Through the combined efforts of several campus offices, a pilot program has been launched to allow students to use their preferred names in many more settings than are currently available, including class rosters, University emails and diplomas.

Though the idea had been considered for many years, the project was only able to gain traction within the last year after Coordinators of Student Involvement and Leadership Christine Dolan and Anna Warbelow proposed it.

Currently only available to some students who have previously noted a preferred name, the new program is intended for students who go by names different than their given first names, including but not limited to international, transgender and gender-nonconforming students.

“We thought if we all agreed that people should be able to use a preferred name, why shouldn’t there just be a button you can hit?” Warbelow said.

Warbelow and Dolan noted that the process was much more complex than they had initially imagined, which is what made the project so difficult to complete.

“There’s so much about student information systems. The way I always think about it is the mother ship where all of the data is…stored in this big spreadsheet in the sky, and it’s usually pulling from that system, but a lot of times they’re pulling from other systems,” Dolan said. “So [we have to consider] how…we manage all of these different spreadsheets.”

Warbelow added that the process was also complex because of the difficulty in providing for precise student need.

“It’s not as easy as saying that every student who has a preferred name would want it used in these places…we wish that could be customizable, but it’s not possible, so we talked with students to figure out what we can do that would be the best for as many students as possible,” she said.

Warbelow and Dolan noted that students have different needs for an alternative name system. Those with nicknames have different preferences for when and where their preferred names should be used than international students, who also have different preferences than transgender or gender-nonconforming students, who additionally may need to avoid mistaken outing.

“These different populations don’t necessarily have the same needs. We looked at how…[to] empower students to take on names that they want…that’s going to affirm their identity and not compromise that,” Dolan said. “While sometimes there are overlapping needs, at the same time they are very different in terms of when to encourage students to take on a name that might be very empowering but in other circumstances would almost be disempowering.”

The project steering committee was concerned with making sure that students who use preferred names do so out of their own desire, especially international students. WebSTAC already includes a box available to all students to clarify pronunciation of given names for students who do not wish to use other names.

“[We] came up with a way that students could put in a way to pronounce their name to help faculty and staff advisors work with international students and just help them say the name that that student uses in their country,” University Registrar Sue Hosack said. “We don’t want to force those students to use Anglicized names; if they want to use the names of their home country, we need to learn how to say those names.”

According to Hosack, about 1,500 students were initially included in the preferred name pilot, and she has largely received positive responses from participants and faculty. The program is set to open to all students by mid-March, which will enable any student to change his or her preferred name, as well as simplify the process for incoming freshmen.

A few concerns have been raised that Hosack says will be addressed before the program goes live, including how students might acquire new student IDs with their preferred names. In general, however, student responses have been positive overall.

“I think the policy change is positive in many respects, especially for international and trans students. With this policy change, it is also important for individuals, especially professors, to make the utmost effort to pronounce ‘difficult’ names to prevent the erasure of identity,” junior Andrew Yu said.

Sophomore Annie Brinza was happy to be included in the pilot program, as it made classes much simpler.

“I think it makes sense for people and I like it. It’s really nice because I don’t refer to myself or think of myself as ‘Annmarie.’ I don’t have to write Annmarie on my assignments anymore because professors are looking for ‘Annie’ now,” Brinza said. “It’ll be really helpful for international or transitioning students, but it’s nice for run-of-the-mill-nicknamed people like me, too.”

Vice Chancellor for Students Sharon Stahl, who co-funded the project with the Office of the Provost, noted that the policy change will be an important change for all students.

“It’s for the entire community. Not just international students, not just [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] students, but all of the community, so that faculty members can call you by the name you prefer. It’s kind of important, especially because we want to know you ‘by name and story,’” Stahl said.