During the switch to online learning for Fall 2020 due to COVID-19, WSU initiated the new Okta security system for student accounts. With this, students would be required to complete two-factor authentication every 24 hours to sign into their myWSU, Blackboard, or other WSU accounts. Although the process does help secure sensitive information better, the general consensus among many students regarding verification every 24 hours believes it to be an unnecessary, mundane, and overall unproductive requirement. This change would not apply to just myWSU accounts and emails, but also to Office 365, including Microsoft Word.

Since phishing, and otherwise hacking methods, have gone down regarding security for WSU accounts within the past two years, the student body believes that the change to Okta verification is necessary and would more efficiently help students sign into their WSU accounts. The current Okta system also leads to many bugs regarding verification, as many students have reported having to sign in to multiple devices more than once a day, even if they have already verified for the day.

Students would be able to sign in, initiate work, and send emails at a significantly easier pace without unnecessary hurdles. The student body hopes that WSU Pullman will consider this petition for the 2021 Spring Semester as students have already begun to sign up for classes next semester!