EID Concepts: What are affiliations, classes, and entitlements?
A UT EID is designated by its affiliations, class, and entitlements to define the EID holder’s relationship to the university and associated privileges.
Affiliations
An affiliation specifies a person’s relationship (or relationships) to the university in very broad terms. At any point in time, an individual may have no defined relationship, one defined relationship, or many defined relationships with the university. A list of valid affiliations is shown in the table below.
| Class | Affiliations |
| Guest |
Prospective Student Prospective Faculty Donor/Friend of the University/VIP No UT Affiliation |
| Affiliate |
Future Student Future Faculty Future Staff Future Employee Former Student Former Faculty Former Employee Graduate Retiree University Affiliate University Extension Participant Library Patron |
| Member |
Current Student Current Faculty Current Staff Current Employee Official Visitor |
Classes
A class is a way to group affiliations into sets that have similar characteristics. There are three EID classes—Guest, Affiliate, and Member. An EID can belong to only one EID class. This is determined based on the EID’s affiliations.
- An EID of the Guest class represents people with a very loose connection to the university, such as job applicants and prospective students. Anyone may obtain a guest class UT EID by visiting the online self-service tool to Get a UT EID.
- An EID of the Affiliate class represents people with a close relationship with the university, including library patrons; donors and friends; extension students; former students, faculty, and staff; graduates; and future students, faculty, and staff.
- An EID of the Member class represents active members of the university community, such as current faculty, staff, and students.
Individuals can move from class to class during their time with the university, and may have multiple affiliations as well. For example, when an individual applies, they are considered to be a prospective student in the guest class. If they are accepted to the university, they become a future student in the affiliate class, and once they register for classes, they become a current student in the member class. When a person graduates, they move back to the affiliate class and have a graduate/alumni affiliation.
Entitlements
A UT EID can also have entitlements, or privileges, attached to it. For example, upgrading your UT EID means that you have added the Identity Proofed (IDP) entitlement by showing the University of Texas physical proof of your identity (such as a driver’s license or passport), and that you have added the Legal Signature (SIG) entitlement by signing a form giving your EID legal signature authority.