Getting Access

  • New Employees - Do NOT request/use a Guest ID if you are being hired or enrolled at MSU. Wait for your NetID, please. If your NetID is active, you can create (or reactivate) an Ability account instantly by logging in. Your account will automatically be added in Ability along with your supervisor through a feed from the HR system (EBS).
  • New Students - You will have access with a MSU NetID after activating your new NetID. Your account will be automatically be added in Ability along with your major code through a feed from the student system (Campus Solutions). You can also login to Ability with your active NetID to create your account if the feed has not set-up your account already.
  • New Providers or Affiliates receiving a department FPID - Do NOT request/use an MSU GuestID if the MSU department is purchasing a temporary account (FPID). It will block your access to the FPID which is needed for Athena access. There is not a feed for creating FPID accounts in Ability automatically. You must login to Ability with your FPID to create the account. Please email orrs.train@msu.edu to be added to your PI's training team. 
  • Henry Ford researchers with a job title at MSU and issued a NetID have access similar to a new MSU employee above. 

  • Non-MSU guests (e.g. field instructors, patient volunteers, performers, contractors...) who are NOT scheduled to become employees, students, or FPID (department affiliates), with a training requirement can create a GuestID for login to the Ability system with their company email address. 
    • Our AbilityLMS user license is limited to only those non-MSU individuals who require training in support of MSU business including facilitites and research projects.(e.g. contractors, project personnel, field instructors, patient volunteers). GuestID access is not for the general public.
    • Email orrs.train@msu.edu if you need a non-MSU affiliate to access training in AbilityLMS.
  • How and When are Accounts Activated/Inactivated

    Accounts are created/updated nightly* through EBS & SIS data feeds.

    • Employee accounts are active if the employee has at least one active HR employment record in EBS.
    • Student accounts are active if the student is enrolled in at least one course in any semester of the current academic year. The new academic year activations start generally on August 1. This is slightly ahead of the actual academic calendar to allow time for notification and completion of training that is required prior to the start of the Fall semester.

    Accounts are inactivated regularly to ensure the system provides optimal viewing speeds. 

    • Logging in with an active NetID or FPID will re-activate your account for at least the rest of day.
    • Inactive users are not included in Monday Manager reports, or Manager people lists, nor typically in other compliance reports. Inactive users do not get training reminders.
    • Contact the helpdesk if you need to transfer records from an inactive NetID to a new NetID.

    Other potential system users (MSU affiliates): check requirements below to confirm the appropriate account type for completing training.

Type of account depends on your status at MSU and the access you need.

  • New Employee or Student

    You must wait for a MSU NetID to be issued and activated. The time may vary from 2 days to 2 weeks. Do NOT request/use a Guest ID or communityID instead.

    Once activated or re-activated, you can log in with your NetID from the main page login button. Your account will be automatically created. Your department and supervisor will be imported during the nightly feed from the Human Resources system (EBS).

    Faculty may be able to get the activation process expedited. See https://netid.msu.edu/faculty-staff/pre-on-boarding-for-faculty.pdf

    It is against the law for someone to complete work for MSU without pay unless there is a formal volunteer status (which would make them eligible for a temporary ID). Having multiple login ID also creates confusion and re-work to copy records after the NetID is activated.

    If you have ended up with duplicate accounts, you can take the training again or you can submit a request to have your records moved.

  • Click System Access

    If you also need to login to Click to create or edit a research project application, you will need a NetID account to login.

    The department you are affiliated with may request a temporary ID (e.g. dept NetID, FPID, F0001234) that you can use for both the Ability training system and Click protocol system.

    See https://netid.msu.edu/other/ for information on department-sponsored ID.

  • FPID (f000#### Accounts)

    The MSU Human Resources feed that creates accounts in the Ability training system does not include FPID users. Log in using the first 8 characters (f000####) to create an account. 

    Email ORRS.train@msu.edu or call 517-884-4600 to add this account to a supervisor's team list.  Include the FPID, first name, and last name and the NetID of the MSU supervisor (typically who would be responsible for monitoring your training). 

    If you need to access Click and other MSU online resources aside from the training system, see information on department-sponsored accounts at https://netid.msu.edu/other/index.html

    Learners with FPID access can manually be added to/removed from a supervisor's team list in Ability.

  • Affiliates with Email - MSU Guest ID

    Affiliates required to complete MSU training who do not fall into categories above can create an MSU Guest ID at https://tech.msu.edu/msu-guest-account/. Once the account has been created, log into Ability at https://orrs.msu.edu/train with your full email address and the password you have set.

    Email ORRS.train@msu.edu or call 517-884-4600 to add an MSU Guest ID account to a supervisor's team list. Include the email, first name, and last name and the NetID of the MSU supervisor (typically who would be responsible for monitoring your training).

  • Affiliates without Email - Offline Guests

    Some affiliates have Ability Guest IDs created between December 2018 and May 2019. Log in at:

    Ability Guest ID Login (including password reset link)

    New guest accounts will only be created for affiliates who do not have email accounts. Contact ORRS.train@msu.edu or call 517-884-4600 for assistance.

  • I still can't login

    Contact the Helpdesk at ORRS.train@msu.edu or 517-884-4600. If your account was previously inactivated, we may be able to activate your account for login prior to our next MSU feed. And there may be other solutions.

    You may be directed to contact the MSU Identity Office or to reset your NetID to resolve problems with your account.

*See also System Interfaces & Schedules

Using Ability LMS to Host your Training

Creation of new training or migration of training into AbilityLMS - Submit request form (docx). Approval requires documentation of learning objectives, assessment of learning, and is weighed against other priorities and available resources. See also New Training Requests