Passwords and Accounts

This page provides important information about the different accounts and passwords you’ll use at Grossmont College. You may also find guidance on how to reset passwords and troubleshoot any access issues.

Two Accounts

Grossmont Students and Faculty have two different accounts/passwords to manage. Your primary account is your @gcccd.edu email address, and your second account is for accessing Canvas. Learn more about each below:

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Self-Service & GCCCD Email - Primary account

For students and faculty both, your main account is your @gcccd.edu email. Credentials are sent to a student's personal email address shortly after they apply to the school. Faculty credentials are supplied as part of employee onboarding.

Generally speaking, the email username is either firstname.lastname@gcccd.edu or firstinitial.lastname@gcccd.edu (depending upon when you applied). Notable exceptions are listed in a separate section below.

Your primary account is used to access:

*Note: Students, faculty, and staff must set up Microsoft Authenticator to access Self-Service or their GCCCD Email account when off-campus.

When logging in to a campus PC, Self-Service, or your @gcccd.edu email, you may receive a prompt to update your password. Do not ignore this prompt when you receive it. Otherwise, you may become locked out of your account.

Students with multi-factor authentication may reset their password by using Microsoft's Password Reset tool .

Please note the following password requirements. New passwords:

  • must be at least 16 characters long
  • cannot be too similar to the past 10 passwords used
  • cannot contain your name or username

Canvas - Secondary account

Canvas is the District's Learning Management System of choice. For most courses, students will find course materials and submit their assignments in Canvas.

GCCCD offers the following helpful info regarding Canvas:

Need help logging into Canvas?

Here’s how to figure out your login info:

Username: Same as your Self-Service username — just the first part (like jdoe123) without @gcccd.edu.

Password: Your initial password is your 8-digit birthday (MMDDYYYY). Example: If your birthday is January 5, 2004 → 01052004

Pro tip: Once you're in, go to account settings and update your password to something secure and easy to remember!

If you are unable to login using the information above, please try the forgot password link.

Need additional help? Contact Help Desk Services.

For Canvas-related issues, support channels vary. If you need help with:

  • An assignment, due date, or quiz attempt - contact your Instructor. You may utilize the Inbox function within Canvas, or follow contact instructions provided in the course syllabus.
  • How to navigate and use Canvas - see the Canvas Student Support page.
  • Technical issues like login or browser errors - you may contact the Canvas 24/7 Support Line at 1-844-600-4953. You may also Live Chat with a Support Agent .

Faculty in need of course support please see the Canvas Support for Faculty page.

Username Exceptions

Name Too Long or Name Collisions

There are a few notable exceptions to the usernames above. Alterations depend upon when you applied to become a student.

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Continuing Students

If your first name and last name combination is common (e.g., John Smith) it may create a duplicate in our system. In this case, you may have numbers appended to the end of your username -- for example: john.smith47725@gcccd.edu.

Returning students with very long names or multiple last names may need to truncate, or cut, their username to 20 characters total (including the "."). Leonardo Michelangelo Donatello-Raphael's username, for instance, would be cut to: leonardo.donatellora@gcccd.edu.

Newer Students (April 2025 forward)

If your first initial and last name combination is common (e.g., B Smith) it may create a duplicate in our system. In this case, you may have number(s) appended to the end of your username -- for example: b.smith1@gcccd.edu, b.smith2@gcccd.edu, b.smith3@gcccd.edu, etc.

Newer students with very long names or multiple last names may need to truncate, or cut, their username to 16 characters total (including the "."). alexander.alexingtonstien would cut their username to: a.alexingtonstie@gcccd.edu.

*Note: If you are unable to discern your username, it can be looked up by any area that services students including Admissions and Records, Counseling, Financial Aid, or any Help Desk.

Zoom Accounts

Students do not need a Zoom account to join their instructor's Zoom Session. Instructors should be providing Zoom links for their students to join.

If you encounter difficulties joining or within a meeting, please review the Troubleshooting Zoom Meetings articles on their support site.

For Faculty/Staff: Grossmont's Zoom instance is managed by our District Enterprise Computing team. If you are a faculty or staff member and you need a school-linked Zoom account, please reach out to the District IT Help Desk at helpdesk@gcccd.edu

Updating or Resetting Passwords

No password is forever. Students and faculty must regularly update their passwords. You may receive a notice that your password is expiring when logging into Self-Service, GCCCD Email, or a campus computer. Please update your password as soon as possible. Off-campus users may follow the directions in our Update Email Password guide.

Please note the following password requirements. New passwords:

  • must be at least 16 characters long
  • cannot be too similar to the past 10 passwords used
  • cannot contain your name or username

*Note: You don't have to wait until expiry; you may change your password to Canvas or your main campus account (Self-Service/GCCCD Email) at any time.

If you have lost access and need to reset a password, see the instructions in the Two Accounts section at the top of this page.

Need further assistance?

If you have questions or need clarification about this guidance, please reach out to the Technology Help Desk.