AA/18/AS/21/UEPC - Preferred Name Use Policy Resolution

Effective Fall 2022

Resolved: This policy and related procedures will be reviewed by UEPC in the academic year 2022-2023. 

Rationale: 

In an effort to support the mission of this university and to ensure all members of our community are represented in ways they find meaningful, and to show the campus community’s respect for all identities, we wish to enshrine the ability of any student to use and be identified by their preferred name wherever possible on this campus. 

Attached: Preferred Name Policy 

Related Policies and Procedures: Preferred Name Policy

California State University, Stanislaus recognizes that some students may prefer to use a name other than their primary/legal/given name to identify themselves. To accommodate and honor these student preferences, the University has created a preferred name option for student information as it appears in select locations. 

While anyone is welcome to use a preferred given name, there are several groups of people for whom this option is invaluable. This option will allow transgender and non-binary students to use a preferred name on campus prior to or without pursuing a legal change of their primary/legal/given name. In addition, some students are known by a middle name or a nickname and are hard to identify when their primary/legal/given name is used. 

The preferred name shall be used where possible in the course of university business and education. Persistent failure to use a student’s preferred name could result in a complaint of discrimination, harassment, retaliation or unprofessional conduct1. 

A student’s primary/legal/given name will continue to appear on official and unofficial transcripts, and any documentation involving financial aid or student accounts. A student’s primary/legal/given name will continue to be used for any required governmental reporting purposes. 

Students in certain programs (for example, licensure-based degree programs) may be unable to use a preferred name as some campus departments interact with, and send reports to federal, State and other government agencies that verify the identity of students using the primary/legal/given name, in some cases Social Security Number, and other personal identifiable information which prohibits the use of preferred name. 

Students may change their preferred name by logging into their MyCSUStan portal and following the instructions to update their preferred name. The student’s preferred name will be used in the university directory (when permitted), in campus communications, on class rosters, 

on the student’s Warrior Card, and in on-campus reporting. The preferred name will be used whenever possible, except where the use of the primary/legal/given name is required. 

Students who enter names containing inappropriate or obscene language or for those used for the purpose of fraud or academic misconduct will have their names removed at the discretion of a body that will include faculty, staff, and student representation, and reverted to the primary name. 

1 Regarding gender as a protected status: Executive Orders 1096/07 (Title IX) include gender as a protected status. This includes gender identity and gender expression. A persistent misnaming of a student, whose preferred name is associated with their gender identity or expression, could result in a Title IX complaint of discrimination or harassment. 

This language from the Title IX Coordinator might be helpful in developing a better understanding: “If an incident or harassing conduct is based on protected status, the vulnerability of people with protected status, by law, requires a more ‘robust’ process of addressing such conduct. If an incident, harassing conduct, or disrespectful behavior is not based on protected status, we still address the conduct but either through the collective bargaining agreement or education code provisions related to unprofessional conduct.” 

Review History: Approved by the Academic Senate on December 7, 2021

Approved by President Ellen Junn on February 7, 2022

Academic Affairs Division has the primary responsibility for this policy.

Attachment(s): AA/18/AS/21/UEPC Preferred Name Use Policy Resolution  

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