New Students

Students have 2 main IDs that are used to access most services and software on campus. 

MSU ID (also called Student ID or GID) -  is in the form of 8 numbers preceded by a - (-01212121). 

NetID -  is in the form of letter 2 numbers letter 3 numbers (a12e345). The NetID is used to login to most campus resources. 

The acceptance letter that was sent to you after you applied and were accepted to the college will have your MSU ID printed near the top and this will be important for obtaining your NetID and setting your password. 

Claim Your NetID

1. In your web browser, go to https://www.gfcmsu.edu and click on Banner Web/MyInfo, located near the top left of the page.
2. Look for Don't know your NetID? and click on the link that says Look it up here.
3. Enter your MSU ID with the dash and click Submit.
   1. • If you do not know your MSU ID, you can click I don't know my MSU ID and you will be asked to provide your last name and last four digits of your Social Security Number. If you run into any trouble, please contact us by phone at 406-771-4440 so we can further assist you.
4. Enter your date of birth in the format mm/dd/yyyy and click Submit. (example: July 21, 1996 would be 07/21/1996)
5. The screen that follows should show your NetID. It should look similar to a12e345. 

Set Your Password

1. In your web browser, go to https://password.gfcmsu.edu and click on the blue Go to Password Portal button.
2. Click on the Go to Setup Tool button.
3. Enter your NetID, obtained from step one, and click the Continue button.
4. Enter your MSU ID and date of birth in the same format as earlier but without the slashes mmddyyyy and click Continue.
5. Select and configure your Authentication method(s). These are what you will use to login to the password portal to set or reset your password. 
   • • 5 Challenge Questions - You are required to configure 5 challenge questions.
     • Email - (optional) Provide an email address to use to receive a verification code.
     • Text Message - (optional) Provide a cell number that can be used to receive a verification code.
     • Note: You only need to setup one authentication method however, you are required to setup challenge questions regardless.
6. You should be back at the start page of the password portal. To set your password, click Go to Reset Tool.
7. Enter your NetID and click Continue.
8. Select one of the authentication options (you may have 1, 2, or 3 depending on what you setup in step 5).
   1. • Authentication with Challenge Questions - You will be asked to answer 3 of your 5 challenge questions to proceed.
      • Authenticate with Text - You will click Send Pin and wait to receive a text message with a pin code. Once received, enter it in the box and click Continue to proceed.
      • Authenticate with E-Mail - You will select an email address (if you entered more than one previously), click Send Pin, check your email for the pin code, enter it in the box, and click Continue.
9. You should see a page that has a list of password requirements and boxes to enter your password and confirm your password. 
10. Enter your desired password in both boxes and click Submit.
11. You will see at least 2 lines showing a status as the password is updated. Wait for them to show success before navigating away from this page.

Reset Your Password (If you have already set your password and need to reset it)

1. In your web browser, go to https://password.gfcmsu.edu and click on the blue Go to Password Portal button.
2. Click Go to Reset Tool.
3. Enter your NetID and click Continue.
4. Select one of the authentication options (you may have 1, 2, or 3 depending on what you setup in step 5).
   • • Authentication with Challenge Questions - You will be asked to answer 3 of your 5 challenge questions to proceed.
     • Authenticate with Text - You will click Send Pin and wait to receive a text message with a pin code. Once received, enter it in the box and click Continue to proceed.
     • Authenticate with E-Mail - You will select an email address (if you entered more than one previously), click Send Pin, check your email for the pin code, enter it in the box, and click Continue.
5. You should see a page that has a list of password requirements and boxes to enter your password and confirm your password. 
6. Enter your desired password in both boxes and click Submit.
7. You should see at least 2 lines showing a status as the password is updated. Wait for them to show success before navigating away from this page.
   • If you only have one line on this page or if you have two but the GFCMSU line fails, it just means that your Office account has not been created yet. Please give it a few days and reset your password again. Once you have two lines that show success, you should be able to access your Microsoft Office account. 

All currently enrolled students are assigned an official student email account and provided with access to use and install Microsoft Office 365 for free on up to five devices, which includes supported Windows and Mac computers, iPads and supported Android tablets, and iPhones and supported Android phones. In addition, you can sign in and use the web based versions of Microsoft Office applications on any computer with a supported web browser.

Sign Into Microsoft Office & Student Email

1. In your web browser, go to https://login.microsoftonline.com/.
2. Where it asks for you to enter an "Email, phone, or Skype" enter your NetID@gfcmsu.edu and click Next. For example, if your NetID is a12b345, you would enter a12b345@gfcmsu.edu. It is very important that you enter it exactly as described or you will not be able to login. Note: This looks like an email address but it is not your student email address. That will be discussed in a later step.
3. Enter the password that you created using the password portal from step 2 and click Next.
4. From here, you can use all of the Microsoft Office applications in your web browser, access your student email, or install Microsoft Office to your Windows or Mac computer.

Access Student Email

Now that you are logged into the Microsoft Office Portal, you can access your student email by locating and clicking on the Outlook icon. 

Tip: Go to https://outlook.office.com and login with the same credentials as above to go straight to your student email.

Find Your Student Email Address

1. Login to the Microsoft Office Portal and go to Outlook, as described in the previous steps.
2. Click on the small circle in the upper right corner of the page that shows your initials.
3. Click View Account.
4. Near the top middle of the page you should see your initials and your name. Below your name is your official GFCMSU.edu student email address. It will be your FirstName.LastName@gfcmsu.edu (atticus.finch@gfcmsu.edu). In some cases your email address may contain a number at the end (atticus.finch7@gfcmsu.edu). In rarer instances it may be your FirstInitial.LastName@gfcmsu.edu (a.finch2@gfcmsu.edu). In any case, what shows here is your official student email address. 

Brightspace, sometimes referred to as D2L or Desire2Learn, is the official learning management system used by the four Montana State University campuses. Each campus has their own instance and may use the built-in tools differently or use integrated software services. For this reason, it is important to attend attend any orientation events for your campus that related to Brightspace and/or online learning. GFCMSU provides on campus and fully online versions of a non-credit course called Tech Essentials that provides students with important information about how online, face-to-face, hybrid, and hyflex courses on our campus utilize the Brightspace and other technologies.

Sign Into Brightspace

1. There are 2 separate addresses that you can use to access GFCMSU's Brightspace. 
   1. • Primary - https://elearning.gfcmsu.edu - This one is hosted on campus as part of the college website and should be used primarily. Also, reachable by going to https://www.gfcmsu.edu, clicking on Students, and clicking on the small orange B on the navigation menu.
      • Alternate  - https://gfcmsu.desire2learn.com - This address is not hosted on campus. So, if you are unable to reach the college website for any reason, you should try this address.
2. To login, visit one of the login pages, enter your NetID (example, a12b345), enter the password you set in step 2, and click Login.