Affirmed/Preferred First Name
Affirmed/Preferred First Name
In 2018 William Paterson University began implementing the use of affirmed/preferred first name, recognizing that individuals use or may prefer to be known by a name other than their legal name.
Students and Employees who wish to use an affirmed/preferred first name may now do so by updating their information in the “My Profile” page in WPconnect. After updating in WPconnect it may take a full business day to propagate to the systems that support the affirmed/preferred first name.
Prospective students may provide an affirmed/preferred first name on the admissions application.
Places Where Affirmed/Preferred First Name is Displayed
- WPconnect
- Email Display Name
- Blackboard
- WPconnect Faculty and Advisor Dashboard including the advisee listing
- Banner Query Pad
- Housing Management System
- Banner 9 Self-Service
- Student ID Cards upon request
- Degreeworks
- Starfish
- CBoard ID Card System
- Campus Labs Engage (student clubs and activities)
Places Where Legal First Name is Used and Displayed
Note: The individual’s legal first name will continue to be used for these records, which include but are not limited to, the following:
- Admissions records
- Paychecks and tax documents
- Official transcripts
- Financial aid records
- Enrollment verifications
- Medical records
- Employment records
- Law enforcement records
- Third party developed or cloud applications where the vendor has not implemented an affirmed/preferred first name solution
The University reserves the right to deny requests in the following circumstances: The name is intended to misrepresent the person’s identity and/or misappropriate the identity of another person or organization; is an attempt to avoid a legal obligation; is derogatory, obscene or otherwise inappropriate. It is important to note that any affirmed/preferred first name deemed inappropriate will result in the denial of the use of a affirmed/preferred name.