St. Cloud State University Policies & Procedures

Preferred and Legal Name Link☍

Create PDF: Preferred and Legal Name

Current Status: Approved

Policy Type: All University

Effective Date: 03/26/2018

Last Updated: 06/03/2024

Applies To: Students, Faculty, Staff

Responsible University Officer: Interim President

Policy Owner: Vice President for University Affairs and Advisor to the President, Registrar

Policy Contact: Office of Records and Registration

Rationale

St. Cloud State University recognizes and supports that members of the campus community may wish to be identified with a preferred name or make changes to their legal name.

Policy

Preferred Name Change

Individuals who have a preference to be identified by a name other than their legal name may opt to request a preferred name. St. Cloud State University (SCSU) will use approved preferred names where technically and legally possible, such as: email account, on-line directory, timecards, class rosters, D2L homepage, commencement programs, and ID card.

Minnesota State and St. Cloud State University reserve the right to deny inappropriate preferred name requests including, but not limited to, those that: attempt to avoid legal obligations, violate other system or SCSU policies, contain inappropriate or offensive language, or are being used for misrepresentation or fraud. Preferred names may not be used for commercial or promotional purposes and thus, may not be a company name, group name or message.

Legal Name Change

Legal name change is a formal legal action via court order taken by an individual to adopt a name different from the name given at birth. Legal name change can be done for any reason, but the most common include adoption, marriage, divorce and gender affirmation.

Name change requests, including the addition or removal of a married name, require appropriate legal documentation. Appropriate legal documentation is one of the following: a court order, marriage certificate, birth certificate or passport. A driver's license, voter registration card, social security card, etc., will not be considered legal documentation for name change request purposes.

International students must contact the Center for International Studies (320-308-4287) within 10 days of the change.

When a student is accepted for admission to St. Cloud State University, the full legal name will be recorded on the permanent record (transcript). At no time will a "nickname” be recorded. The full legal name will be recorded as it appears on their high school or college transcript unless other legal documentation is provided.

If a student is married at the time of admission, any previous legal name supplied by the student will also be recorded on the permanent record. If a student is married after admission, the student's name will be changed on their permanent record at the request of the student with appropriate documentation.

Procedure

Preferred Name Request

To request a preferred name, the requestor must:

If a student: Update through the eServices website. SCSU Office of Records and Registration (AS 118).
If an employee: Complete an electronic ticket using the link to the "Preferred Name Change Request" in the ASK HR electronic ticketing system (see Supporting URLs).

The Director of Human Resources (or designee) will approve or deny employee requests. An approved request will be entered into the system and will remain in effect until the requestor asks that it be changed. The employee will be notified only if a preferred name request is denied. Notification will include the reason for the denial and be sent to the requestor witin ten (10) business days of the receipt of the online request.

When employees or students are associated with more than one Minnesota State institution, the timing of the appearance of the preferred name may vary at each institution based on each institution’s available technical resources.

Preferred Name Appeal

A requestor has ten (10) business days from receipt of the denial notification to file a written appeal to the SCSU Office of Institutional Equity and Access (AS 102).

The Office of Institutional Equity and Access will respond to the requestor with a final decision within ten (10) days of receipt of the appeal. SCSU has the ultimate authority in determining the appropriateness of preferred names and decisions are final.

Legal Name Change

Employees wishing to make a legal name change must complete an electronic ticket using the link to the HR electronic ticketing system "Ask HR"(see Supporting URLs). Select Contact Card Change Request and complete appropriate fields. Requests for name changes may require additional legal documentation.

Students wishing to make a legal name change must complete the Legal Name Change Request Form (See Supporting Documents). The change of name form, along with additional documentation, can be delivered/mailed to:

Office of Records and Registration
St. Cloud State University
720 4th Avenue South

St. Cloud, MN 56301-4498
Fax: (320) 308-2059

Keywords

nickname, nick name

Supporting Documents (Forms, Instructions)

Supporting URLs

Websites, Related External Documents, Statutes

Minnesota State Procedure 1B.1.2 Preferred Name

Preferred Name Change Request - Ask HR

Definitions

Appeal

A request for reconsideration of a decision made at St. Cloud State University pursuant to university, or Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees policies and procedures.

Employee

Any individual employed by Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, its colleges and universities and the system office, including but not limited to all faculty, staff, administrators, teaching assistants, graduate assistants, residence directors and student employees.

Student

All Persons or group of persons who:

Are enrolled in one or more courses, either credit or non-credit, through a college or university; or
Withdraw, transfer, or graduate after an alleged violation of the code of student conduct; or
Are not officially enrolled for a particular term but who have a continuing relationship with the college or university; or
Have been notified of their acceptance for admission or have initiated the process of application for admission or financial aid; or
Are not college or university employees and are not enrolled in the institution but live in a college or university owned or controlled residence hall.

Active Student:

Criteria 1:

A degree-seeking student who has completed the enrollment process and has been admitted into the University, an undergraduate major or a graduate program of study; or
A degree-seeking student who has completed the enrollment process and has not yet been admitted into the University, and undergraduate major or a graduate program of study; or
A student seeking a graduate certificate

Criteria 2:

The student must have registered into and successfully completed at least one credit in a semester in the previous two years.

A student who fulfills Criteria 1, will cease to be an active student at the University if they do not register for and successfully complete at least one credit in a semester within two years, will be administratively removed from the University and be categorized as inactive.

The credits that the student accumulates as an active student will not expire upon becoming an inactive student, unless the student has been admitted to a graduate program, refer to the Graduate Student Handbook for the program completion timeframe guidelines.

Graduate Studies at SCSU has procedures for an admitted student to request a leave or absence, please see the Graduate Student Handbook for information on that process.

An inactive student intending to return to the University will not have to reapply for admission to the University, but will need to reapply for admission into a current program of study.

Contacts

Responsible University Officer Dietz, Larry H. Interim President	larry.dietz@stcloudstate.edu --
Owner Siminoe, Judith P. Vice President for University Affairs and Advisor to the President	jpsiminoe@stcloudstate.edu 320-308-2124
Owner Zamlen, Brenda L. Registrar	bzamlen@stcloudstate.edu 320-308-4938
Contact Bost, Jessica	jessi.bost@stcloudstate.edu 320-308-3920
Contact Longstrom, Theresa J. Office of Records and Registration	tjlongstrom@stcloudstate.edu 320-308-4036

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Non-St. Cloud State Users: Email comments to policy@stcloudstate.edu