Office of the Registrar

Student Resources

Chosen Name For Students

Display of chosen name

The primary goal of the chosen name policy is to provide a consistent chosen name experience across university systems. Students may choose a first and middle name other than their legal name to identify themselves at Missouri State. Historical notes in systems will not be updated to reflect chosen name changes. More University systems will be reviewed for use of chosen name when technically feasible and where legal name is not required.

Students can provide their chosen first and middle names in the "Chosen Name" link in the "Personal Information" card in My Missouri State.

Where legal name must remain

Legal name is used where required by university business processes, federal or state codes and regulations or where use of chosen name is not technically feasible. Legal name will remain in:

Magers Health and Wellness Center
Financial Aid systems and forms
International Services systems and forms (SEVIS)
Employment, payroll and benefit documentation, web pages and forms
External clinical placements
Licensing certification agencies

Students may use the Change of Student Information form to update their legal name.

Additional information

Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a student’s name, including chosen name, may be disclosed to the public as directory information unless the student opts not to permit such disclosure (i.e., FERPA Hold). To revoke the disclosure of directory information or learn more about FERPA, visit the FERPA website.

Frequently asked questions

General

A chosen name is a first name (and, optionally, a middle name) that you may prefer to be called. It is different from your legal first name.
No, you do not have to enter a chosen name. This service is for people who wish to be known by something other than their legal name. If you regularly use your legal name then you do not need to enter a chosen name.
Students can provide their chosen first and middle names in the "Chosen Name" link in the "Personal Information" card in My Missouri State. To provide a new or different chosen name, select "Enter new Chosen Name." To remove your chosen name and revert to using your legal name, choose No longer use a Chosen Name, revert to Legal Name.
Yes, you will be able to review your chosen name in different formats before saving. This is available in the Preview section on the Chosen Name entry page.
No, your last name will continue to be your legal last name. Only a chosen name for first and middle may be provided.
Your chosen name will be used in cases where legal name is not absolutely necessary. The University’s phased implementation of the chosen name policy began in spring 2017 and will be applied to additional systems and pages over time. In some cases your chosen name may appear alongside your legal name. This is to ensure that implementation provides for a consistent name experience across University systems and that the use of your chosen name is everywhere, except when technically unfeasible and/or legally necessary.

Some examples of when your legal name is necessary include, but may not be limited to, financial aid documents, payroll and employment documents, and federal immigration documents. In some cases when you provide a chosen name, it may be necessary to clarify that your chosen name is different than your legal name. Examples of this include, but are not limited to, official interactions with police, University security, and/or other law enforcement officials, and verification of medical records.
If you encounter a chosen name you deem inappropriate, report it to the Office of the Registrar or the Office of Human Resources. The chosen name will be evaluated for misuse, misrepresentation, legal obligation avoidance or offensiveness. Acceptance or removal of reported chosen names will be given careful consideration in all instances.
University systems that read data directly from the University's information system will display the chosen name immediately. An example is the Class List web page. It will display the student's and the instructor's chosen names immediately. Third party systems, such as Brightspace, may take up to 24 hours to display chosen name because a job process must run to feed the data to the system. Each third party system and data feed is different.
There is no limit to how many times or how often you change your chosen name. However, some systems may take up to 24 hours to display your chosen name.
You are free to determine the chosen first and middle name you want to be known by in the University’s information system.

The University reserves the right to deny or remove any chosen 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.

If you are a student, be advised that the chosen name will be used in class by your instructor to take attendance and communicate with you in front of other students, faculty and staff. This is the name you will be known as at Missouri State University.

In addition, there are certain limitations on the use of special characters because of how they may affect the student information system database and subsequent third party systems receiving the chosen name. The special characters that are not allowed are asterisk (*), exclamation point (!), at symbol (@), hash or number sign (#), dollar sign ($), percent sign (%), ampersand (&), underscore (_), double quote (“), colon (:) and semicolon (;).
Students, faculty and staff with an active BearPass Login may indicate a chosen name in My Missouri State.
You may remove your chosen name and revert to using your legal name by going to the "Chosen Name" link in the "Personal Information" card in My Missouri State.
Students can contact the Office of the Registrar. Employees can contact the Office of Human Resources.

Student

The University uses several different types of class lists. Once you provide your chosen name, it will display immediately on your instructor’s class list (version used for email and Excel options) that is accessible on My Missouri State.
Yes, the chosen name is directory information and may be used instead of legal name, in such cases that include, but are not limited to mailings that go to a physical or email address that you share with parents/guardians and other family members, and University announcements to hometown newspapers regarding Dean’s List and degree candidacy.
Yes, you may obtain a reissue of your diploma at a cost of $20.00 per diploma. You may update your chosen name in My Missouri State. If your login password has expired read How to Change Your Password to update it. You may then follow the instructions to submit a reissued diploma/certificate request with your chosen name on it. Students without a My Missouri State account can contact the Office of the Registrar.
United States Immigration law requires that your legal name (i.e. passport name) be listed on all official U.S. government-issued/maintained documents and websites. Therefore, only changes to your passport name can legally change documents/websites such as SEVIS (and the SEVIS I-20 Form), I-94, and I-9. The identification information indicated on your legal passport is considered to be your official legal identification information.
Yes, for a $25.00 fee, you may request a new BearPass card with your chosen name printed on the card at the BearPass Card Office.
You can request a different email address at

Account Management | Request a different e-mail address (missouristate.edu).

Employee

Legal name is used where required by University or vendor business processes and/or federal or state codes and regulations.
United States Immigration law requires that your legal name (i.e. passport name) be listed on all official U.S. government-issued/maintained documents and websites. Therefore, only changes to your passport name can legally change documents/websites such as SEVIS (and the SEVIS 1-20 Form), I-94, and I-9. The identification information indicated on your legal passport is considered to be your official legal identification information.
Yes, the class list (for email/Excel options) has been updated to reflect the instructor's chosen name, as well as the student's chosen name.
Yes. The display name associated with your email address has been updated to use your chosen name, if provided, in University email system. People searching in the email system will find you under your chosen name. People using the same University email system will receive emails from you under your chosen name. If entering your email address in directly, it will render as your chosen name within the system.

Employees may request to change their email address to their chosen name by contacting the Help Desk. The name must conform to the standard email address format and cannot be in use by someone else.
A student’s chosen name will display on your online class list (for email/Excel options) on MyMissouriState as soon as the student provides their chosen name. You may have to refresh the page to see the update.
Yes, for a $25.00 fee, students and employees may request a new BearPass card with their chosen name printed on the card at the BearPass Card Office.

Op1.07 Chosen Name Policy

It is the policy of Missouri State University that any student, faculty, or staff may choose to be identified within the University Community with a chosen name that differs from the individual’s legal first name.

Students, faculty, and staff who want to use a chosen name should initiate the process in the University’s web portal (My Missouri State). A person’s chosen 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 by university business or legal need.

Missouri State University reserves the right to deny or remove any chosen 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.

Under the University’s Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) policy, a student’s chosen and legal 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. To revoke the disclosure of directory information, a student has the option of requesting a “FERPA Hold” via the FERPA website.

For more information regarding chosen name, including instances in which it will be used, refer to the chosen name informational page.