If you are a student at MCAD and would like to change the name associated with your MCAD based accounts we are happy to guide you through this new streamlined process. Updating a name at MCAD will not sacrifice any prior account access or information. If you are staff or faculty, or if you are just looking for more general information, please see our article about Account Name Changes.
Institutionally recognized name updates will not hide or mask a student's legal name in any campus systems. This means that both the legal name and institutionally recognized name will be visible to faculty when using Canvas and myMCAD. Official college documents and communications will use the student's legal name.
To access this form you will need to log into your myMCAD account and go into the Records tab and go to the Online Forms section to choose the update you would like to submit.
Once you are in the Institutionally Recognized Name form you will populate the information requested. Enter the name you want MCAD to start using in an offical context. Next, enter whether you would like your MCAD email address to be updated to reflect this. Finally, indicate if you would like to Allow FERPA Third Parties to see your Institutionally Recognized First Name.
Allowing FERPA Third Parties to see an Institutionally Recognized First name is a very critical detail. By choosing Yes, you are allowing anyone you grant FERPA access to see this update. If you are unfamiliar with what is involved with giving FERPA permissions please reference THIS article. By choosing No, of course, you are making sure anyone who has FERPA access does not see this change now or in the future. Bear in mind that this applies only to electronic access to your student information; your MCAD friends, and MCAD's faculty, staff, and administration often time know you only by your institutionally recognized name and pronoun, and unless informed otherwise may identify you by your Institutionally Recognized Name when interacting in person with those who have FERPA access.
Once you’ve completed these steps, hit the submit button and your update will be sent to the Records Office to process. You will receive a copy of the form you submitted in your email immediately after the submission is sent.
If there are any questions about your submission, the Records Office will contact you via your MCAD email. THIS IS NOT A LEGAL NAME UPDATE PROCESS. For all legal name change updates, please see Records for documentation requirements and the next steps. For more information on legal names changes, see our Account Name Change article.
If you submitted that you’d like to have your MCAD email updated with this form, you will be contacted by our Accounts Administrator with a short set of instructions on how to begin the update. If at any point during this process you need assistance please feel free to stop into the Help Desk so we may assist you and bring this step to completion.
If you have any further questions about Submitting a Institutionally Recognized Name, please contact the MCAD Help Desk by emailing helpdesk@mcad.edu or by phone at 612-874-3666.