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This guide covers institution-level account management at deandesk.com. For school-level user accounts, see Add users.
An Identity is an institution-wide login. Identities can manage the institution dashboard and, depending on their role, sign into any of your schools through the Admin Console quick-jump.

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Identity list

Open Identities in the institution dashboard sidebar to see every identity in your institution. The list is a full-featured directory with backend-driven search, role filters, and customizable columns. The search bar at the top of the directory matches against name, username, email, phone, address, and any custom metadata fields. Results update as you type.

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Role filters

Use the Role chips above the table to filter by one or more institution roles. Selecting multiple chips returns identities that match any of the selected roles.

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Customizable columns

The Columns dropdown lets you toggle which fields appear as table columns. You can show standard fields (name, email, phone, joined date) plus any custom metadata field configured under Settings → Metadata.
Add metadata columns for fields you frequently filter or scan — for example, “Volunteer status” or “Board committee” — so you can build directory views tailored to a specific job.

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Identity detail page

Click any identity to open their detail page. The page is organized into tabs — Overview, Accounts, Finance, Access, and History — and surfaces:
  • Profile — name, email, contact info, joined date
  • Metric cards — four at-a-glance metrics (e.g. Institution paid) summarizing financial and engagement activity
  • Create a case for this identity — a quick-action card with a Create linked case button that pre-fills a new case with this identity’s name and email
  • Memberships — current and historical institution memberships, if any
  • Schools — every school where this identity has a linked User account, with their school-level roles
  • Cases — cases where this identity is the contact (see Cases)
  • Activity — recent activity across all of your schools
  • AI Insights — an AI-generated summary of the identity’s activity, engagement, and any notable events

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AI insights

The AI Insights panel reads the identity’s activity history (logins, course participation, payments, communications) and generates a plain-language summary. Use it to quickly orient yourself before reaching out to a member or resolving a case.
AI insights are regenerated on demand. If the panel shows stale information, click Refresh to recompute against the latest activity.
The institution dashboard includes a global search that finds people across every school under your institution.
1

Open search

Use the search bar embedded in the header of every dashboard page (Identities, Memberships, Cases, Metadata, and others), or go directly to /dashboard/search for the full results page.
2

Type a name or email

Start typing. DeanDesk returns matches across both Identities and school-level Users in real time.
3

Pick a result

The full search page splits results into Identities and Users tabs. Each result shows a type badge (Identity vs. User) and the school context (which school the User belongs to). Click to open the corresponding profile.
Identities are institution-wide; Users are school-specific. A single person can show up as one Identity plus multiple Users (one per school). See Identities vs Users for the full picture.

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Inviting identities

1

Open Identities

Go to Identities in the institution dashboard.
2

Click Invite Identity

Enter the person’s name, email, and role.
3

Send invite

The invitee receives an email with an activation link. Once they accept, their identity appears in the list and they can log in at deandesk.com/login.

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Password reset

Identities can reset their own password from deandesk.com/login.
1

Click Forgot your password?

On the login page, click Forgot your password? and enter your institutional account email.
2

Open the reset email

You’ll receive an email with the subject “Password Reset Request - DeanDesk”. If your email belongs to Identities at more than one institution, the email contains a separate reset button for each institution — click the one for the account you want to reset.
3

Set a new password

Enter a new password (minimum 6 characters). Once saved, you’re returned to the login page to sign in.
Reset links expire after 1 hour. If yours has expired, request a new one from the login page.

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Account locking

A Super Admin can lock an identity to block their access to the platform. On an identity’s detail page, the Account access card shows whether the account is active or locked, along with the lock timestamp and reason.
  • Lock account — optionally enter a reason, then confirm. The lock takes effect immediately and blocks the identity and all of their linked school User accounts — the person can’t sign in anywhere on the platform until unlocked.
  • Unlock account — restores access immediately.
Locked identities show a red Locked badge in the identity directory and on their linked school accounts.
No email is sent when an account is locked or unlocked.

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Identity roles

When a Super Admin or Admin signs into a school via Admin Console, they’re given Admin + Member roles in the school automatically. Member-only identities receive school roles based on the school’s onboarding policies.