- * About: Minerva for Students and Guests

Service overview

Minerva is a user-friendly web interface to McGill's central information system, available to applicants, alumni, former students (non-alumni), students and their designated guests.

In addition to their respective menus, i.e. Student or Guest menu, both students and guests have access to the Personal and Applicant menus.

Applicants to McGill receive an acknowledgement notice from the University, containing their McGill ID with which they can log into Minerva. Until accepting an offer of admission, they have access only to the Applicants and Personal menus in Minerva.

To learn more about all these menus, see Minerva menus for Students and Guests. For details of first-time and subsequent login, see the How to access section below.

Who can use it

All McGill students, either registered or eligible to register.
Individuals who have been granted Guest access privileges by a McGill student.
Applicants who have received their acknowledgement notice from the University.
Alumni
Former students (non-alumni)

How to request & access the service

What you need to access Minerva:

Current students and alumni

You can sign into Minerva in two ways:

Using your McGill ID and Minerva PIN
OR
Using your McGill Username and Password

Parents & guests

Always use a McGill ID and PIN to log in. To receive your login credentials, you must have been granted guest access privileges by a McGill student and followed the instructions contained in the emails sent to you by McGill.

Accessing Minerva

Log in with your McGill Username and Password. Alternately, you can log in using your assigned McGill ID number and initial PIN.

NOTE:

If you have a valid McGill username, your McGill ID and PIN will eventually be phased out, so it is recommended to use your McGill credentials to log in.

If logging in for the first time with your assigned McGill ID number and initial PIN, you will be prompted to:
- Accept the terms of the Responsible Use of McGill IT Resources.
- Change your initial Minerva PIN to one of your own choosing.
- Choose a security question and set the answer.
If necessary, click on the HELP link at the top of the Login screen for detailed instructions to help you set up / change all credentials.

Students and alumni can access Minerva in either of the following ways:

Sign into the myMcGill portal with your McGill Username and McGill Password. Once inside the portal, you can access Minerva and many other services without logging in again.
OR
Log into Minerva directly using EITHER your McGill Username and Password combination OR your McGill ID and Minerva PIN combination.

Former students (non-alumni) Log into Minerva directly using their McGill ID and Minerva PIN combination.

Guests can access Minerva from the Minerva for guests web page and must log in using their McGill ID and Minerva PIN combination.

Applicants – Until accepting an offer of admission from McGill, you may continue to access Minerva directly and log in with the McGill ID and the PIN you set up during first-time login. Upon confirming your acceptance to McGill, you will receive your McGill Username and McGill Password and can subsequently access Minerva as described for Students above.

Cost

The costs are covered by your student fees.

Availability

Minerva is available 24 X 7, except during scheduled and unscheduled maintenance. Check the home page of the IT Support site for any announcements regarding unscheduled service interruptions.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to log in to see McGill's Course Calendar or Class Schedule for a term?

Yes. Access to the Course Catalog and Class schedule is currently limited to members of the McGill community.

For Class Schedule information, please login to your Minerva account and:

for Students, go to: Minerva > Student Menu > Registration Menu > Then: Search Class Schedule and Add Course Sections
for Student Records Staff, go to: Minerva > SR Admin Menu > Catalog and Schedule Menu > Class Schedule
for Advisors, go to: Minerva > Advisor Menu > Class Schedule

For a listing of McGill's courses at every level with full course descriptions, prerequisites, calendar notes and other restrictions are published in University Calendars.

For students and guests:

For students:

For guests:

Why can't I access all of the options on the Guest Menu?
The options you can access on the Guest menu are determined by your host student. Once logged into Minerva, click Guest Menu > Overview of Student-Granted Access Privileges to see your current privileges.
Note: Guests are not permitted access to certain parts of the student’s record, such as Transcripts or Proof of Enrolment Letters. For more information, please refer to Guest access.
As a guest, I see additional menus in Minerva; is that correct?

Best practices & policies

Anyone using Minerva agrees to the Policy on the Responsible Use of McGill IT Resources
Regularly change your Minerva PIN (students and guests) and your McGill Password (students only) using the options on the Minerva Personal Menu, based on the guidelines for secure passwords.

Training & documentation

Resources for students:

Important dates for students for key dates in the academic year.
Welcome New Students: IT Services Orientation
Resources and Services for Students
Go Abroad (for information on Exchanges and Study Abroad)

Resources for guests:

Minerva for Guests web site
Guest access on Minerva
See the McGill Parents section of the Alumni Online Community website for more resources available to guests who are parents of a student.

Resources for applicants:

Programs and Admissions

Support

Find instant answers about student-related matters at: Ask McGill

For parents and guests having problems accessing Minerva, contact Service Point at 514-398-7878.

Current students, applicants and alumni, get help at Service Point or call 514-398-7878.