Requesting Access to GRADS

Follow these steps in IdentityIQ (IIQ) to request the proper access to GRADS for maintaining and reviewing applications. Once a request is initiated in IIQ, users can review the request's status within the IIQ system. Graduate Program Coordinators and Directors of Graduate Studies/Professors in Charge can use the Graduate Program Management System (GPMS) to review a list of users who have access to GRADS for their programs. If you have questions, contact gradschoolasr@psu.edu.

FERPA and Multifactor Authentication Requirements

For access, you must have first completed the Penn State FERPA tutorial on the University Registrar website and be enrolled in Multifactor Authentication.

Levels of GRADS Access

Program faculty and staff can request two levels of GRADS access:

Level 2, also known as the GRADS update role: grants some editing abilities to allow users to move applications through the admission process and configure program-specific application settings.
Level 3, also known as the GRADS inquiry role: grants read-only access to GRADS. These users are usually faculty and staff reviewers and evaluators of applications.

Overview of Request Process

Individual needing access makes request in IIQ.
Supervisor approves of access request.
Program coordinator approves of access request.

Detailed Steps

If you already have level 2 or 3 GRADS access, that must first be removed before requesting a new level. Learn more about that process here.

Visit the IIQ home page (you must be on either a Penn State network or Penn State's Virtual Private Network (VPN) in order to access IIQ). If prompted to log in, do so using your Penn State access account credentials.
Click the Manage My Access button near the top center section of the screen. Note that if you are a manager, this button will say "Manage User Access" and you will need to select your identity in the following screen before clicking "Next" and continuing on to the next step.

In the search box, type "GRADS" followed by a space and then the program's two-character campus code and program code of the program without spaces. For example, if you are requesting access to University Park's Chemistry program, you would enter "GRADS UPCHEM" in the search box. If you are unsure of your program's code, please use the Graduate Program Management System (GPMS) to look it up. After clicking the magnifying glass icon to perform the search, you will see a list of the found access credentials that can be requested.
Select the programs and degrees for which you are requesting access by checking the circular checkbox next to the credential description. Please note the following restrictions to requesting access:
- You cannot select both level 2 and level 3 access to the same program/degree (ie. you can't be both a level 2 user and a level 3 user to the same program/degree). You must select just one level of access or else the access request will fail.
- If you are not seeing any results and you have confirmed the campus and program code, please ensure that you have completed the FERPA training and certification. If you have not yet passed your FERPA certification, you will not see any search results.
- Likewise, if you are still not seeing results after confirming the campus and program code and having completed the FERPA training and certification, you may not have been assigned any administrative graduate roles in GPMS. Please check with the program coordinator for the program for which you are requesting access.
- Note that you can include multiple programs and degrees within a single request, however, doing so will result in a situation where all requests must be approved before any access is given. Therefore, the Graduate School suggests submitting separate requests for each program instead of combining them into one.

Click the Next button at the bottom of the page.

The next screen will allow you to review and submit your access request. Confirm that the request is accurate and then click the Submit button

You will be directed back to the IIQ dashboard where a confirmation banner will be displayed at the top of the screen.

The access request has been generated. Your supervisor as defined in WorkDay will be emailed instructions on how to approve the request.

Visit the IIQ home page (you must be on either a Penn State network or Penn State's Virtual Private Network (VPN) in order to access IIQ). If prompted to log in, do so using your Penn State access account credentials.
Click the Approvals button near the top center section of the screen.

At the next screen, you will see a list of all outstanding access requests for your review

Each entry in this table shows the user for whom the request is for, the academic plan, and the level being requested. You can either approve/deny all requests in the table by using the "Approve/Deny All" buttons in the table header, or approve/deny individual rows by clicking the "Approve/Deny" button(s) found in the table cell header.
Once decision requests have been made on all access requests, you will see the below dialog box. Click "Complete" to finalize the approval decision(s).

If the access request was approved, the program coordinator as defined in the Graduate Program Management System (GPMS) will receive an email requesting them to complete the 2nd level role approval. Note that if you are both the manager of the person making the request and the program coordinator for the academic plan for which the the request is for, you will need to process the 2nd level role approval as well.
If the access request was denied, no further action is needed.

Visit the IIQ home page (you must be on either a Penn State network or Penn State's Virtual Private Network (VPN) in order to access IIQ). If prompted to log in, do so using your Penn State access account credentials.
Click the Approvals button near the top center section of the screen.

At the next screen, you will see a list of all outstanding access requests for your review.

Each entry in this table shows the user for whom the request is for, the academic plan, and the level being requested. You can either approve/deny all requests in the table by using the "Approve/Deny All" buttons in the table header, or approve/deny individual rows by clicking the "Approve/Deny" button(s) found in the table cell header.
Once decision requests have been made on all access requests, you will see the below dialog box. Click "Complete" to finalize the approval decision(s).

If the access request was approved, the user will have access to GRADS within ten minutes. Users may have to close their web browser and reload GRADS if they had previously visited the GRADS website prior to access being granted.
If the access request was denied, no further action is needed.

Requesting Access to GRADS

FERPA and Multifactor Authentication Requirements

Levels of GRADS Access

Overview of Request Process

Detailed Steps

Legal Statements