A knowledge base article about How do I log in to a Special Purpose Account? provided by the UC Berkeley IT Service Hub - Knowledge Portal

It's easy to log in to campus applications as a Special Purpose Account (SPA); just use the +YourCalNetID method, below. SPAs have access to a variety of campus services, which makes collaborating with colleagues easy and secure.

STOP! Read this before logging in as a SPA

You cannot log in as a SPA if you are already logged in as yourself. Before logging in:

Log out from any existing CalNet sessions and open a new browser
Or, alternatively, open an incognito or private window
Then, navigate to the service or application you want to log in to and log in as the SPA instead as yourself. You have two options to log in as a SPA:

Two-Part "+YourCalNetID" Login Method

This method is sometimes called the "Plus" login. After you login using this method, the login screen will display a list of CalNet SPAs you are allowed to log in as. Select an account, and voila! Here are detailed instructions:

Navigate to the service or application you want to sign in to.
Enter a "+" followed by your personal CalNet ID in the CalNet ID field of the login screen: Example = +yourcalnetid
Then enter your personal CalNet passphrase and click Sign In

Image shows the campus authentication screen, with a plus sign in front of the example user name

CAS will display the following panel. Click the drop-down box to see what SPA CalNet ID you can log in as, and select one.

After selecting the account you want to log in as, and select Sign In As.

One-Part Login Method

If you know your SPA CalNet ID, you can log in directly using this method. A SPA CalNet ID is formatted as following: "spa-" followed by the SPA name, the "+" symbol, and your own CalNet ID, with no spaces. Example = spa-spaname+yourcalnetid

Navigate to the application you want to sign in to.
In the CalNet ID field on the CAS login screen, enter the direct login using the following format:
- spa-spaname+yourcalnetid
Enter your personal CalNet passphrase.
Then, press Sign In As to complete the login.

Image shows longin screen following the convention spa-spaname+yourcalnetID

Examples of using the One-Part SPA Login Method
CalNet ID field	Passphrase field
spa-name+your_calnetid	use your personal CalNet passphrase
spa-econhelp+janedoe	use your personal CalNet passphrase

Don't see a CAS login page?

If a CalNet authentication page does not appear, you may have already CAS-authenticated with your personal account. Log out, use a different browser, or use an incognito or private browser window.

Contact Us

To create SPAs and manage membership, use the Special Purpose Accounts Admin App.

For help or troubleshooting, please submit a support ticket or contact the Service Desk at itcshelp@berkeley.edu.