Integrity & Security
Since June 2019, VCU's Adobe Enterprise Term License Agreement (ETLA) has provided both students and employees with access to a range of Adobe apps, services, functions, and features. As part of our commitment to information security standards and objectives that help VCU remain compliant with directives from state and federal policies, access to some apps, services, functions, and features have been limited.
To learn more about VCU's approach to security for our Adobe ecosystem, we recommend that all students and employees use the links below to better understand how access to Adobe software is provisioned and the differences between restricted and unrestricted account types.
If you have questions about any of the information here, please reach out to us at adobe@vcu.edu or submit a ticket at https://itsupport.vcu.edu under the Teaching & Learning > Instructional Resources > Adobe Software > Ask a question category.
Upcoming Changes
Listed below are some upcoming changes with how the VCU Adobe Enterprise environment is configured. These changes may impact ALL VCU users so it is important to read and understand the timeframe for each change and what action end-users may need to take to ensure that impact can be minimized or avoided altogether.
Domain Enforcement (Phase 2)
On June 1st, 2024 the second phase of the Domain Enforcement project will be implemented. With this change, end-users with a VCU email address (vcu.edu, apps.vcu.edu, mymail.vcu.edu, and alumni.vcu.edu) associated with an unmanaged personal account (Adobe ID), will be required to update their account to use a non-VCU email address.
To learn more about this change, please visit https://go.vcu.edu/adobe/domain-enforcement.
File Sync Discontinuation
On October 1st, 2024, Adobe will discontinue file-syncing services for ALL Business, Enterprise, and Federated ID accounts. This change is being made by Adobe (VCU Instructional Computing Services is not involved with nor do we have any control over this change). The service discontinuation will result in the file-syncing functionality of Adobe's Creative Cloud enterprise cloud storage platform be permanently disabled. All synced files will be deleted from Adobe's servers for ALL Business, Enterprise, and Federated ID accounts (VCU Adobe accounts are ALWAYS considered a Federated ID account). End-users will need to manually back-up and migrate any stored data in advance of this date to avoid losing there data permanently.
To learn more about this change please visit https://go.vcu.edu/adobe/file-sync.
Adobe Account Types
Adobe utilizes several different types of accounts to distinguish between personal accounts (owned by end-users) and business/enterprise accounts (owned by the organization). These account types have some differences and in some cases limitations to specific apps, services, functions, and features depending on a variety of factors. Below, are descriptions of the two account types VCU end-users should familiarize themselves with to better understand how Adobe software licensing is managed under the VCU Adobe Enterprise Term License Agreement (ETLA).
Managed Enterprise Accounts (Federated ID)
If you're new to VCU, this section is a summary of what to expect within your first week either beginning as a new employee or within your first week as a newly enrolled students. When new students and employees join VCU an Adobe account is usually automatically created within their first week. However, not all accounts and Adobe software licensing are applied in the same way for all end-users.
What is a Managed Enterprise Account (Federated ID)?
A Managed Enterprise Account (Federated ID) is an Adobe account (adobe.com and other associated websites/platforms), that belongs to the organization that manages the account and is tied to a specific email domain or affiliation with an organization. This type of account exclusively uses an organization's Single Sign-On portal. Accounts of this type of type are always managed by an organization.
It is important to note that a Federated ID account remains associated with the organization even when an end-user becomes inactive or leaves the organization. End-users do NOT retain ownership of this account once they become inactive and/or separate from their organization. This means they will lose access to the account and any data, files, assets, and libraries stored within the account upon graduation (students) or if not re-enrolling, termination (only for employees), and when completely separating from the university. All Federated ID accounts are managed by the VCU Instructional Computing Services team.
Students
If you have recently begin taking classes at VCU, either as a freshman student in your first semester OR as a transfer student, it's very likely you already have a VCU Adobe account. All currently-enrolled VCU students who are eligible (see criteria below) will automatically* receive an Adobe Creative Cloud license within their first week of beginning classes. If you're curious how to access your VCU Adobe account, we recommend reviewing the Quickstart Guide for Students at https://go.vcu.edu/adobe/students/quickstart. You can also access this guide using the Access/Licensing menu from this website.
Employees
If you have just joined VCU as an employee, depending on your eligibility, you may receive access to Adobe Acrobat Pro automatically* (see criteria below). While the university is operating under normal conditions (excluding both state/federal holidays and university closures) VCU Adobe accounts for employees are provisioned within 5 business days of your start date (this is your first day working, or your service anniversary, NOT your hire date and NOT the date you accepted an employment offer). If you're curious how to get started accessing your VCU Adobe account and installing software on your VCU-owned or personally-owned computer(s), please visit the Quickstart Guide for Employees at https://go.vcu.edu/adobe/employees/quickstart. You can also access this guide using the Access/Licensing menu from this website.
*End-users who are both VCU employees AND currently-enrolled in at least one credit-bearing course as a VCU student may not automatically receive access to their VCU Adobe account or have an Adobe software license automatically assigned. If you're unsure, the quickest way to get access is to submit a request using the VCU Adobe License Request Form at https://go.vcu.edu/adobe/licenserequest. Once we've received your request we will review and if you are eligible create your account and assign an Adobe software license. If you are ineligible for an Adobe software license due to your business unit affiliation or any other reason, we will provide a reason and copy your business unit Adobe liaisons via an email follow-up.
Unmanaged Personal Accounts (Adobe ID)
Did you know that you can have two different types of Adobe accounts associated with only one email address? It's true! Unfortunately, this capability has caused quite a bit of confusion for VCU end-users over the last several years. Here's what you need to know about personal accounts (Adobe ID) and whether you should use one, if you may already have one associated with your VCU email address, and whether or not you will need to take any action for the upcoming domain enforcement change mentioned below.
What is an Unmanaged Personal Account (Adobe ID)?
An Unmanaged Personal Account (Adobe ID) is an Adobe account (adobe.com and other associated websites/platforms), that belongs to an end-user regardless of their email domain or affiliation with any organization. This type of account utilizes a simple email address and password combination that is not tied to any organization's Single Sign-On portal.
Although VCU end-users may have an Adobe ID account associated with their VCU email address (vcu.edu, apps.vcu.edu, mymail.vcu.edu, or alumni.vcu.edu), with exception of VCU Qatar end-users under a separate Adobe Enterprise Term License Agreement (ETLA), ALL Adobe ID accounts for end-users in the North American region are considered unmanaged accounts that belong to the end-user.