Managing SPA Group Membership in CalGroups

A knowledge base article about Managing SPA Group Membership in CalGroups provided by the UC Berkeley IT Service Hub - Knowledge Portal

Special Purpose Account (SPA) Membership

Employees at UC Berkeley can create a Special Purpose Account (SPA) in the SPA Admin App. After a SPA is created, the user will be directed to CalGroups to add other Direct Members.  Any employee, affiliate or student can be added to a SPA as a Direct Member. Only employees can create and manage SPAs.

Remember that to manage SPAs in CalGroups, you must log in AS YOURSELF, and not as the SPA. To manage SPA Membership using CalGroups:

  • Go to spa.berkeley.edu
  • Log in as yourself
  • Find the SPA to be managed
  • Under "Manage Members in Grouper" select "Go!"
  • Follow instructions below

-or- 

  • Go to calgroups.berkeley.edu
  • Log in as yourself
  • Search for spa-name
  • Click on the SPA group 
    • After searching, you will see both the SPA and the SPA group. The SPA is the account itself. The SPA group is the group of people with access to the SPA. 
  • Follow instructions below

Note: SPAs are not available within Active Directory.

How to Add Members Individually

  • Click on the orange "Add Members" button in the upper right corner of the SPA page.
  • Search for the member name by name or UID.
  • For "Assign Privileges",  select "Default Privileges". Default privileges include update permissions.
  • Then click the "Add" button.

Anyone you add to a SPA can automatically add or remove other members.

Image of a SPA page in CalGroups with an arrow pointing to "Add Members" button

Image of a SPA page in CalGroups with an arrow pointing to the text box next to "member name or ID", the "default privileges" button selected, and an arrow to the orange "add" button

How to Add Members by Batch 

  • Click on the orange "Add Members" button in the upper right corner.
  • Click on the "import a list of members" link.
  • For "How to Add Members", select "Copy/Paste a list of Member IDs". And enter a list of member UIDs.
  • Click on the "Validate Entries". 
  • You can mark the checkbox "Replace existing members?" if you want your list of members to replace current members.  
  • Click on the "Add Members" button to submit your import request.
  • On the import results page, click on the "OK" button to finish.

Image of a SPA page in CalGroups with an arrow pointing to "import a list of members"

How to Remove Members Individually

Mark the checkbox for the member and under "Action", select "Revoke Membership".

Image of a SPA page in CalGroups showing a drop down menu appearing after selecting "Actions" next to a user's name. An arrow is pointing to "revoke membership" in the menu.

How to Remove Multiple Members

Mark the checkbox for each member and click on the "Remove selected members" button above.

Image of a SPA page in CalGroups with check boxes selected next to multiple users' names, and an arrow pointing towards the "remove selected members" button

Direct Member Management Tips

  • If you are unable to access the SPA Admin App, use CalGroups.berkeley.edu to edit SPA direct membership.
  • The SPA creator is the first member of the SPA and has update permissions by default. Any user added as a Direct Member will be able to add and delete other members.
  • Please do not remove yourself and all Direct Members from a SPA, as you will no longer be able to manage the SPA. If you remove all members from your SPA, you must email your UID to calnet@berkeley.edu to have CalNet add you back. We recommend that each SPA has more than one Direct Member for this reason.
  • Department managers have the authority to modify membership and/or disable a SPA at any time, and manage the content of the account. Department Managers can email calnet-admin@berkeley.edu to transfer SPAs to different departments or modify SPA membership.

Contact Us

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

If you have any questions regarding SPA CalNet IDs, contact itcsshelp@berkeley.edu.