ARA Help and Technical Support

The Association of Rice Alumni uses multiple digital tools and systems to engage and serve alumni and friends of Rice University. Below you will find technical assistance and answers to some of our office’s most frequently asked questions about the Rice Portal, the alumni directory and alumni email addresses.

If you have a question about these services that is not listed below, please contact arahelp@rice.edu.

For all other questions about alumni services, perks or how to stay connected to the university, visit the Rice Alumni FAQ or contact alumni@rice.edu.

The Rice Portal

What is the Rice Portal?

The Rice Portal gives alumni and friends access to a variety of online resources to connect with each other and engage with the university. Accessing the Rice Portal requires account registration. Formerly known as Alumni Online Services, all users were asked to create new accounts when the Rice Portal system launched in 2018.

Who has access to the Rice Portal?

All members of the Rice community, including alumni and friends, are welcome to create a user account. The content that each user will see will vary, depending on the user’s relationship to the university.

What can alumni do in the Rice Portal?

The portal will provide access to a variety of tools and resources for alumni to:

• Find other alumni through the Rice Alumni Directory.
• Stay in touch with the Rice community by updating your contact information and communication preferences.
• Request a Rice Alumni email address.
• Access Fondren Library resources.
• Read the latest issue of the Owlmanac Class Notes magazine and submit a class note for the next issue.
• Expedite your giving and your event registration.

What can Rice friends (non-alumni) users do in the Portal?

Most users to the Rice portal will be able to:

• Stay in touch with the Rice community by updating your contact information and communication preferences. Please note: Updating your contact email address does not automatically update the email address used to access the Rice Portal.
• Expedite your giving and your event registration.
• Navigate to other Rice resources, such as the Rice Volunteer website.

Some users will have access to additional content depending on their relationship to the university.

How do I access the Rice Portal?

If you already have a Rice Portal account, you can access it at riceconnect.rice.edu. To sign up for your Rice Portal account, visit riceconnect.rice.edu/login and click “New User Registration” Please allow 3-5 business days for account activation. Users receive a “Welcome to the Rice Portal” email as confirmation of account activation once their relationship to the university is verified. If you do not receive confirmation, please reach out to arahelp@rice.edu.

We recommend that students and new alumni use a personal, more permanent, email address, not their Rice student address when registering for the Rice Portal. This is because Rice student email addresses expire shortly after graduation.

I like to use my Rice email address or Rice alumni address for all things related to Rice. Why do you recommend using a personal email address for Rice Portal registration?

The email address you include for New Rice Portal User Information is used to recover your account when your password is reset or forgotten. Rice student addresses expire shortly after graduation and, over time, most individuals have consistent access to a personal email address. We recommend using the same personal email for your Rice Portal Login Information since this will also be your username for the Portal.

Alumni: Should you wish to make your alumni email address your primary contact email for receiving communications from Rice Alumni and other university partners, you can update this through the Rice Portal. Changes to your contact information will not affect your Rice Portal account login.

How do I access the Rice Alumni Directory?

You can access the Rice Alumni Directory through the Rice Portal. See “How do I access the Rice Portal?” to learn how to log into or register for the Rice Portal.

I receive communications from Rice all the time, does that mean I have a Rice Portal account?

No. Contact information for alumni and friends of the university is in OwlConnect, Rice University’s advancement system, which was launched in 2018 and is powered by Blackbaud CRM. Constituents must sign up for Rice Portal access to edit limited details within their database record like contact, spousal or employment information.

I’ve signed up for events, have an alumni email address or have donated to the university, does that mean I have a Rice Portal account?

No. Rice Portal accounts require registration at riceconnect.rice.edu and remain provisional until verified by our department. Verified users receive a “Welcome to the Rice Portal” email as confirmation of activation.

I signed up for an account — when can I access the Portal?

New users will be given provisional access to the Rice Portal upon registering for an account. Full access will not be granted until that request is processed and the new user’s relationship to the university is verified. Once given full access, users can view and update personal contact information and communication preferences. In addition, Rice alumni will have access to Rice Alumni Directory, the latest issue of Owlmanac magazine and the online form to submit class notes, and Fondren Library resources.

How do I change or reset my Rice Portal password?

To reset your password, simply visit the Rice Portal homepage and click "reset password" under the login button. Please note: You will need to add your Rice Portal email address here (if different than your username). You will then be sent a link to your Rice Portal email address to start the password reset process.

Starting in 2022, passwords must be 12 characters, must contain one uppercase and one lowercase letter, must contain at least one numeric and one special character (such as $, #, %, *) and cannot include your name, username, or organization name. New passwords may fail if they are an iteration of previous passwords.

Please note: your Rice Portal login might be different than your primary email address on file. If you are still experiencing trouble resetting your password, please email arahelp@rice.edu.

How often do I need to change my Rice Portal password?

Starting in 2022, you will need to reset your password every year. Length and character requirements will be listed when you go to change your password. You will also not be allowed to use any of your previous six passwords.

When resetting my password, the login prompt screen says Blackbaud Internet Solutions. What is this?

Blackbaud Internet Solution is Rice’s content management system that hosts the Rice Portal. After resetting your password, you will be led to a login page for BlackBaud Internet Solutions. Simply log in using your Rice Portal credentials. You can log onto the Rice Portal and Blackbaud interchangeably.

My browser is not supported. What do I do?

The Rice Portal does not support Internet Explorer. Any other browsers should work. If you are not using Internet Explorer and are still experiencing trouble, please email arahelp@rice.edu.

How can I sign up for emails from the Rice alumni office or update my email preferences?

We want to honor your preferences and give you more options to manage your email and mail communications.

Email subscriptions and preferences for Development and Alumni Relations and select university partners can be managed through the Rice Portal. Log in to your portal account (or sign up for a Portal account if necessary) then select "My Communications Preferences" under the "Manage My Account" heading in the left-hand column.

Alumni Email Address

How do I create an alumni email address?

Rice alumni are provided a Gmail email address with the custom @alumni.rice.edu domain upon request. To sign up for one, please follow these steps:

1. Log in to the Rice Portal at riceconnect.rice.edu.
2. Once you are logged in to the Portal, click “Alumni Email Signup” beneath “Links and Resources” in the menu on the left side of the home page.*
3. Complete the Alumni Email Request form and click the “Submit” button. Allow 2-3 business days for your email request to be processed.
4. Once processed, you will receive a confirmation email from the Google Cloud Team with your username (email address) and a link by which to set your password. Please note that this link expires after 48 hours.

Due to policy changes at Google, beginning July 1, 2022, additional Workspace components (including Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides and more) will not be available for Rice alumni accounts.

*Please note that this option will only be visible within the Portal to alumni whose degree status has been fully verified - which can take up to six weeks after graduation.

What is the difference between ricealumni.net and alumni.rice.edu email addresses?

All ricealumni.net and alumni.rice.edu email addresses were carried over to Google Workspace from the previous email forwarding service, which was discontinued in July 2017. Since that time, all new accounts are created with the alumni.rice.edu branding. All alumni email accounts, regardless of their domain, are hosted through Google Workspace and have the same functionality.

How do I access my alumni email account once it is created?

To access your alumni email account inbox, visit mail.google.com. If you are logged into a personal Gmail account, you must log out or switch accounts, then log in with your alumni email address and password.

I’ve forgotten or missed the 48 hour window to set the password for my alumni email. Now what?

All users should now be able to select “Forgot Password” during the log in process and initiate their own recovery link to the secondary email on file. If you do not receive the link, or receive a “contact your administrator” message, please reach out to arahelp@rice.edu.

To view or change the recovery email address for your account, please visit accounts.google.com while logged into your alumni Google account.

If you are still unable to recover or log into your alumni email account, contact arahelp@rice.edu for assistance.

How do I set up my alumni email account to forward to my personal email?

The steps to forward email from your alumni account to a personal account can be found at Google Support. We recommend selecting the option to delete email forwarded from your alumni email account to another account.

Who do I contact about the email account I used as a student?

Student emails are managed by Rice IT. They can answer any questions you have about your Rice email address. Contact them at helpdesk@rice.edu or 713-348-4357. Please note, @rice.edu accounts expire soon after graduation.

Questions? Contact arahelp@rice.edu.