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Getting your people into the help desk

There are four ways users end up in SupportStudioK12. Most districts use two of them together. Picking the right combination early saves a cleanup later.

1. They sign in (no setup)

The simplest path, and it needs nothing from you. When someone signs in with your district's SSO for the first time, an account is created for them on the spot as a submitter.

  • Good for: staff who only ever submit tickets
  • The catch: you have no user list until people actually sign in, so you can't assign tickets to someone who has never logged in, and your directory is only as complete as your sign-in history

This works alongside every other option below. Even with a nightly sync running, a first-time sign-in still creates anyone the sync missed.

2. Microsoft Entra ID sync

Pulls users from your Microsoft 365 tenant on a nightly schedule, using the same Azure app registration that powers SSO. Configured under Admin → Integrations, in the Microsoft Azure section.

Two modes:

  • Attribute mode — pulls users and maps their attributes
  • Group mode — pulls the members of Entra groups you nominate, and can map a group to a school or override a role

Group mode is usually what a district wants: it lets "everyone in the Lincoln Elementary Staff group" become users attached to Lincoln Elementary, without maintaining a second list by hand.

3. Google Workspace directory sync

The equivalent for Google districts, configured in the Google Workspace section of the same Integrations page. Same idea: your directory is the source of truth, and the help desk follows it.

4. OneRoster from your SIS

Pulls schools and users from a OneRoster 1.1 endpoint — PowerSchool, Infinite Campus, Skyward, or ClassLink Roster Server. Nightly, plus on-demand.

Use this instead of Entra sync when you're a Google Workspace district, or when you'd rather the SIS be the source of truth than the directory. It's also the only option that brings your school list with it.

Also available: CSV import

Admin → Import Users takes a spreadsheet. Fine for a one-off — a building the sync doesn't cover, or a batch of substitutes — but a manual import is a snapshot, not a feed. If you find yourself doing it monthly, one of the syncs above is the answer.

Choosing

Situation Use
Microsoft district, want groups → schools Entra sync, group mode
Google district Google Workspace sync, or OneRoster
Want the SIS to be the source of truth OneRoster
Want schools imported too OneRoster
Staff-only help desk, small district Just sign-in — don't over-engineer it
One-off batch CSV import

Two things to know before you sync

Everyone arrives as a submitter. Sync brings people in at the lowest permission level. Promoting your technicians and admins is a manual step under Admin → Users — deliberately, because nobody wants a directory group silently granting admin.

Student accounts need a signed Data Privacy Agreement. If your district's DPA isn't on file, creating new student accounts is blocked. Existing students keep syncing. If a sync isn't creating the students you expect, check your DPA status first — it's the most common cause.

After the first sync