitate one or more of the following:
- Communication with the individuals in the group,
- Granting or restricting access to files, folders, websites, or other resources, and/or
- Granting or restricting permissions related to those resources.
What can Penn State User Managed Groups be used for?
UMGs are most often used to grant or restrict access to content in Penn State Access Account Storage Space (PASS). Examples include personal or departmental web space, Webapps, and Course Online Account (COLA) space. They may also be used to define groups for use in Office 365 apps such as Outlook, Calendar, Yammer, Sharepoint Online, and Teams.
Any website or software that leverages the Penn State Directory or Enterprise Active Directory for authentication or authorization can use a UMG to create a distribution list, grant or restrict access to various content, and control what members of the group can and cannot do with with regard to content on that website or application.
Who can create a Penn State UMG?
Anyone with a Standard Penn State Access Account can create and manage a UMG. This includes currently active students, faculty, employees, and some other affiliates. Individuals with Limited Access Accounts may not create a UMG.
Who can be included in a Penn State UMG?
Anyone with a Standard Penn State Access Account - including currently active students, faculty, employees, and some other affiliates. Individual members of a UMG are identified by their Penn State Access Account.
What is the role of an owner, administrator, or user?
Owners. Owner(s) of a group generally create the UMG, manage it's settings and assign administrators for the group. An owner may:
- Delete the group
- View the list of current members
- Add and remove Admins from the group
- Add and remove Members from the group
- Transfer ownership to another individual
- Change whether the group includes or excludes owners and admins from membership
- Update or modify the services to which the group is syncing
Administrators. Admin(s) for a group are typically responsible for adding and removing members and for assigning or requesting the group's ability to access the relevant resources. An admin may:
- View the list of current members
- Add and remove Members from the group
Normal Users. A normal user is a member of the group. A normal user may:
- Access content the group has been granted permission to
- Receive emails sent to the group (if the group has been synced to Outlook)
- Receive MS Calendar invites sent to the group (if the group has been synced to Outlook)
Where to find additional information
Creating and managing a UMG
- UMGs can be created and managed via the User Managed Groups page on the Account Management website. To learn how, see knowledge article Create a User Managed Group.
Granting permissions and sending emails to UMGs
- Although Penn State's Identity and Access Management group provides and support the process for creating and managing UMGs, the process for using a UMG is specific to the resource in which the UMG is being referenced.
- To learn how use UMGs to do things like send an Outlook email, grant permission to view a web space or folder in PASS, or grant access to a Sharepoint site, search the Penn State knowledge base or the internet for instructions specific to that application.