Texas A&M University

Howdy FAQs

Howdy is a secure web portal that connects Texas A&M University students, applicants, parents/guardians, faculty and staff to their personal A&M information and other important internal and external A&M links.

Howdy is available to Texas A&M University students, applicants, parents/guardians, faculty, staff and former students at the university's campuses in College Station, Galveston, and Qatar.

The main A&M website at https://www.tamu.edu is considered an "external" site, available to the A&M community as well as the general public. Although Howdy includes links to helpful information found on the main A&M site, its primary purpose is more "internal," to provide access to your personal A&M information. Therefore, it is a secure site requiring you to log in.

Howdy is a "one stop shop." It eliminates the need for you to log in to multiple websites to access various types of your personal A&M info. After logging in just once to Howdy, you automatically have access to info that previously required separate logins.

Use your campus NetID and password.

To get and activate a NetID, identify a forgotten NetID, or change a forgotten password, see "Trouble logging in?" on the Howdy login page. Or, contact Help Desk Central 979-845-8300 or helpdesk@tamu.edu.

Applicants and recently-admitted students will find links in Howdy to the Applicant Information System (AIS), which enables them to track the status of their applications. Howdy also provides links to admissions deadlines and information about the status of a student's financial aid, as well as information on housing and new student conferences.

Students will find information in Howdy such as course registration and add/drop courses, grades, transcripts, and degree evaluations. Students also will find information about the status of their financial aid and TouchNet (bill pay) information, as well as links to libraries, parking and Texas A&M University Email (Neo). Students can also find course assignments in Howdy through links to eLearning (which includes Blackboard Vista, formerly called WebCT). Student employees will find links to their employee information, such as Single Sign On (SSO), which includes HR Connect, benefits details and more.

Faculty will have access to their class rosters, including student information, and the schedule of classes in Howdy. Depending on user privileges, faculty members also have access to information currently found in eLearning (also known as WebCT or Blackboard Vista), as well as libraries, parking and TAMU Email (Neo).

Advisors will have access to student information, including student schedules, be able to view student holds, unofficial transcripts and degree evaluations and perform graduation status checks. All A&M employees will find links to their employee information, such as Single Sign On (SSO), which includes HR Connect. Employees who have access to the Compass student information system will find a link to the system in Howdy.

Staff members will have access to information such as libraries, parking and TAMU Email (Neo). All A&M employees will find links to their employee information, such as Single Sign On (SSO), which includes HR Connect. Employees who have access to the Compass student information system will find a link to the system in Howdy.

Howdy will provide a place for former students to view unofficial transcripts and order official transcripts from the university online. Information on records and grades is also available. Also, if applicable, former students will be able to make payments for tuition and fees to the TouchNet bill paying system.

Former students who attended Texas A&M University in the fall semester of 1985 or later may use the services available through Howdy. If you attended prior to fall semester 1985, please call 979-845-1003 for information. If your NetID is still active, you may now login. Former students will be able to use their NetID for two years after their last term of enrollment. If you do not have an active NetID, please fill out the questionnaire on the Former Student Access link in the Login box on the home page of Howdy.

Your student must request access in the Parent/Guardian Access channel on the My Record or My Finances tab. Within the Financial Aid, Academic Record and Tax Form link, they will need to select at least one area from the following for you to have access:

Scholarship information, grades, class schedule, request certification of enrollment or access to an online PDF copy of the IRS Form 1098T.

Your student will receive verification of their request and be given instructions to ask you to check your email for a message providing you with a web site to visit, along with a “token” number to activate your account within two weeks of receiving the initial email message. You then will receive an email telling you to activate your NetID. Once this is complete, you should be able to access Howdy within 24 hours.

For access to billing information, your student will log in to the TouchNet bill payment system, a secure, authorized, third-party site, and add authorized users to their account.

If you have more than one student at TAMU and want access to their information, a separate parent/guardian account is required for each student you have enrolled.

Once a student is no longer enrolled at Texas A&M University, a parent's/guardian's Howdy account will be inactivated. If a student re-enrolls at Texas A&M University, the student may re-activate the parent/guardian Howdy accounts by following the aforementioned steps to authorize the parent/guardian access.

Once parent/guardian Howdy access has been inactivated upon their student becoming a former student, parents/guardians may still contact the Texas A&M University Registrar's Office if they want to obtain information on their former student, providing the parent/guardian is able to demonstrate eligibility to receive this information in compliance with FERPA guidelines.

If you are a Texas A&M University employee and have a Compass account, log in to the Howdy web portal and click the "Employee" tab. If you have a Compass account, you will see a channel titled Compass that includes a link to the system. Additionally you will see an icon named "Compass" on the top right of your screen at all times. Clicking on the icon or the link will take you to Compass.

A portal implementation committee comprised of students, faculty, staff and administrators representing user groups and departments managing content for Howdy. During the planning stage, the committee and project developers hosted focus groups among a wide array of campus constituents, met with campus organizations and departments, and gathered feedback to determine the content in Howdy. Content managers continue to update info in Howdy.

The Enterprise Information Systems (EIS) staff works with many campus constituents on an ongoing basis to manage and maintain Howdy. For more info on EIS, see http://eis.tamu.edu. For more info about Howdy, send an email to howdy@tamu.edu .

You can customize Howdy in a variety of ways to reflect your personal preferences. Options include adding, moving or deleting certain tabs, channels and columns. You can also add links to websites you frequently visit or minimize channels you don't frequently view.

Please email howdy@tamu.edu with further questions.