Join InCommon

1. Are You Eligible?

Participation in InCommon is open to:

  1. Higher Education
    Two- and four-year, degree-granting academic institutions that are accredited by a U.S. Department of Education Regional Institutional Accrediting Agency, or some national or state accrediting agencies. If you represent an institution of higher education, continue to Step #2 below.

  2. Research Organizations
    A Research Organization is defined as a lab, facility, or center related to a particular federal research agency and listed on an official publicly available government listing. Research Organizations are eligible to sponsor partners into the federation. If you represent a research organization, please review the fee schedule and information specific to research organizations.

  3. Sponsored Partners
    Business, education, and research organizations who partner with higher education may join the Federation as Sponsored Partners. Sponsored Partners must be sponsored by the designated Executive of a current InCommon Higher Education Institution. If you are a business or other potential sponsored partner - or if you are a higher education institution looking to sponsor an entity, please review the process for sponsorship.

Our detailed eligibility criteria are found in Section 4 of the Federation Operational Policies and Practices. We'd be happy to determine your eligibility status with you. Either email admin@incommon.org or complete the Web Application Form (this is optional).

2. Review the Fee Schedule

InCommon publishes its fee schedule, including the one-time registration fee and also the annual fee.

The one-time registration fee ($700) covers the costs of vetting your organization, as well as the identity proofing of your executive and administrator. This fee is paid by credit card when you submit your on-line registration form.

The annual fee supports the ongoing operations of the federation. Annual fees are prorated for the first year of participation, based on the quarter in which an organization joins the federation.

3. Send Us the Agreement

  1. If you are eligible, send us a signed copy of the InCommon Participation Agreement [WORD] or [PDF] by postal mail, email or fax.
    • Delegating your trusted Executive (we will identity-proof this person for security).
    • Signed by an authorized representative of your organization.
  2. If you are applying as a Sponsored Partner, InCommon must receive a sponsorship letter from the InCommon Executive at a current InCommon higher education institution (email is fine).

4. InCommon Countersigns the Agreement and Sends a Registration Link

We will countersign your participation agreement and will send a link you can use to register your organization with InCommon.

5. Payment of Annual Fee

InCommon will email an invoice for payment of the first year’s annual fee. Annual fees are prorated for your first year of participation, based on the quarter in which your organization joins the federation.

6. Register Your Executive and Administrator for Identity Verification

Use the registration link that you received to:

  1. Pay the one-time $700 registration fee by credit card.
  2. Submit the names of individuals to fill InCommon-related roles:
    • Administrator (We will identity-proof this person for security)
    • Billing Contact (Recorded but not identity-proofed)
    • Executive: You will have already appointed your Executive in the Agreement. If you need to change your executive, you can use this letter template (note: it must be on institutional letterhead).
  3. Post your Participant Operational Practices (POP) [HTML version] [Word version] on your organization's website.
    (After the registration process is complete, your Administrator will submit your POP URL to InCommon.)
  4. Review InCommon policies and practices.

7. Identity Proofing via Telephone

Our Registration Authority will identity-proof your Executive and Administrator via telephone appointment.

8. Manage Your System via the Site Administration Interface

Following the identity proofing, your InCommon Administrator can gain access to the site administration interface for registering and managing your systems for interoperability within the federation.

9. Planning and Implementing Identity and Access Management

The Shibboleth system is addressed on the Shibboleth website and detailed on the Shibboleth documentation wiki.

The InCommon Library Collaboration has developed best practices for libraries and library resource providers.