Introducing the Penguin Portal

Introducing your new Penguin Portal!

Penguin Portal is Youngstown State University's campus portal. The portal offers students, faculty, and staff secure and personalized access to Office 365 email, Self-Service Banner, and channels of information. Students are able to register for classes, check their grades, pay their bill, access Blackboard, and purchase their parking permit. Faculty and Staff are able to view their pay stub, leave balances, tax information, plus much more.

To log in and use the system effectively, YSU recommends one of the following Internet browsers: Internet Explorer 8 or higher, Mozilla Firefox 10.x or higher, Google Chrome 17.x or higher, and Safari 5 or higher. If you attempt to log in to the system using another browser, you may experience difficulties. If you have any pop-up blockers installed, they may need to be configured to allow ysu.edu or *.ysu.edu; otherwise, you may not be taken to the proper page. Currently, the system is set to time out after approximately thirty minutes of inactivity for students and three hours for faculty and staff. However, it is a good idea to log out of the Penguin Portal Portal system if you leave your area or are not using the system.

Penguin Portal puts everything at your fingertips!

Class registration, financial aid, student grades/transcripts, and bill payment are all accessible from the Penguin Portal portal. After successful Penguin Portal account login, links for all of these functions can be found on the left side of the screen in the “E-Services” area.

About your Penguin Portal directory account

A Penguin Portal account is automatically created when you are accepted as a student or hired as a Faculty or Staff member. Your account is created when you become a member of one of these groups. Your account ID/user name is personalized to be your first initial, middle initial and full last name (truncated to be no longer than 32 characters). Duplicate account ID/user names are distinguished by suffixing a two-digit number to the account id/user name. An example account ID for the first repeat of the account ‘ptpenguin’ would be ‘ptpenguin01’. The account ID is provided on the acceptance letter (Students) or employee paperwork (Faculty or Staff).

Questions regarding YSU E-Mail, accessing Penguin Portal over the Web, your directory account, or configuring various YSU services are addressed in Self-Help Documents available at the IT Service Desk. You can also stop by the IT Service Desk on the 4th Floor of Maag Library (hours of operation are available at the IT Service Desk website, e-mail the IT Service Desk at servicedesk@ysu.edu, or contact them by phone at 330-941-1595.)

Logging into your Penguin Portal directory account 

If you have never had a YSU account, your account must be activated prior to your first login. See the steps for First-time Account Holders. 

If you were a student through College Credit Plus (CCP), a YSU alumni entering graduate school or becoming a YSU employee, please follow instructions for Returning Account Holders.

 

First-time Account Holders

Please Note: Users without a SSN and users who have -guest accounts must contact the IT Service Desk to set up their account!

  1. Go to the Password Self-Service
  2. Click on Activate New Account
  3. Perform the verification step and click Verify
  4. Enter your Login ID (User Name), Banner “Y” ID, Last 4 digits of SSN, and Date of Birth (in YYYYMMDD format) into the respective fields and click Activate
  5. Click Continue to move onto the next step
  6. Enter a password for your account into the New Password and Confirm Password fields and click Change Password
    1. The password should follow all guidelines presented on the page
  7. Create the three required security questions and click Save Responses
  8. Click Continue to finish the activation process

Returning Account Holders

If you are actively using a YSU account, no password change is necessary. All others, follow the step below to access your account.

  1. Go to the Password Self-Service
  2. Click on Reset Forgotten Password
  3. Type your Login ID (User Name)
  4. Click the verification box "I am not a robot".
  5. Respond to the Captcha challenge, then click Search
  6. Type responses to the Questions which are case sensitive
  7. Create a new password following the guidelines displayed on the page
  8. Click Continue to finish the process

Once your account is set up or your password is reset, you can log into to your Penguin Portal Account on the YSU home page with the “Penguin Portal Login” dialog on the top right of the page, or within the footer of any webpage. 

Please contact the IT Service Desk at (330) 941-1595 for assistance if you are unable to activate or access your account.

Updated March 9, 2020