In 2011, UC Santa Cruz became the first campus in the University of California (UC) system, and one of the first in the nation, to enable students to have a preferred name, a self-chosen and/or preferred professional name used instead of a legal name, on student records. There are many reasons why people change their names. In the LGBTQIA+ community, for example, a new name is often chosen to align with gender identity. Our campus continues to be a leader in this area, going beyond mandated compliance to ensure the protection of all community members.
In November 2020, UC announced a systemwide Gender Recognition and Lived Name (GRLN) Policy to ensure all students, faculty, staff, alumni and affiliates are identified by their desired gender identity and lived or preferred name on university-issued documents and in UC’s information systems. While UCSC has been in compliance with the spirit of the new policy since 2011 for students, the deadline for full compliance with the policy is December 31, 2023. MyUCSC will be in full compliance at the end of January 2024, with other downstream student systems following closely.
The policy requires UC campuses, medical centers and research facilities to:
- Provide three equally recognized gender options on university-issued documents and information systems — female, male and non-binary.
- Provide an efficient process for students and employees to amend their gender designations and lived names on university-issued documents and in information systems retroactively.
- Secure the legal name of university students, employees, alumni and affiliates if different than the individual’s lived name. The person’s legal name must be kept confidential and must not be published or displayed in IT Resource systems where it is not required.
In compliance with the UC policy, there will be some changes to the current UCSC Preferred Name process which the campus will communicate in the new year. However, students with access to MyUCSC can continue to make changes to their lived/preferred name in MyUCSC, which will be converted to Lived Name at the end of January. UC employees may indicate lived names and gender designation now in UCPath, with the ability to designate pronouns in UCPath by June 30, 2024.
Over the next few months, you will receive more in-depth information about changes to the current Lived/Preferred Name process to comply with all aspects of the GRLN Policy for our students, faculty, and staff.
We encourage you to learn more about gender recognition and lived names. The UC Learning Center offers an online course titled UC Gender Recognition focusing on transgender, nonbinary and intersex awareness.
You can find more information on the Gender Recognition and Lived Name Policy on the Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion website. If you have questions about the policy, please email grln@ucsc.edu.
Over the next few months, you will receive more in-depth information about changes to the current Lived/Preferred Name process to comply with all aspects of the GRLN Policy for our students, faculty, and staff.
We encourage you to learn more about gender recognition and lived names. The UC Learning Center offers an online course titled UC Gender Recognition focusing on transgender, nonbinary and intersex awareness.
You can find more information on the Gender Recognition and Lived Name Policy on the Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion website. If you have questions about the policy, please email grln@ucsc.edu.
