Frequently Asked Questions

All @cal users need a username and passphrase (sometimes called a CalNet ID) to enter the site. If you graduated before May 2009 and haven’t already registered for CalNet, please do so here. All grads from May 2009 to the present were issued a CalNet ID and passphrase as students.

No, unfortunately we can’t offer the wireless service or remote access to library services to @cal members who are visiting or working on campus. However, if you’re an employee of the University, you will continue to have the same access.

No, you shouldn’t see any changes in your existing CalNet account. Just remember that if you make any changes to your account, they will affect you when you log in as both an @cal member and an employee.

The Cal Alumni Network is open to Berkeley alumni and current students at the College of Engineering, Haas School or School of Optometry.

Once you are removed from @cal, your profile will be excluded from all searches, and it will be hidden from the @cal community and any non-community users who try to access your profile’s URL. We will also remove your forwarding e-mail addresses from our database. You will not be able to re-activate your account without first contacting University Development and Alumni Relations.

Here are the requirements for a CalNet ID:

1. It must be 2 to 30 characters (no spaces).
2. It must contain at least 1 letter (a-z, lowercase only).
3. It must not contain your Cal student ID or your employee ID (if you work for the university).
4. Must not start with “cads.”
5. Must not end with a period.
6. It can contain only these characters:
   • Lowercase letters (a-z)
   • Numbers (0-9)
   • Periods ( . )
   • Underscores ( _ )
   • Hyphens ( - )

Fill out the registration form, and be sure to fill in all fields marked with an asterisk (*). Make a note of your CalNet ID and passphrase; keep it in a secure place for future reference. On the Policy Agreement screen, you will read and agree to the @cal policies.

Your CalNet ID is the username you enter to identify yourself to CalNet — UC Berkeley’s gateway to online information services.

A PIN is only used once during the registration process. After you have successfully registered, you never have to use your PIN. If you are a CAA member, your PIN will be your CAA membership number. Your CalNet ID is what you will use to log into @cal.

We ask you to enter it twice so we are sure you’ve entered the correct address. If there is a difference in the two e-mail addresses you enter, we ask you to re-enter it, just to be sure we’ve got it right.

If we can’t identify you in our database using the information you’ve entered, our customer service team will send you an e-mail and assist you through the registration process.

Visit https://cal.berkeley.edu/help/id_reminder and enter in your email address.

A passphrase is a private password for logging into @cal. Your passphrase can be a word, a phrase, or an entire sentence, including spaces, as long as it meets the passphrase requirements. Some ideas for passphrases:

• The mailing address of your childhood home or a favorite vacation spot
• A relative’s name and birthday
• A phrase — with punctuation — that’s meaningful to you

Here are the requirements for a passphrase:

1. It must be at least 12 characters, including blank spaces.
2. It must contain characters from at least 3 of these groups:
   • Uppercase letters (A-Z)
   • Lowercase letters (a-z)
   • Numbers (0-9)
   • Symbols/special characters (!, $, #, or %, etc.)
3. It must not contain your first, middle, or last names or your CalNet ID.
4. Your passphrase should not contain sequences ("123", "DEF") in any order, or repeating characters ("444", "ooo"). This may cause your passphrase to be rejected.
5. Any time you change your passphrase, you should make sure it’s substantially different from the current and previous passphrases.

Visit https://cal.berkeley.edu/help/reset_passphrase and enter in your email address.

We ask you to enter your passphrase twice so that we can be sure you’ve entered the passphrase you want. If there is a difference in the two passphrases you enter, we ask you to re-enter it, just to be sure we’ve got it right.

Click the Set Passphrase button. This takes you to a screen where you see your new CalNet ID, have a chance to see your passphrase, and read the @cal policies.

You have a chance to write down your CalNet ID and passphrase, you read and agree to the @cal policies, and then you can go to @cal.

The @cal policies are guidelines for using @cal. They describe the appropriate use of the site as well as what constitutes improper use.

Yes, if you want to use @cal, you must read and accept the @cal policies.

This is your profile in @cal’s alumni directory, and can only be viewed by @cal members. The more information you put in, the better your chances for connecting with friends and making business contacts. Add links to your social media profiles, and be sure to add your photo, too! Many people are more likely to remember a face rather than a name. Don’t be shy.

You can also opt-in to be contacted by current Cal students to provide career advice.

The only information @cal members can see is your name, academic information, home city, home state, industry, and job function. Your job title and employer’s name are also visible, but you can change the privacy setting from Community to Friends or Only Me. All of the other information in your profile has the same privacy options — you tell us who should see it, and the privacy setting is on the same page. We want to make it easy!

It is ready for you to update now! Click Profile and then click Edit to expand each of the four areas: Personal, Home, Career, and About Me. Enter your information, set the privacy setting, and click Save.

Use our Help section to submit the change to the folks who manage that information. Thanks for your help.

Absolutely! Go to the About Me section and click edit. At the bottom, you’ll see Additional Degrees. Enter the information. If you earned more than one degree, you can reorder them by clicking and dragging them.

Think of it as your free online business card. You customize the URL (cal.berkeley.edu/[yourname]), design it, and put in the information you want to share with the world. Your profile can include links to your social media profiles, employment information, and your verified UC Berkeley degree information.

Share your Cal street cred! Add it to your email signature, put it on your resume, and put it in your Twitter bio!

It can be viewed by anyone on the web. It will also be found by search engines. You can put it in your LinkedIn profile, your resume, and your email signature.

Go to your Profile.

To create it, click the Create your Public Profile link under your name. To edit it, click the Edit Public Profile link.

You decide. You can enter your email address, and we'll display an Email Me link on your profile. No one will see your email address. Be sure to add links to your social media profiles, too!

Sure, we’re happy to help. You can do this — it’s easy and fun.

On the Background tab, select an image or upload your own. Please keep it under 1MB and no larger than 1100 x 760 pixels. You can drag the box on the image. Click the black-and-white icon to change the opacity of the text box and the background color. On the Information tab, add the information you would like to display on the page. Share it!

You can search through hundreds of thousands of Berkeley alums and attendees using the Basic or Advanced Search feature. If you are doing multiple searches and need to clear your criteria, click on the Clear Search Form button under the Saved Searches heading. You can also save your searches so you don’t have to retype your search criteria.

When you are looking at a profile, you can friend that person by clicking on the gold icon with the bear and plus sign. A message will be sent to that person letting them know that you’d like to be their friend. They must approve your request to create the friend relationship.

You can bookmark profiles when you view them in search results or when viewing the profile. Click the icon with the plus sign. The other person is not notified that you have bookmarked them.

It’s a great networking tool. It allows you to highlight people you may know or would like to contact in the future.

They were entered in by the alum so that other people can find them on social media sites. Now you can tell people where to find and connect with you on social media sites.

Badges. Click on the badge to find out how you can earn them!