Do not use words that can be found in the dictionary. Many password-cracking programs try all the words in a dictionary. Do not use the names of friends, spouses, children, or pets. These are easy to guess. Do not use dates, phone number or your social security number.
Theses are also easy to guess.
Do not use something that is so hard to remember that you have to write it down and look for it every time you log on. Do not give your password to anyone. There is no reason to allow any student or other University person to use your account. All University students and employees may have access to computing facilities through their own accounts. If you need to share data or files between users, there are other ways to do it.