Last Updated: May 28, 2024 3:46:37 PM PDT
UC San Diego has implemented a new name policy for students as of Fall Quarter 2023. Students may now enter a lived name, including first, middle and last, and access to student legal name is now restricted. This change is in accordance with the University of California’s Gender Recognition and Lived Name policy.
Lived name shall now be used in all places where legal name is not specifically required including the VAC, WebReg, class rosters, Student Campus ID cards, and in most other systems where you will interact with the university. Legal name will continue to be used for things such as generating bills, within TritonPay, on 1098T documents, on refund checks, and for insurance and financial aid.
Students can enter or change their lived name and review their name settings via the Social Identities Tool. If you are an instructor who would like a lived name to appear in student systems, such as class rosters and in the Schedule of Classes, you may also update your lived name in the Social Identities Tool.
A list of Frequently Asked Questions for students may be found here.
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When should I use a student’s lived name and personal pronouns?
Where is student lived name being used?
The lived name is being used in most student systems, including the VAC, WebReg, on class rosters, on Student Campus ID cards, grade entry systems, Find-a-student, Academic History, campus reports, EASy, Canvas, the TA hiring app, and in most other systems where you will interact with UC San Diego.
Additionally, students can choose whether to have their lived name or legal name appear on their transcripts and diplomas.
Where is legal name be used?
Legal name will continue to be used within credentialing systems as needed, by mail processing services, to generate bills, within TritonPay, on 1098T documents, on refund checks, and for insurance and financial aid. Students may elect to have their legal name still be used on their official transcripts and diplomas even if they have declared a lived name through TritonLink.
How do students input a lived name and personal pronoun?
Can students change their username to better suit their lived name?
Yes. Students should contact the UC San Diego Postmaster with inquiries changing their usernames. However, please bear in mind that changes to username take time to propagate in some university systems.
Does the current Student Information System (ISIS) be updated to use lived name?
Yes. The name field in ISIS has been changed to hold lived name. Legal name is now stored and maintained in a secondary database.
Are students able to enter a lived last name?
Yes. Under the previous implementation of preferred name, students could only enter a first and middle name, but that implementation is being deprecated. Now students can enter a last name as well as first and middle.
Will students be able to enter a mononym?
Yes, students can now us a mononym (e.g., "Aristotle," or "Madonna"). The mononym is functionally stored in the last name field and so will sort correctly in most systems where name is listed.
Are staff and faculty preferred names a part of this roll-out?
Under the University of California’s Gender Recognition and Lived Name policy all people at the university will be able to enter a lived name, and there are parallel initiatives to implement lived name for students, faculty, and all other groups. Unfortunately, the systems for these groups do not yet synchronize and so lived name must be entered separately into each system.
I am instructor and would like to have my lived name displayed in student systems – how do I do this?
If you are an instructor who would like a lived name to appear in student systems, such as class rosters and in the Schedule of Classes, you may update your lived name in the Social Identities Tool. Unfortunately, lived names entered via UC Path are not currently propagated automatically into student systems.
Is there a policy basis for this change?
I have heard usage of the terms “lived name,” “preferred name,” and “affirmed name.” What are the differences in these terms?
On a very basic level these all refer to the same concept: a name that an individual goes by which may be different than that which appears on the individual’s official government documents. UC San Diego implemented what it called a “preferred name” in 2019, which included first and middle name but still displayed the individual's legal last name. The University of California then created a policy which required the UC schools to implement what was referred to as a “lived name” in all systems and restrict access to legal name. Recently California passed AB-760 Public postsecondary education: affirmed name and gender identification, which refers to “affirmed name.” Another term that is sometimes used is “name in use.” For the sake of clarity, we are now using the term “lived name” or simply “name,” with the old terminology of “preferred name” being deprecated.
What if I see a lived name or personal pronoun submission that I feel is inappropriate?
If you see a lived name or personal pronoun that you feel is inappropriate, please contact the Registrar at registrar@ucsd.edu.