diff --git a/resources/lib/UnityGroup.php b/resources/lib/UnityGroup.php
index d1616225..d3a892d3 100644
--- a/resources/lib/UnityGroup.php
+++ b/resources/lib/UnityGroup.php
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 namespace UnityWebPortal\lib;
 
 use Exception;
+use PHPOpenLDAPer\LdapEntry;
 
 /**
  * Class that represents a single PI group in the Unity Cluster.
@@ -64,7 +65,7 @@ public function getPIUID()
      */
     public function exists()
     {
-        return $this->getLDAPPiGroup()->exists();
+        return $this->GetLDAPEntry()->exists();
     }
 
     //
@@ -216,7 +217,7 @@ public function removeGroup($send_mail = true)
         $users = $this->getGroupMembers();
 
         // now we delete the ldap entry
-        $ldapPiGroupEntry = $this->getLDAPPiGroup();
+        $ldapPiGroupEntry = $this->GetLDAPEntry();
         if ($ldapPiGroupEntry->exists()) {
             if (!$ldapPiGroupEntry->delete()) {
                 throw new Exception("Unable to delete PI ldap group");
@@ -409,49 +410,27 @@ public function getRequests()
 
     public function getGroupMembers($ignorecache = false)
     {
-        if (!$ignorecache) {
-            $cached_val = $this->REDIS->getCache($this->getPIUID(), "members");
-            if (!is_null($cached_val)) {
-                $members = $cached_val;
-            }
-        }
-
-        $updatecache = false;
-        if (!isset($members)) {
-            $pi_group = $this->getLDAPPiGroup();
-            $members = $pi_group->getAttribute("memberuid");
-            $updatecache = true;
-        }
-
+        $memberuids = $this->getGroupMemberUIDs($ignorecache);
         $out = array();
-        $cache_arr = array();
-        $owner_uid = $this->getOwner()->getUID();
-        foreach ($members as $member) {
-                $user_obj = new UnityUser(
-                    $member,
-                    $this->LDAP,
-                    $this->SQL,
-                    $this->MAILER,
-                    $this->REDIS,
-                    $this->WEBHOOK
-                );
-                array_push($out, $user_obj);
-                array_push($cache_arr, $user_obj->getUID());
+        foreach ($memberuids as $uid) {
+            $user_obj = new UnityUser($uid, $this->LDAP, $this->SQL, $this->MAILER, $this->REDIS, $this->WEBHOOK);
+            array_push($out, $user_obj);
         }
-
-        if (!$ignorecache && $updatecache) {
-            sort($cache_arr);
-            $this->REDIS->setCache($this->getPIUID(), "members", $cache_arr);
-        }
-
         return $out;
     }
 
-    public function getGroupMemberUIDs()
+    public function getGroupMemberUIDs($ignorecache = false): array
     {
-        $pi_group = $this->getLDAPPiGroup();
-        $members = $pi_group->getAttribute("memberuid");
-
+        if (!$ignorecache) {
+            $cached_val = $this->REDIS->getCache($this->getPIUID(), "members");
+            if (!is_null($cached_val)) {
+                return $cached_val;
+            }
+        }
+        $entry = $this->getLDAPEntry();
+        $members = $entry->getAttribute("memberuid") ?? [];
+        sort($members);
+        $this->REDIS->setCache($this->getPIUID(), "members", $members);
         return $members;
     }
 
@@ -479,7 +458,7 @@ private function init()
         $owner = $this->getOwner();
 
         // (1) Create LDAP PI group
-        $ldapPiGroupEntry = $this->getLDAPPiGroup();
+        $ldapPiGroupEntry = $this->GetLDAPEntry();
 
         if (!$ldapPiGroupEntry->exists()) {
             $nextGID = $this->LDAP->getNextPiGIDNumber($this->SQL);
@@ -501,7 +480,7 @@ private function init()
     private function addUserToGroup($new_user)
     {
         // Add to LDAP Group
-        $pi_group = $this->getLDAPPiGroup();
+        $pi_group = $this->GetLDAPEntry();
         $pi_group->appendAttribute("memberuid", $new_user->getUID());
 
         if (!$pi_group->write()) {
@@ -515,7 +494,7 @@ private function addUserToGroup($new_user)
     private function removeUserFromGroup($old_user)
     {
         // Remove from LDAP Group
-        $pi_group = $this->getLDAPPiGroup();
+        $pi_group = $this->GetLDAPEntry();
         $pi_group->removeAttributeEntryByValue("memberuid", $old_user->getUID());
 
         if (!$pi_group->write()) {
@@ -526,9 +505,10 @@ private function removeUserFromGroup($old_user)
         $this->REDIS->removeCacheArray($old_user->getUID(), "groups", $this->getPIUID());
     }
 
-    public function userExists($user)
+    public function userExists(UnityUser $user, $ignorecache = false): bool
     {
-        return in_array($user->getUID(), $this->getGroupMemberUIDs());
+        $members = $this->getGroupMemberUIDs($ignorecache);
+        return in_array($user->getUID(), $members);
     }
 
     private function addRequest($uid)
@@ -557,7 +537,7 @@ public function getOwner()
         );
     }
 
-    public function getLDAPPiGroup()
+    public function getLDAPEntry(): LdapEntry
     {
         return $this->LDAP->getPIGroupEntry($this->pi_uid);
     }
diff --git a/resources/lib/UnityOrg.php b/resources/lib/UnityOrg.php
index 03f85818..5bc0fe0e 100644
--- a/resources/lib/UnityOrg.php
+++ b/resources/lib/UnityOrg.php
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 namespace UnityWebPortal\lib;
 
 use Exception;
+use PHPOpenLDAPer\LdapEntry;
 
 class UnityOrg
 {
@@ -27,15 +28,15 @@ public function __construct($orgid, $LDAP, $SQL, $MAILER, $REDIS, $WEBHOOK)
 
     public function init()
     {
-        $org_group = $this->getLDAPOrgGroup();
+        $entry = $this->getLDAPEntry();
 
-        if (!$org_group->exists()) {
+        if (!$entry->exists()) {
             $nextGID = $this->LDAP->getNextOrgGIDNumber($this->SQL);
 
-            $org_group->setAttribute("objectclass", UnityLDAP::POSIX_GROUP_CLASS);
-            $org_group->setAttribute("gidnumber", strval($nextGID));
+            $entry->setAttribute("objectclass", UnityLDAP::POSIX_GROUP_CLASS);
+            $entry->setAttribute("gidnumber", strval($nextGID));
 
-            if (!$org_group->write()) {
+            if (!$entry->write()) {
                 throw new Exception("Failed to create POSIX group for " . $this->orgid);  // this shouldn't execute
             }
         }
@@ -45,10 +46,10 @@ public function init()
 
     public function exists()
     {
-        return $this->getLDAPOrgGroup()->exists();
+        return $this->getLDAPEntry()->exists();
     }
 
-    public function getLDAPOrgGroup()
+    public function getLDAPEntry(): LdapEntry
     {
         return $this->LDAP->getOrgGroupEntry($this->orgid);
     }
@@ -58,51 +59,44 @@ public function getOrgID()
         return $this->orgid;
     }
 
-    public function inOrg($user)
+    public function userExists(UnityUser $user, $ignorecache = false): bool
     {
-        $org_group = $this->getLDAPOrgGroup();
-        $members = $org_group->getAttribute("memberuid");
-        return in_array($user, $members);
+        $members = $this->getOrgMemberUIDs($ignorecache);
+        return in_array($user->getUID(), $members);
     }
 
-    public function getOrgMembers($ignorecache = false)
+    public function getOrgMemberUIDs($ignorecache = false): array
     {
         if (!$ignorecache) {
             $cached_val = $this->REDIS->getCache($this->getOrgID(), "members");
             if (!is_null($cached_val)) {
-                $members = $cached_val;
+                return $cached_val;
             }
         }
+        $entry = $this->getLDAPEntry();
+        $members = $entry->getAttribute("memberuid") ?? [];
+        sort($members);
+        $this->REDIS->setCache($this->getOrgID(), "members", $members);
+        return $members;
+    }
 
-        $updatecache = false;
-        if (!isset($members)) {
-            $org_group = $this->getLDAPOrgGroup();
-            $members = $org_group->getAttribute("memberuid");
-            $updatecache = true;
-        }
-
+    public function getOrgMembers($ignorecache = false)
+    {
+        $memberuids = $this->getOrgMemberUIDs($ignorecache);
         $out = array();
-        $cache_arr = array();
-        foreach ($members as $member) {
-            $user_obj = new UnityUser($member, $this->LDAP, $this->SQL, $this->MAILER, $this->REDIS, $this->WEBHOOK);
+        foreach ($memberuids as $uid) {
+            $user_obj = new UnityUser($uid, $this->LDAP, $this->SQL, $this->MAILER, $this->REDIS, $this->WEBHOOK);
             array_push($out, $user_obj);
-            array_push($cache_arr, $user_obj->getUID());
-        }
-
-        if (!$ignorecache && $updatecache) {
-            sort($cache_arr);
-            $this->REDIS->setCache($this->getOrgID(), "members", $cache_arr);
         }
-
         return $out;
     }
 
     public function addUser($user)
     {
-        $org_group = $this->getLDAPOrgGroup();
-        $org_group->appendAttribute("memberuid", $user->getUID());
+        $entry = $this->getLDAPEntry();
+        $entry->appendAttribute("memberuid", $user->getUID());
 
-        if (!$org_group->write()) {
+        if (!$entry->write()) {
             throw new Exception("Unable to write to org group");
         }
 
@@ -111,10 +105,10 @@ public function addUser($user)
 
     public function removeUser($user)
     {
-        $org_group = $this->getLDAPOrgGroup();
-        $org_group->removeAttributeEntryByValue("memberuid", $user->getUID());
+        $entry = $this->getLDAPEntry();
+        $entry->removeAttributeEntryByValue("memberuid", $user->getUID());
 
-        if (!$org_group->write()) {
+        if (!$entry->write()) {
             throw new Exception("Unable to write to org group");
         }
 
diff --git a/resources/lib/UnityUser.php b/resources/lib/UnityUser.php
index 4f88eac6..9d3a114c 100644
--- a/resources/lib/UnityUser.php
+++ b/resources/lib/UnityUser.php
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ public function init($send_mail = true)
             $orgEntry->init();
         }
 
-        if (!$orgEntry->inOrg($this->uid)) {
+        if (!$orgEntry->userExists($this)) {
             $orgEntry->addUser($this);
         }
 
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ public function init($send_mail = true)
      *
      * @return ldapEntry posix account
      */
-    public function getLDAPUser()
+    public function getLDAPUser(): LdapEntry
     {
         return $this->LDAP->getUserEntry($this->uid);
     }
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ public function getLDAPUser()
      *
      * @return ldapEntry posix group
      */
-    public function getLDAPGroup()
+    public function getLDAPGroup(): LdapEntry
     {
         return $this->LDAP->getGroupEntry($this->uid);
     }
@@ -562,6 +562,7 @@ public function getHomeDir($ignorecache = false)
     public function isAdmin()
     {
         $admins = $this->LDAP->getAdminGroup()->getAttribute("memberuid");
+        $admins = (is_null($admins) ? [] : $admins);
         return in_array($this->uid, $admins);
     }