Preferred Name

Effective Date: 9/7/2018
Issuing Authority: Office of the Provost

DISCLOSURE OF STATEMENT OF INTENT

It is the practice of Drexel University that any student, faculty, or professional staff may choose to be identified within the University Community with a preferred first name which may differ from the individual’s legal first name.

Drexel University reserves the right to deny or remove any preferred first name for any reason, including but not limited to misuse, misrepresentation, attempting to avoid legal obligation, or the use of offensive names, with or without notice.

PROCESS

Students, faculty, and professional staff who wish to register a preferred first name can initiate and manage the process via Drexel University’s web portal (DrexelOne). The individual’s preferred first name will appear instead of or in addition to the person’s legal first name in university-related systems and documents where it is technically feasible and where the use of the legal first name is not required or necessary for an identified university business or legal need.

RELATED POLICY

Under the Drexel University’s Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) policy, a student’s preferred first and legal first name are both identified, along with other items, as directory information and may be disclosed to the public without the student’s consent unless the student opts not to permit such disclosure. A student may however revoke the disclosure of directory information; to exercise the option of restricting access, please refer to Right to Consent to Disclosure of Education Records via the FERPA policy website.

OTHER INFO

For more information regarding preferred first name for students, refer to this page.