A new service called Friends of Penn State (FPS) will now allow future graduates to have the same Penn State Access Accounts their whole life.

All students graduating in May will receive a notice explaining FPS and directions on how to activate it. When the usual services of their account expire six months after graduation, FPS services will take over.

Robin Anderson, Information Technology Services associate director of customer communications, said FPS is a special identifier for alumni to always be associated with Penn State.

"Before Friends of Penn State, no one had any way of knowing you went to Penn State," Anderson said. "In a person's lifetime, there are going to be special services and activities where you need to prove you graduated from Penn State; now, it is verifiable."

According to the FPS Web site -- http://aset.its.psu.edu/fpsproject/ -- the FPS project is a joint effort among several information technology services organizations. The creation of FPS began in 2002 and continues to be a major project for Advanced Information Technologies, a unit of Academic Services and Emerging Technologies. The FPS account is intended to provide a digital identity for people outside the Penn State community so they can access Penn State Web-based applications.

Kevin Morooney, Information Technology Services senior director, said Penn State needs a service like this because it is the school with the largest amount of living alumni in America.

"The admissions office, registrar's office, and continuing education offices are all finding their ways of using this identity; it is going to benefit so many people," Morooney said.

At this time, the user ID will not be available for e-mail six months after graduation.

"Penn State has to pay for all that space, so that isn't a practical goal as of right now," Morooney said. "Not to say over time we can't find a way of connecting the identity with Web space or e-mail."

FPS also benefits prospective students. Students who want to apply to Penn State can create a user ID during the admissions process.

If the student is accepted and decides to attend Penn State, the identity will be theirs for their entire life.

"As an analogy, think of Friends of Penn State like a credit card," Morooney said. "When you buy something, the place checks your identity. The credit card isn't a service within itself; it is just an account. Just like a credit card, the Penn State identity is just an account, but you can do wonderful things with it."

According to a press release, the service will allow former students to request transcripts, re-enroll and register for classes, manage financial aid and student loan payments, enroll in World Campus courses, and use eCommerce services.

Meredith Steer (senior-public relations) said FPS will be useful after she graduates.

"I want to apply to law school, and I was wondering how I would obtain my transcript," Steer said. "This sounds like the perfect solution."

Thomas Denkenberger (senior-biochemistry) said he does not know if he will use the service but thinks it is a good idea.

"I can't think of a reason right now where I would use it, but I'm sure it will come in handy sometime," Denkenberger said.