Jump to Footer

Chosen Name Policy


SUNY Plattsburgh recognizes the needs of students and employees who wish to be identified by a first name that differs from their legal name.  

Policy Information


Policy Number Policy Owner
2003.2 Title IX

 

  • 4.0 Policy

    The SUNY Plattsburgh chosen name and personal pronoun policy allows students and employees to officially notify the college of their chosen names and personal pronouns, and have this change reflected in on-campus communication systems, as long as the chosen name is not used for purposes of misidentification, fraud or misrepresentation and that the chosen name meets community standards (i.e. not profane, obscene, or derived from hate-speech; and conform to technical requirements). There are limits to where chosen names will be reflected in college communications.

    This policy is consistent with current Title IX federal law protecting students against discrimination based on gender identity and expression, and is a best practice for supporting transgender and gender non-conforming members of college communities. This service is not limited to use by transgender and gender non-conforming students and employees, however, and is available to anyone who uses a chosen name other than their legal/primary first name on a daily basis. The chosen name is used for internal communication and certain external communications (i.e. website staff bio pages, sports information). Internal applications for the use of approved chosen name include but may not be limited to: class rosters (including Moodle), Zoom, grade roster, campus directories, time and attendance records, advising lists, housing lists, identification cards and email display names. Cardinal Cards (employee/student identification cards) will display both legal and chosen names. The College is obligated to use the legal first name for many official records and reports, including but not limited to: certain employment and payroll records, billing records, financial aid documents, official transcripts, medical records, employee benefits records, expense reimbursements, travel and purchasing authorizations, enrollment reporting, conduct hearing results, external reporting and federal immigration documents. Requests for use of chosen name shall be limited to one request per academic year.

    Additionally, personal pronouns will appear on Banner (class rosters), Zoom, Moodle,and Cardinal Star.

For additional information about this policy, please contact the policy owner listed above.

Back to top