diff --git a/resources/init.php b/resources/init.php
index 80d5aea98..01c390ed0 100644
--- a/resources/init.php
+++ b/resources/init.php
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@
 use UnityWebPortal\lib\UnityUser;
 use UnityWebPortal\lib\UnityWebhook;
 use UnityWebPortal\lib\UnityGithub;
-use UnityWebPortal\lib\UnityHTTPD;
 use UnityWebPortal\lib\UserFlag;
 
 if (CONFIG["site"]["enable_exception_handler"]) {
@@ -55,26 +54,20 @@
 }
 
 if (isset($_SERVER["REMOTE_USER"])) {
-    // Check if SSO is enabled on this page
+    _setcookie("navbar_show_logged_in_user_pages", "true");
     $SSO = UnitySSO::getSSO();
-    $_SESSION["SSO"] = $SSO;
-
-    $OPERATOR = new UnityUser($SSO["user"], $LDAP, $SQL, $MAILER, $WEBHOOK);
-    $_SESSION["is_admin"] = $OPERATOR->getFlag(UserFlag::ADMIN);
-
     $_SESSION["OPERATOR"] = $SSO["user"];
     $_SESSION["OPERATOR_IP"] = $_SERVER["REMOTE_ADDR"];
-
-    if (isset($_SESSION["viewUser"]) && $_SESSION["is_admin"]) {
+    if (
+        isset($_SESSION["viewUser"]) &&
+        $LDAP->userFlagGroups["admin"]->memberUIDExists($SSO["user"])
+    ) {
         $USER = new UnityUser($_SESSION["viewUser"], $LDAP, $SQL, $MAILER, $WEBHOOK);
     } else {
-        $USER = $OPERATOR;
+        $USER = new UnityUser($SSO["user"], $LDAP, $SQL, $MAILER, $WEBHOOK);
     }
-
-    $_SESSION["user_exists"] = $USER->exists();
-    $_SESSION["is_pi"] = $USER->isPI();
-
-    $SQL->addLog("user_login", $OPERATOR->uid);
-
+    _setcookie("navbar_show_admin_pages", $USER->getFlag(UserFlag::ADMIN) ? "true" : "false");
+    _setcookie("navbar_show_pi_pages", $USER->isPI() ? "true" : "false");
+    $SQL->addLog("user_login", $SSO["user"]);
     $USER->updateIsQualified(); // in case manual changes have been made to PI groups
 }
diff --git a/resources/lib/utils.php b/resources/lib/utils.php
index b6b96d293..f232baf28 100644
--- a/resources/lib/utils.php
+++ b/resources/lib/utils.php
@@ -283,3 +283,17 @@ function _curl_exec(CurlHandle $handle): string
     }
     return $output;
 }
+
+function _setcookie(
+    string $name,
+    string $value,
+    int $ttl_seconds = 600,
+    string $path = "/",
+    string $domain = "",
+    bool $secure = false,
+    bool $httponly = false,
+): void {
+    setcookie($name, $value, time() + $ttl_seconds, $path, $domain, $secure, $httponly);
+    // $_COOKIE won't see this change until the next page load, update it now
+    $_COOKIE[$name] = $value;
+}
diff --git a/resources/templates/header.php b/resources/templates/header.php
index 1426d15c8..209e6a9f4 100644
--- a/resources/templates/header.php
+++ b/resources/templates/header.php
@@ -5,10 +5,7 @@
 if ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "POST") {
     // another page should have already validated and we can't validate the same token twice
     // UnityHTTPD::validatePostCSRFToken();
-    if (
-        ($_SESSION["is_admin"] ?? false) == true
-        && ($_POST["form_type"] ?? null) == "clearView"
-    ) {
+    if (($_POST["form_type"] ?? null) == "clearView") {
         unset($_SESSION["viewUser"]);
         UnityHTTPD::redirect(getURL("admin/user-mgmt.php"));
     }
@@ -21,13 +18,8 @@
     UnityHTTPD::redirect();
 }
 
-if (isset($SSO)) {
-    if (
-        !$_SESSION["user_exists"]
-        && !str_ends_with($_SERVER['PHP_SELF'], "/panel/new_account.php")
-    ) {
-        UnityHTTPD::redirect(getURL("panel/new_account.php"));
-    }
+if (isset($USER) && !$USER->exists() && !str_ends_with($_SERVER['PHP_SELF'], "/new_account.php")) {
+    UnityHTTPD::redirect(getURL("panel/new_account.php"));
 }
 
 ?>
@@ -100,30 +92,23 @@
         CONFIG["menuitems"]["labels"][$i] . "</a>\n";
     }
 
-    if (isset($_SESSION["user_exists"]) && $_SESSION["user_exists"]) {
+    if (($_COOKIE["navbar_show_logged_in_user_pages"] ?? "false") === "true") {
         echo "<hr class='navHR'>\n";
-        // Menu Items for Present Users
         echo getHyperlink("Account Settings", "panel/account.php") . "\n";
         echo getHyperlink("My PIs", "panel/groups.php") . "\n";
 
-        if (isset($_SESSION["is_pi"]) && $_SESSION["is_pi"]) {
-            // PI only pages
+        if (($_COOKIE["navbar_show_pi_pages"] ?? "false") === "true") {
             echo getHyperlink("My Users", "panel/pi.php") . "\n";
         }
 
-        // additional branding items
         $num_additional_items = count(CONFIG["menuitems_secure"]["labels"]);
         for ($i = 0; $i < $num_additional_items; $i++) {
             echo "<a target='_blank' href='" . CONFIG["menuitems_secure"]["links"][$i] . "'>" .
             CONFIG["menuitems_secure"]["labels"][$i] . "</a>\n";
         }
 
-        // admin pages
-        if (
-            isset($_SESSION["is_admin"]) && $_SESSION["is_admin"] && !isset($_SESSION["viewUser"])
-        ) {
+        if (($_COOKIE["navbar_show_admin_pages"] ?? "false") === "true") {
             echo "<hr class='navHR'>\n";
-            // Admin only pages
             echo getHyperlink("User Management", "admin/user-mgmt.php") . "\n";
             echo getHyperlink("PI Management", "admin/pi-mgmt.php") . "\n";
         }
@@ -177,11 +162,7 @@
         );
     }
     echo "</div>";
-    if (
-        isset($_SESSION["is_admin"])
-        && $_SESSION["is_admin"]
-        && isset($_SESSION["viewUser"])
-    ) {
+    if (isset($_SESSION["viewUser"])) {
         $viewUser = $_SESSION["viewUser"];
         $CSRFTokenHiddenFormInput = UnityHTTPD::getCSRFTokenHiddenFormInput();
         echo "
diff --git a/resources/templates/home.php b/resources/templates/home.php
index 1af49a8ed..55ce0dafb 100644
--- a/resources/templates/home.php
+++ b/resources/templates/home.php
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
     Welcome to the UnityHPC Platform Account Portal.
     Here you can manage your SSH keys, join and leave PI groups, manage your own PI group, and more.
     <?php
-    if (!($_SESSION["user_exists"] ?? false)) {
+    if (($_COOKIE["navbar_show_logged_in_user_pages"] ?? "false") === "false") {
         $hyperlink = getHyperlink("Log In", "panel/account.php");
         echo "Please $hyperlink for more information.";
     }
diff --git a/test/functional/ViewAsUserTest.php b/test/functional/ViewAsUserTest.php
index 94a794065..6a4a9ec5f 100644
--- a/test/functional/ViewAsUserTest.php
+++ b/test/functional/ViewAsUserTest.php
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ public function _testViewAsUser(string $beforeNickname, string $afterNickname)
         http_get(__DIR__ . "/../../resources/init.php");
         // now we should be new user
         $this->assertEquals($afterUid, $USER->uid);
-        // $this->assertTrue($_SESSION["user_exists"]);
         http_post(__DIR__ . "/../../webroot/panel/account.php", [
             "form_type" => "clearView",
         ]);
diff --git a/test/phpunit-bootstrap.php b/test/phpunit-bootstrap.php
index 0d3b02498..4cdc517f1 100644
--- a/test/phpunit-bootstrap.php
+++ b/test/phpunit-bootstrap.php
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ function http_post(string $phpfile, array $post_data, bool $do_generate_csrf_tok
 {
     global $LDAP, $SQL, $MAILER, $WEBHOOK, $GITHUB, $SITE, $SSO, $USER, $LOC_HEADER, $LOC_FOOTER;
     $_PREVIOUS_SERVER = $_SERVER;
+    $_PREVIOUS_COOKIE = $_COOKIE;
     $_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] = "POST";
     $_SERVER["PHP_SELF"] = _preg_replace("/.*webroot\//", "/", $phpfile);
     $_SERVER["REQUEST_URI"] = _preg_replace("/.*webroot\//", "/", $phpfile); // Slightly imprecise because it doesn't include get parameters
@@ -96,6 +97,7 @@ function http_post(string $phpfile, array $post_data, bool $do_generate_csrf_tok
     } finally {
         unset($_POST);
         $_SERVER = $_PREVIOUS_SERVER;
+        $_COOKIE = $_PREVIOUS_COOKIE;
     }
 }
 
@@ -103,6 +105,7 @@ function http_get(string $phpfile, array $get_data = [], bool $ignore_die = fals
 {
     global $LDAP, $SQL, $MAILER, $WEBHOOK, $GITHUB, $SITE, $SSO, $USER, $LOC_HEADER, $LOC_FOOTER;
     $_PREVIOUS_SERVER = $_SERVER;
+    $_PREVIOUS_COOKIE = $_COOKIE;
     $_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] = "GET";
     $_SERVER["PHP_SELF"] = _preg_replace("/.*webroot\//", "/", $phpfile);
     $_SERVER["REQUEST_URI"] = _preg_replace("/.*webroot\//", "/", $phpfile); // Slightly imprecise because it doesn't include get parameters
@@ -124,6 +127,7 @@ function http_get(string $phpfile, array $get_data = [], bool $ignore_die = fals
     } finally {
         unset($_GET);
         $_SERVER = $_PREVIOUS_SERVER;
+        $_COOKIE = $_PREVIOUS_COOKIE;
     }
 }