Host Database: Dormnet Eligibility Rule Revised To Reflect LDAP Changes as Students Graduate

The business rule used by the Host Database to determine whether a person is eligible for Dormnet has been revised. This revision reflects changes in the way the University updates Campus Directory ("LDAP") entries for undergraduate and graduate students when these students graduate.

The previous business rule used to determine if a customer is eligible for Dormnet was:

• The customer is eligible for Dormnet if the LDAP entry's pustatus field has a value of undergraduate. This value indicates a presently-enrolled undergraduate student.

• The customer is eligible for Dormnet if the LDAP entry's pustatus field has a value of uXX or UXX. (That is, 'u' or 'U' followed by exactly two characters. This value used to represent a presently-enrolled undergraduate student. It may still be present in some entries, but will soon be retired.)

• The customer is eligible for Dormnet if the LDAP entry's pustatus field has a value of graduate. This value indicates a presently-enrolled graduate student.

• The customer is eligible for Dormnet if the LDAP entry's pustatus field has a value of gXX or GXX. (That is, 'g' or 'G' followed by exactly two characters. This value used to represent a presently-enrolled graduate student. It may still be present in some entries, but will soon be retired.)

Up until Spring 2010, when a student graduated in May/June, his or her LDAP pustatus field remained unchanged through the Summer. That provided Spring graduates with Dormnet throughout the Summer following graduation. This was useful for those Spring graduates who remained on-campus during that Summer to complete research or work for the University.

As of Spring 2010, a student's LDAP pustatus changed as soon as s/he graduated. That was part of new University procedures which require these persons' LDAP pustatus fields to change promptly upon graduation to reflect that they are no longer currently-enrolled undergraduate or graduate students.

This resulted in the loss of Dormnet eligibility for all June 2010 graduates immediately upon Commencement 2010.

To instead cause graduates to continue to receive Dormnet service for some period after they graduate, OIT has revised the business rule used to determine Dormnet eligibility.

The new business rule used to determine if a customer is eligible for Dormnet includes all the categories above, but adds several more:

• The customer is eligible for Dormnet if the LDAP entry's pustatus field has a value of alumu and the LDAP entry lacks an nsaccountlock field (or the nsaccountlock field contains any value other than true). This combination represents an undergraduate alumnus whose account is not (yet) locked.

  This Dormnet business rule is intended to extend Dormnet eligibility for a short time for undergraduate students who graduate in late May/early June.

  Undergraduate alumni accounts are typically locked by OIT some number of days after the student graduates. The exact number of days is not documented by OIT; the closest information OIT provides is Accounts: When will my OIT accounts close and my e-mail address be removed?, but that document does not explicitly state when the account is locked, nor does it cover all situations.

• The customer is eligible for Dormnet if the LDAP entry's pustatus field has a value of alumg and the LDAP entry lacks an nsaccountlock field (or the nsaccountlock field contains any value other than true). This combination represents a graduate alumnus whose account is not (yet) locked.

  This Dorment businesss rule is intended to extend Dormnet eligibility for a short time for graduate students who graduate in late May/early June.

  Graduate alumni accounts are typically locked by OIT some number of days after the student graduates. The exact number of days is presently not documented by OIT; the closest information OIT provides is Accounts: When will my OIT accounts close and my e-mail address be removed?, but that document does not explicitly state when the account is locked, nor does it cover all situations.

Dormnet eligibility is documented in greater detail in Who is Eligible for Dormnet?.

As of November 2011, the business rule was updated again, to stop accepting LDAP pustatus values of uXX, UXX, gXX, and gXX. Those values have been retired.