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Gender, Pronouns, and Chosen Name

According to the Ursinus Values Statement, “The Ursinus Community, in its commitment to help its members lead creative and productive lives in a diverse world, provides for a diverse community in which all members are respected, included, supported and treated equitably.” 

As part of our ongoing movement toward that goal, the college is in the process of updating information systems to better reflect the chosen names, pronouns, and gender identities of our community members. This page provides an update on the progress of these efforts.


Students’ names have been updated in Self-Service and Canvas to reflect choices they indicated during the admission process.

Students, faculty and staff* may now edit their pronouns, chosen name, and gender identity within Self-Service. This link provides quick access to update your profile: Self-Service Link.**

*While not all staff have information present within Self-Service, those who do will be able to make changes here as well. Changes within Human Resources are a separate matter.

**Please note: These changes will not change your legal information.


What Changes?

A change in Self-Service will be reflected in the following systems and products:

  • Canvas - Class lists, course schedules, etc.
  • Dining Services 
  • ID Card System - IDs will be reprinted with new photos if desired, free of charge (please bring your old ID with you to Tech Support).

Please note that changes will NOT be reflected in student financial services.

Why?

Our goal is to affirm the identities of all community members and create a more welcoming, inclusive, and educationally rich environment.

Next Steps

This is an ongoing and, as of yet, an incomplete process. Arriving at this point has required extensive work on the part of the LIT staff, and significant collaboration with Academic Affairs, the Institute for Inclusion and Equity, and students.

Work continues on a subsequent phase of changes to update names, gender identities, and pronouns, where applicable, to the following systems:

  • Ursinus Email Display Name
  • Zoom (through Ursinus)
  • Qualtrics
  • Student Pay for Print

A Community Effort

Our work to make our systems more inclusive will go hand in hand with education. Over the coming months, we will be sharing suggestions for name, pronoun, and gender identity use with multiple offices on campus. Together, we aim to contribute to the larger goal of normalizing diversity by providing resources, information, and education.

We are very grateful to students, faculty, staff and administration for their engagement with these efforts and are eager to solicit feedback going forward.

Please contact the Office of Academic affairs (doffice@ursinus.edu), The Instute for Inclusion and Equity (instituteforinclusionandequity@ursinus.edu), or tech support (techsupport@ursinus.edu) with any questions.

Questions?

Students who have questions about editing names, pronouns, or gender identity should contact the Institute for Inclusion and Equity

Faculty who have questions should contact the Office of Acadmic Affairs.