Tufts Technology Services looks to publicize, clarify preferred name-change process online

Tufts announced that students on all campuses can change their name in various online Tufts systems, such as Student Information System (SIS) and Trunk, according to a Jumbo Digest email sent out Feb. 26.

Students can change their preferred name for most online systems through SIS, which also updates class rosters, according to the Tufts Technology Services (TTS) website. This process does not alter official records, financial documents or diploma records.

According to Hope Denese Freeman, the director at the LGBT Center, this change is important for many students who use names that are different from their legal names.

“These names are names that students are typically best known by, and when students know that Tufts University supports them in using those names, it creates a culture of respect that often occurs in daily interactions here at Tufts," Freeman told the Daily in an email. "This new system would allow students the autonomy to update their own information (preferred names and pronouns) into the electronic systems so that it correlates with their records”

According to Parker Breza, Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate's LGBTQ community senator, and Michael McNulty, senior service management analyst for TTS, the change was initiated by a TCU Senate resolution passed in the fall of 2015.

The option for students to change their name on SIS and Trunk to a preferred name was officially introduced in January 2016, and it was also made available for professors on class rosters. McNulty noted that adding this capability was a complicated process.

“Tufts has many applications , and there are many, many systems that have identity information," McNulty said. "Unfortunately, all of those systems are not well-integrated, meaning when you make a change in one it does not propagate to all the other ones.”

Over the summer, after receiving feedback about points of confusion, TTS published an instruction sheet to help make the process of changing a preferred name easier, McNulty explained.

The university is currently working on a preferred name change policy that it hopes to publish by the end of the semester. It will cover the different limitations and regulations for changing one’s name, according to McNulty.

“For the most part, any student can elect to choose a preferred name," he said. "Nobody will question why you chose it, with a caveat: you can’t choose vulgar names, you can’t be using it to misrepresent yourself, or to hide from something."

According to Breza and McNulty, the ability to change to a preferred name is available for all students associated with Tufts. McNulty added that it is not currently an option for faculty, but that it could be a future consideration.

“We wanted to make sure that we are doing this for all students, that it's something that can be done on all four campuses, and for any of the schools and any of the programs” McNulty said.

According to Breza and McNulty, the work on preferred names is an ongoing project that is still open to changes.

"We will be constantly looking at improvements and enhancements to the system," McNulty said. "Some of the future enhancements we are looking to do are to have it be more self-service and more anonymized."

Freeman explained that the ability to change preferred names will have a positive effect on Tufts students, staff and faculty.

"The LGBT Center supports this initiative, as there are many students at Tufts who are transgender and/or non-binary and can ultimately feel more respected and affirmed when their preferred names and pronouns are utilized in their daily interactions," Freeman said.

McNulty agreed that the goal was to make the process sensitive to students' needs and concerns.

"The purpose of this is to give students agency over their own identity," McNulty said. "We really wanted to make sure that ... at the end of it, we give people a sense of security that what they’re doing is okay, and we’re not going to question it or judge it."

Breza, who sponsored the initial TCU Senate resolution, said that he is looking to publicize the name-change process to students.

"I think that this will be important for trans students, people who change their name legally for a variety of other reasons, and for international students who might use a different name in the U.S.," Breza told the Daily in an email. "It’s not a new change, and we’re now trying to make sure that people know about it."