Electronic Person of Interest (ePOI) Enhancements:

Effective immediately, the following changes have been made to enhance the security and effectiveness of the ePOI process in support of the SAM 07.A.07 – Use of Electronic Messaging Services by Employees policy.

Below is an outline of the changes to the ePOI process:

1)  Non-UH applicant needing to use University of Houston resources, will be required to provide the following information, in addition to the requirements that already exist based on the applicant's service needs:  

• Home Phone
• Home E-mail Address (non-university)
• Home Street Address and Zip
• Date of Birth

2)  The default expiration date for using UH resources, will be 1 year from the date the ePOI is effective, with the exception of following ePOI services:

• The following ePOI services will have an expiration date that is 90 days from the effective date:
  • Future Employees
  • Guests
  • Guest Speakers
  • OCP-On Campus Vendors
  • OCP-Off Campus Vendors
  • OCP-Volunteers
• Board of Regents ePOI service will have an expiration date that is 3 years from the effective date.
• If the applicant/owner needs continued service upon reaching the expiration date, a renewal must be submitted prior to the expiration date.  The applicant/owner will be notified prior to the expiration of the sponsorship.

3)  Separating and former employees, including retirees (except Emeriti), will not be eligible to keep their UH resources (i.e. CougarNet and Exchange Mailbox accounts, UH Email Alias (@uh.edu)), unless they have a valid business justification for keeping these resources.

• If the former employee does have a valid business justification, a ePerson of Interest Application form must be completed.  The Sponsor must be in a Manager or a higher position within the same department as the Business Office Administrator entering the ePOI information.
• The former employee must also provide the business justification to his/her sponsor and the sponsor will relay it to his/her Business Office Administrator that processes the ePOI form.
• As an added convenience, when the ePOI form is completed, the Business Office Administrator, at the direction of the sponsor, will be able to indicate whether the customer is eligible for CougarNet, Exchange Mailbox, and/or UH E-mail Alias services.  Based on selection these resources will be automatically created and the applicant/owner will be notified of resource credentials, the day after all approvals are met.

4)  There is no need for new emeriti to use ePOI services.  Emeriti can continue using their resources without disruption.

• Emeriti who have been using UIT resources in the past through sponsorship, must write to facultyaffairs@uh.edu, in order to continue using your CougarNet/E-mail Mailbox and UH Email Alias.
• All emeriti must provide Office of Faculty Affairs (facultyaffairs@uh.edu) with the following information:
  • Home Phone
  • Home E-mail Address (non-university)
  • Home Street Address and Zip
  • Date of Birth

Should you have questions regarding these changes, please contact sponsorship@uh.edu.

Electronic Person of Interest (ePOI) Process

The electronic Persons of Interest (ePOI) process in PeopleSoft was developed to grant non-UH persons with temporary access to UH resources for the purpose of university business continuity.  The ePOI process establishes what relationship the non-UH person will have with the university while they conduct business on campus.  This is a common interest and goal for various departments on campus, so that we have ample information to verify who is using our campus resources. Participating department systems will receive the ePOI information automatically to provide the ePOI applicant the service they need.  The University Information Technology department is responsible for providing CougarNet and other UIT services for the purpose of supporting instructional, research, and administrative activities.

There are three parties involved in the sponsorship process.

• Applicant/Owner - Usually the non-university person who wishes to use UH resources (CougarNet account, Parking, Library, etc.)
• Sponsor - Current University of Houston employee or faculty who will bear responsibility and accountability for the Applicant
• Business Office Administrator - College or Department Business Administrator who enters the ePOI Application form in PeopleSoft on behalf of the sponsor.

The Applicant needs to initiate the process by completing the ePOI Application form.  He/She then asks the sponsor to complete the sponsor section of the form.  The Sponsor will then submit the form to his/her College or Department Business Office for processing. 

The Sponsor will need to identify the type of ePOI Service.  Depending on the ePOI service, the Applicant will need to meet certain requirements.  The ePOI process will issue a myUH ID number for the non-UH applicants, if the applicant does not already have one.  The myUH ID will serve as a key identification number while the applicant uses UH and UIT resources.

Once the Business Office Administrator completes entering ePOI form in PeopleSoft, Human Resources will execute and process the final approval in the PeopleSoft system.  The next day, participating departments who require ePOI information about the Applicant will receive the information via automated feeds so they can provide the services that are requested by the non-UH Applicant. 

After the ePOI process has been successfully completed, the applicant can go to the participating departments for consuming UH resources within the individual department area.  

Note:  Not all ePOI Services are eligible for all UIT resources.

For University Information Technology, if the sponsor wishes to provide more resources than the Applicant is eligible for, the Applicant and Sponsor will need to complete the Additional Personal UIT Resources Sponsorship form.  Other UIT Resources are available for sponsorship to departments and organizations for consumption. Other areas on campus, such as, Parking and Library, may have their own forms that are necessary to complete before the Applicant can use their resources.