Who this is for / when to use it
Use this if you — or someone you are helping — get an “access denied” / 403 message or otherwise cannot get into the Nolan Alumni Directory. It applies whether you are the person being denied, or a staff or faculty member helping an alum or student who is.
Most “access denied” cases are an eligibility issue, not a password or login problem. Sign-in with a Cornell NetID typically works fine — the “access denied” message appears after signing in, because the account is not yet recognized as eligible for the Nolan Alumni Directory. Eligibility is driven by the person's degree records: to be recognized as an alum, the degree has to have been granted and recorded correctly. Since the login itself succeeds, a password reset will not help; the block is on eligibility, not credentials.
A common cause for recent graduates: degree records may not appear in PeopleSoft CRM (Customer Relationship Management) until 2 to 3 months after graduation, so brand-new alumni are sometimes denied simply because their degree has not posted yet.
Before you start
A ticket to JCB IT should be the last step, after confirming the person's degree records are in order. Work through these first:
- Whether the degree has been granted and recorded. Check with the Office of Student Services to verify the degree was awarded and recorded in PeopleSoft CRM. Check with the Registrar as needed.
- The posting delay for recent graduates. If the person graduated recently, degree records may not show in PeopleSoft CRM for 2 to 3 months after graduation. If they are inside that window, the record may simply not have posted yet. Note that these are two delays in sequence: the degree record has to post to PeopleSoft CRM first, and then it takes about 2 to 3 more days for access to update.
- (Administrators) The degree records in PeopleSoft CRM. Access to the Nolan Alumni Directory is granted by the Nolan (HA) degree record. College of Business graduates will also have a College of Business (BU) record, but that record does not affect directory access. As long as the HA record is present, eligibility follows; if it is missing, access cannot be granted until it is added.
If all of this checks out and the alum still cannot get in, then create a ticket.
Steps
- If eligibility is confirmed and access still fails, submit a ticket to JCB IT through the JCB IT portal at ithelp.business.cornell.edu, under IT Support. Please include:
- Who is affected — the name of the person being denied (this may be you).
- The exact error shown (for example “403 Access Denied” seen after signing in), and the page or link used.
- The term and year the degree was granted (for example Spring 2025), which helps locate the degree record.
- What you already checked — that the degree was granted (per Student Services / Registrar) and, if you are an administrator, that the Nolan (HA) degree record exists in PeopleSoft CRM.
- JCB IT checks whether the record is eligible for the Nolan Alumni Directory.
- If the records are missing or incorrect, JCB IT investigates and, where needed, works with the PeopleSoft CRM technical teams to correct them so access matches the alumni affiliation.
- Allow time for access to update. Access is not immediate. Once the degree records are correct in PeopleSoft CRM, it takes about 2 to 3 days for access to update. JCB IT will let you know when it is set, and access can be tried again.
Common problems / if that didn't work
- You are wondering whether resetting the password would help — it will not. This is an eligibility issue, not a login one; the block is on whether the account is allowed into the Nolan Alumni Directory, not on the password. The degree records have to be corrected.
- The person just graduated and cannot get in — degree records may not appear in PeopleSoft CRM until 2 to 3 months after graduation. New alumni are often denied simply because the degree has not posted yet. Confirm the degree status with the Office of Student Services before submitting a ticket.
- Access is denied for someone who is clearly an alum — access is tied to the degree records behind the alumni account. If the degree has not been granted or recorded, or the Nolan (HA) degree record that grants directory access is not present, a valid alum can still be denied until that is corrected.
- You need access granted for a staff role, or on behalf of someone else — that is a different request. Staff requesting directory access for an employee should see the companion article, Requesting Nolan Alumni Directory Access for Staff.
Still stuck?
If the degree records check out and access still fails, contact JCB IT (the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business Helpdesk) with the name of the person affected, the exact error, and the term and year the degree was granted.
Still need help? Contact the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business Helpdesk at itrequests@business.cornell.edu.
[edited via Jane by wwl54 on 2026-10-08 15:37 UTC]