JB Pritzker, Governor, State of Illinois

My Zone Administration and Maintenance

Assigning a My Zone Administrator
Accessing the New Administrator Sign Up
Administrator Access
My Zone User Maintenance
        Add a New User
        Password Maintenance
        Edit or Delete a User Profile
        User Verification

Due to the confidential nature of the student-specific data involved, a secure authentication process is required before FAA access can be granted. ISAC will rely on a contact person, or Administrator, at each institution to authorize users at his/her school.

The selected staff person will become your My Zone Administrator and will ultimately be responsible for monitoring passwords, staff access, and security for a variety of ISAC programs. The financial aid director should select the My Zone Administrator based on the confidential nature of, and the access to, students' data.  Use the My Zone Log On link in the right menu and enter your User Name and Password to access student-specific data for your school.

Follow the steps below for easy access to My Zone:

Step One: Assigning a My Zone Administrator

  1. The Financial Aid Director sends an e-mail message to isac.schoolservices@illinois.gov stating that their school would like to participate in receiving student program data via My Zone. The contents of the e-mail message must include the financial aid director’s first name, last name, e-mail address, phone number, and ED School Code. 
  2. A “New Administrator Sign-Up Code” will be returned by e-mail. This Sign-Up Code may be used twice and will then be disabled. 
  3. The financial aid director determines which staff person will be the Administrator for My Zone. The Administrator will populate My Zone with their personal information, create a new password and indicate security access for the programs in which they are authorized to participate. The Administrator will also set up and monitor additional users, perform password maintenance and set program access for other staff at their institution. 
  4. ISAC strongly recommends that schools set up two Administrator accounts (i.e., one account for the Financial Aid Office and one account for the Bursar’s Office). If one Administrator forgets their password, the second Administrator can reset the password without having to contact ISAC for assistance.

Step Two: Accessing the New Administrator Sign Up

  1. In the left margin menu, select "My Zone Log On" and then select "My Zone New Administrator Sign-Up.” Upon selecting “My Zone New Administrator Sign-Up” the following fields will display. An asterisk * indicates the field is required.

    • Sign up Code* 
    • ED School Code 
    • Institution 
    • First Name* 
    • Last Name* 
    • Title (Job title)* 
    • Phone Number* 
    • Phone Extension (optional) 
    • Fax Number (optional) 
    • E-mail Address*
  2. Enter the Sign-Up Code that was provided in the reply e-mail message to the financial aid director. Once the sign-up code is entered, press the ‘tab’ key and the next two fields (ED School Code and Institution) will automatically populate. After the Sign-Up code is entered, the programs for which the school is authorized to participate will display.
  3. Complete the remaining fields. An asterisk * indicates the field is required. To select the Program Access, press the drop-down arrow, and highlight the appropriate security access for the user.

    • First Name* 
    • Last Name* 
    • Title (Job title) * 
    • Phone Number * 
    • Phone Extension (optional) 
    • Fax Number (optional) 
    • E-mail Address* 
    • TESP Access* (This field will display only if the school is authorized to participate in this program.)
      1. Cert View, Award View, Payment View 
      2. Cert View, Award No Access, Payment View 
      3. Cert Update, Award View, Payment Update 
      4. Cert Update, Award No Access, Payment Update
    • Enrollment Status Access* (This field will display only if the school is authorized to participate in this program.)
      No Access
      Update
      View Only
  4. Once this information has been entered, select the “Submit” button. The “User Name” will be created by the system, using the first initial and last name of the person logging in. Passwords will default to “isacmyzone” for the initial log in, and the user will be prompted to change their password the first time they log into My Zone.

Step Three: Administrator Access

The My Zone Administrator will have the options for:

My Zone Program Selection – ISAC currently provides information in My Zone for the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) and the Teacher Education Scholarship Programs (TESP).

My Zone Password Maintenance – will allow any user of My Zone to change a password. Passwords:

  1. Must be at least 8 characters long; 
  2. Must have at least one (1) number; 
  3. Must have at least (1) lower-case letter; 
  4. Must have at least (1) upper-case letter; 
  5. Cannot include spaces; 
  6. Cannot contain special characters (i.e., must be letters and numbers only); 
  7. Cannot contain more than (3) continuous strings of the same character (e.g., xxxx, 1111, etc.); and, 
  8. Cannot contain more than the starting half of the user’s first or last name (e.g., Joseph Anonymous – jose or anony would not be allowed anywhere in the password).

Step Four: My Zone User Maintenance

My Zone User Maintenance allows each school’s Administrator to grant access to My Zone for staff at their institution, maintain Passwords, and change access to programs or to delete anyone that no longer needs access to My Zone.

Add a New User: The Administrator should log-on to My Zone then select “My Zone User Maintenance” from the left-hand menu of the My Zone Program Selection screen. In "My Zone User Maintenance" the View Users screen will display.  Click on the “Add New User” button. Complete the remaining fields.  An asterisk* indicates the field is required. To select the Program Access, press the drop-down arrow, and highlight the appropriate security access for the user. If the school participates in only one program, the access for that program must be set.

  • First Name* 
  • Last Name * 
  • Title (Job title)* 
  • Phone Number * 
  • Phone Extension (optional) 
  • Fax Number (optional) 
  • E-mail Address* 
  • TESP Access* (This field will display only if the school is authorized to participate in this program.) The My Zone Administrator can assign View and/or Update access for Certification. Notification and Payment.
    1. Cert View, Award View, Payment View 
    2. Cert View, Award No Access, Payment View 
    3. Cert Update, Award View, Payment Update 
    4. Cert Update, Award No Access, Payment Update
  • Enrollment Status Access* (This field will display only if the school is authorized to participate in this program.)
    No Access
    Update
    View Only

Once this information has been entered, select the “Submit” button to save the information.  You will see the user name and Program access listed in the View User screen. The “User Name” will be created by the system, using the first initial and last name of the person logging in. Passwords will default to “isacmyzone” for the initial log in and the user will be prompted to change their password the first time they log into My Zone.

Password Maintenance: If a user at the school forgets their password, the My Zone Administrator can reset the password through “My Zone User Maintenance.” Select “Edit” next to the user’s name and then “Reset Password” on the lower right of the screen. School Services does not have access to user passwords. A My Zone Administrator can update their own password.

Edit or Delete a User Profile: The My Zone Administrator can also edit or delete an existing user’s profile (e.g., change or add access for additional programs) through My Zone User Maintenance.

Edit

  • Select “Edit” link next to the user’s name .
  • Select the field that needs to be edited and make changes. 
  • Then click on the ‘Save Changes’ button.  A dialog box indicating that changes have been saved will display. Click “OK”.
  • Press the “Close” button at the bottom of the page to exit to the My Zone User Maintenance Screen.

Note: If the school participates in only one program, the access for that program must be set to View Only. 

Delete

  • Press the  “Delete” link next to the user’s name.
  • A dialog box will ask if the name should be deleted.  Press “OK”.
  • A dialog box will indicate that the delete action was successful.  Press “OK”.
  • Press the “Close” button at the bottom of the page to exit to the My Zone User Maintenance Screen.

If a school has two Administrator accounts and one needs to be deleted, one of the Administrators can delete the second account and set up a new Administrator. If the school has only one Administrator account and there is a need to delete it, or if they experience difficulty deleting an account, contact School Services for assistance by e-mail at isac.schoolservices@illinois.gov or 866.247.2172. 

User Verification

The My Zone Administrator is required to periodically review and update the college’s My Zone user information.  Twice a year (usually June and January), colleges will receive an e-mail with an Excel spreadsheet, which lists all users and their program access for that college. The e-mail requests that the information be verified and updated (i.e., change user information, deactivate users) in My Zone.  After the appropriate changes are made, the Excel spreadsheet with the changes documented, and a statement verifying all the information is current must be returned to ISAC by the due date included in the e-mail. A statement must be returned even if no changes are made.