Records & Registrar
Preferred Name & Gender Marker Policy
A student’s chosen first name can appear on class rosters, ID cards and email display names without a legal name change — here is where the legal name still has to stay.
What a preferred name changes
A preferred first name, set through the student portal, appears on class rosters, the campus directory, the Porter Card, email display name, and Canvas — everywhere a faculty member or classmate would ordinarily see a name in the course of daily business. It takes effect within one business day of being submitted, well before most students would meet a new instructor for the first time.
What legally has to stay the same
A diploma, transcript, financial aid documents, and anything reported to the federal government (enrollment verification, tax forms) must carry the legal name on file, because those are legal records governed by rules outside the university’s control. A legal name change (through court order or updated government ID) is a separate process through the registrar, not the preferred-name form.
Gender marker options
The student information system offers male, female, and an unspecified/X option for gender marker, independent of the legal sex marker on file for federal reporting purposes where one is legally required (like Title IX aggregate reporting). Updating it does not require documentation and takes effect the same way a preferred name does.
If something did not update everywhere
A few third-party systems (some proctoring software, some external testing services) pull directly from the legal-name field regardless of a preferred name on file — if a name appears wrong somewhere unexpected, the registrar can usually explain why and whether it is fixable.