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Frequently Asked Questions

How do I update/restrict my information in the Electronic Directory?

Note: the Directory is updated daily (with some exceptions).

Students:

You may update your information through the Address Update (requires EID) Web form. These updates usually appear within 24 hours.

Your UMBS (mail.utexas.edu) mail address will be added to the Directory automatically. Automatic updates take at least 48 hours after activation of the mailbox.

The information provided in the Electronic Directory is based upon publicly available information. You may choose to restrict all or part of your directory information by visiting the Restrict My Info service. See What are student privacy rights?

Faculty/Staff:

You may update your entry through either the Address Update (requires EID) or the Employee Information System (requires EID) Web forms, by filling out a Biographical Information Form (BIF) obtained from your department's personnel officer, or by contacting Human Resources Services (471-5127). Updates will appear in the Electronic Directory in about 24 hours (except during September, when all updates are delayed until yearly appointments have been completed). For more information, see Where does the data come from?

Your UMBS (mail.utexas.edu) mail address will be added to the directory automatically. Automatic updates take at least 48 hours after activation of the mailbox.

The information provided in the Directory service is based upon publicly available information. You may request that this information not be released by the University—including both the Electronic Directory and other directories such as the printed directory. Faculty and staff members may restrict their home address or home telephone number by checking the appropriate boxes on the Biographical Information Form or selecting the appropriate options in the Employee Information System (requires EID) Web forms.

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How can I get someone's e-mail address if it is not listed in the Directory?

If an e-mail address is not listed in the Directory, it means that person has not supplied us with an e-mail address. We recommend that you place a phone call or send a letter to the phone number/address listed for that person asking for an e-mail address. If the person is a faculty or staff member, you may contact the department for which they work or see that department's Web page. Our policies do not allow us to help locate people.

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Where can I look up alumni?

The Ex-Students' Association provides a directory/e-mail forwarding service at http://alumni.utexas.net Alumni must register with the service to perform searches, but the service and e-mail forwarding are free.

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What are student privacy rights (relating to Directory Information)?

See the Registrar's FERPA information site for information about student privacy rights and for instructions on how to restrict access to your records.

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Where does the data come from?

The Electronic Directory receives data from several sources:

Student Data:

The student data in the Directory comes from the Office of the Registrar. Information obtained from the Registrar includes:

  • Name (displayname)
  • Classification (utexasEduPersonClassification)
  • Major (utexasEduPersonMajor)
  • College (utexasEduPersonSchool), See Why am I listed under organization X?
  • Home Phone (homePhone)
  • Home Address (homePostalAddress)
  • E-Mail Address (mail)

The information supplied by the Registrar CANNOT be updated through the Directory Service. Students can update their mailing addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses through the Registrar's Online Services. Contact the Office of Registrar for assistance in changing other student information. Directory information about students who have restricted access to their records will not show up in the Electronic Directory or in the Official Directory. If a student does not register for a fall or spring semester, their directory entry is removed.

Faculty/Staff Data:

The faculty-staff data in the Directory comes from the Human Resource Services (HRS). Information presently obtained from HRS includes:

  • Name (displayname)
  • Degree (utexasEduPersonHighestDegree)
  • Honors (utexasEduPersonHonor, utexasEduPersonPrimaryHonor)
  • Title (title, utexasEduPersonPrimaryTitle), See Where do titles come from?
  • College and Department Affiliation (utexasEduPersonOrgUnitName, utexasEduPersonPrimaryOrgUnitName), See Why am I listed under organization X?
  • Office Address (postalAddress)
  • Office Location (utexasEduPersonOfficeLocation)
  • Office Phone (telephoneNumber)
  • Office FAX (facsimileTelephoneNumber)
  • E-Mail Address (mail)
  • Home Phone (homePhone)
  • Home Address (homePostalAddress)
  • Pager Number (pager)

The information supplied by HRS CANNOT be updated through the Electronic Directory Service. You may update your Employee Information System (requires EID) Web form or seek assistance from your department's personnel officer and from Human Resource Services (471-4772). The new information should appear in about 24 hours. Information checked in “Information Release -- Do Not Release My…:" will not show up in this service. Entries for faculty and staff are deleted at the beginning of the fiscal year for those individuals who no longer hold active appointments (this usually takes place in the first data feed after October 1).

Many individuals have elected not to supply information such as FAX numbers. If this information is not present in the Directory service for an entry, it is because those individuals did not supply the information. 

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Where do titles come from?

Faculty/Staff Data:

Titles are based on the positions held by employees, as shown in HRMS. If the employee holds multiple positions, multiple titles will be shown in the directory. An employee may also contact HRS's Employee Records Services (471-4772) and ask that their directory titles be overridden.

For questions or more information about your title, contact your department's personnel officer.

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Why am I listed under a certain college/school/department?

Student Data:

This information is obtained from the college or school in which a student's major is offered.

Faculty/Staff Data

This information is based on the department that "owns" the employee's position in HRMS. If the employee holds positions from more than one department, multiple departments will be shown in the directory. An employee may also contact HRS's Employee Records Services (471-4772) and ask that their department's name be overridden. The change takes effect the following day.

Departmental name changes that affect the entire department can be submitted through the Signature Desk Request Form.

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What is the vCard and how do I use it?

The vCard is a platform-neutral electronic address book entry that is stored in a file format your address book applications can read and save. Every person in the UT Directory has a vCard that you can click and save into your default address book. For Mac OS users, this is usually the Address Book program; for PC users, it is often the Outlook address book. This is an easy way for you to save contact information, including e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and office locations so that you do not have to look them up in a separate application.

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What is the Certificate and how do I use it?

The Certificate is a public encryption key that you can save into your contact list and then use to send encrypted e-mail to that recipient. University faculty and staff who have been issued Digital Certificates have a Certificate entry in their directory listing.

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How else can I access the Directory?

There are a variety of methods to access the Directory. The most common is through our Web gateway. However, the Directory is also available via Finger and through the use of the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP).

  • Web: http://www.utexas.edu/directory/
  • Finger: finger "john doe"@directory.utexas.edu
  • LDAP: various clients including e-mail clients and browsers
    • server: directory.utexas.edu
    • port: 389
    • base: dc=directory,dc=utexas,dc=edu
    • maximum entries returned: 50

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How can I get a copy of this database?

The information contained in the Directory is sourced from the University's administrative computing systems; the information is accessible only through that system and its interfaces and is to be used only for official University business or projects. Contact your ITS Applications service representative for more information.

The contents of the Electronic Directory are copyrighted by The University of Texas at Austin —access and/or abuse are subject to criminal prosecution under both state and federal laws.

Security features have been implemented to prevent "trawling" of this directory. These features may result in searching difficulties for users, but are intended to protect the privacy of University students, faculty, and staff.

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May I send unsolicited or commercial e-mail to addresses from this directory?

This online directory service is provided by the University to facilitate the research, teaching, learning, and service missions of the University Community. Solicitation on University computing and network resources is prohibited by the Rules and Regulations of the University of Texas Board of Regents. Accordingly, the contact information provided in this online directory service may not be used for transmission and distribution of unsolicited e-mail or other commercial purposes.

The University does have an official University Group E-mail System (requires EID) which can be used by authorized persons to send e-mail to large groups in the University community, including all students, faculty and staff.

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