Passwords and Accounts

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:

•  Self-Service
• Computers on campus (PCs and Macs)
• District/Grossmont/Cuyamaca email (@gcccd.edu)
• Library Databases (Films on Demand, Kanopy, etc)
• Microsoft Office and OneDrive (office.com)
• Specific online forms (DynamicForms)

*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 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.