Lived Names
Students can designate a lived name on the “My Profile” tab in the student portal. A lived name is the name you would like most people to see in electronic systems. Your lived name can be a nickname, a form of your legal name, or a completely different name.
University policy respects students’ desire to be known by their lived name. Subject to the limitations below, and to the extent possible, electronic systems will display students’ lived names only. For examples, rosters of students in courses that are produced from the Student Information System (SIS) or displayed to faculty in their SIS faculty portal will show lived names only.
While the SIS will maintain legal names, only staff who have been approved to view legal names will have access to legal names. However, the university may continue to use legal names where required by law, industry practice, or legitimate business needs. Use of legal names may be required for documents that include a Social Security number and for transactions and activities relating to:
- Admissions
- Background checks
- Billing and collection
- Clinical placements and credentialing
- Financial aid
- Immigration
- Medical identification and records
- Payroll
- Professional licensing
- Taxes and tax reporting
Additional transaction types and activities may exist for which use of legal name is required.
In practice, some staff in each academic program may have access to legal names for transcript verification during admissions or to assist with licensing or credentialing. The university has requested that all staff who handle student records undergo training on proper handling of legal and lived names. In addition, in the clinical environment, use of legal names may be required.
Systems that receive data from the SIS will receive legal names only if they meet the criteria described above to receive legal names. Otherwise, they will receive lived names only. For example, students’ lived names will appear in the Collaborative Learning Environment (Moodle). And students can designate a lived name for their photo ID badge.
For each official transcript and enrollment verification, the student portal will allow students to choose whether their lived name or their legal name should appear on the document. Prior to graduation, the Office of the Registrar will ask students to specify which name they would like to appear on their diploma (including the exact format, such as omitting a middle name or using a middle initial instead of a full middle name).
When students update their legal name in the student portal, the changes normally propagate to other systems in one to two business days. Use this form to request a change to an e-mail address. (Wait to submit this form for at least one business day after updating the student portal.)
Students who are also employees will need to update their lived name in the UC Path system as well, as student and employee records will remain separate.
Alumni can specify a lived name in their record. Alumni also can request a diploma in a lived name. The standard $50 reissue fee applies for new diplomas.