Questions and Answers about Activation

1. Go to the web page for PortalGuard
2. Click on ‘Student Account Help’
3. Choose ‘I forgot my password/reset my password’
4. Follow the instructions to reset your password

1. Go to the Corsair Connect login screen.
2. Click the underlined link "I cannot access my account".
3. Choose the appropriate option.

1. Using the email account you used to apply for admission, search for any emails from SMC using: @smc.edu
2. Your student ID (all numbers) is inside an email with the subject line, “Congratulations, you are ADMITTED to SMC!”
3. If you do not find any emails, search your spam. Mark as "safe" or "not junk"
   any messages from Santa Monica College using "@smc.edu"
4. Add smc.edu to your email program's list of "allowed" or "safe" domains. The wording depends on your email program.
5. Contact Admissions

1. Using the email account you used to apply for admission, search for any emails from SMC using: @smc.edu
2. Your SMC Username and temporary password are inside an email with the subject line, “SMC Account Information”
3. If you do not find this email, search your spam. Mark as "safe" or "not junk"
   any messages from Santa Monica  College using "@smc.edu"
4. Add smc.edu to your email program's list of "allowed" or "safe" domains. The wording depends on your email program.
5. Contact studentITHELP

Passwords do not currently have an expiration date.

1. Log in to PortalGuard
2. Select "Change your password now."

No, if you forget your password, the new system helps you set a new password.

In order to protect your privacy, the system won't let you set a password to something you've already used in the system before.

A One-Time Passcode (abbreviated OTP) is used to confirm that a personal email address or mobile phone number is properly linked to your SMC Username. A One-Time Passcode is also used during a password reset if you ever forget your password.

1. Log in to PortalGuard
2. Select "Challenge Questions"

1. Log in to PortalGuard
2. Select "Challenge Questions"

A delivery method is how the account management system will send a One-Time Passcode to you if you ever forget your password. Your delivery method choices are currently email or mobile telephone SMS. You can choose both.

1. If you want to look at your delivery method settings, log in to PortalGuard
2. Select "Multi-Factor Delivery Methods"

1. Log in to PortalGuard
2. Select "Multi-Factor Delivery Methods"

Registering an email address tells the account management system which of your non-SMC personal email addresses to send a One-Time Passcode to if you ever forget your password and ask for it to be reset. Registering an email address with the account management system does NOT change your personal email address on file with the college, which you can see in your Corsair Connect Profile/Preferences page.

1. Log in to PortalGuard
2. Select "Registered email address"

This is called "enrolling" an email address. An email address is mandatory so you can receive a One-Time Passcode (OTP) if you ever need to reset a forgotten password.  The enrolled email address does not have to match the personal email address shown on your Corsair Connect Profile/Preferences screen.

A confirmation email wil be sent to the personal email address you enroll.

Copy the code sent to your personal email into the screen that you'll see. This confirms that the system has the correct email address. You must do this within 30 minutes after requesting the One-Time Passcode.

1. Log in to PortalGuard
2. Select "Registed email address".

Registering a phone tells the password management system which phone number to send an SMS message to if you ever forget your password and ask for it to be reset. Registering a phone with the account management system does NOT change your personal phone number on file with the college, which you can see in your Corsair Connect Profile/Preferences page.

No. Wired phones don't receive texts. The only reason for registering a mobile phone number is so you could receive a text message with a One-Time Passcode during a password reset. If you don't have a mobile phone, your "delivery method" for One-Time Passcodes must be your registered email address.

1. Log in to PortalGuard
2. Select "Registered phones"

The name of the SMC athletic teams is "The Corsairs." The word means, "pirate" or "privateer". Specifically, a historical "Corsair" was a Barbary Coast pirate or French privateer from about the 1400s to the 1600s.