Policy on Names on Official Student
Academic Records and Corroborative Documents
January 9, 1986
To request an official copy of this policy, contact:
The Office of the Governing Council
Room 106, Simcoe Hall
27 King's College Circle
University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario
M5S 1A1
Phone: 416-978-6576
Fax: 416-978-8182
E-mail: governing.council@utoronto.ca
Website: http://www.utoronto.ca/govcncl/
Contents
1. Preamble
2. Definitions
3. Officially Recognized Names
4. Names on Official Student Academic Records
5. Names on Corroborative Documents
6. Alterations to Officially Recognized Names
Differences Between 1965 Policy, 1975 Procedures, and 1985 Proposed Policy
Regulations for the Change of Name in the University Records
This policy deals with the procedures respecting names and alterations of name of students appearing on official student academic records and corroborative documents.
It supersedes the 1965 Senate policy on names. The policy applies to names known to the University on or after 1 July 1986.
For the purposes of this policy, the "official student academic record" shall contain:
(i) Registration and enrolment information.
(ii) Results for each course and academic period.
(iii) Narrative evaluations of a student's academic performance, used to judge his/her progress through an academic program.
(iv) Basis for a student's admission such as the application for admission and supporting documents.
(v) Results of petitions and appeals filed by a student.
(vi) Medical Information relevant to a student's academic performance which has been furnished at the request or with the consent of the student concerned.
(vii) Letters of reference which may or may not have been provided on the understanding that they shall be maintained in confidence.
(viii) Personal information which is required in the administration of academic records such as name, address, telephone number, citizenship, social insurance number.
For the purposes of this policy, "corroborative documents" shall refer to those documents which testify to a student's or former student's academic accomplishments and which are based on evidence provided by official student academic records. Examples of corroborative documents are transcripts, diplomas and certificates.
For the purposes of this policy, "active records" will refer to records which are required on a regular basis by the office of creation; "semi-active records", to records required only occasionally, such as one reference or less per month per cubic foot; "archival records", to records under the custody of the University Archives.
3. Officially Recognized Names
Only the student's name as furnished in the application for admission which leads to the student's first registration at this University or as altered according to Section 6 below is considered as the "officially recognized name."
Applicants should be advised that the name they use upon application should be "the complete name by which they are legally and correctly known".
Because of requirements imposed by external licensing agencies, some divisions may have to ensure that the name used by a person upon application is one of the following:
4. Names on Official Student Academic Records
A student shall be identified in active and semi-active official student academic records under at least his/her current officially recognized name.
When copies of official student academic records are released, such copies should be annotated with at least the current officially recognized name of the person if this differs from the name appearing on the records.
5. Names on Corroborative Documents
The name which appears on a corroborative document should be the same as the name as it appears in those official student academic records on which the document is based. It is permissible (and may be necessary) to add to the name on the document special characters or upper-lower case distinctions which may not be recorded because of mechanical or technical limitations in some University record systems.
6. Alterations to Officially Recognized Names
There are two types of name alterations.
6.1 A correction is a return to the submitted form of the name which is required because of misspelling or typographical or other clerical errors. A correction does not require supporting documentation from the student or applicant. Minor alterations of given names will be treated as corrections.
6.2 A change is an alteration of the surname or an addition and/or removal of given names or initials and requires supporting documentation from the student or applicant such as one of the following:
Corrections and changes to name should be recorded on all active and semi-active official student academic records.
Corrections and changes to names in archival records should be reported to the University Archivist.
A file which contains officially recognized names of students and subsequent corrections and changes to these names will be maintained.
24 September 1985
Differences Between 1965 Policy, 1975 Procedures, and 1985 Proposed Policy
(1965) Only the student's name as furnished in the original application for admission is recognized in the records of the University.
(1975) Same as above.
(1985) Same as above. It is assumed that applicants have provided the complete name by which they are legally and correctly known.
(1965) If the legal name differs from the records' version, a change of name may be approved at no charge to the applicant.
(1975) Same as above.
(1985) Reference to ‘legal name' is avoided since it is not a precise concept in Ontario. The matter of a fee for changing names on records is administrative and has therefore been dropped from the policy statement.
(1965) An application for the change of name must be accompanied by one of the following documents (or a notarized copy):
(1975) No legal documents are required to support a change of name to the student record system.
(1985) A change of name must be supported by legal documents, in accordance with the Change of Name Act of Ontario.
(1965) A woman who marries while in attendance at this University and who has had her name changed in the University records may graduate under one of the following options:
(1975) Students may graduate under any name they wish, regardless of legal name. SRS keeps track of ‘graduation name' on the student record system.
(1985) Students will graduate in and their diplomas will display the name which is officially recorded in the University records, either original or changed. The elimination of 'graduation name' will provide some assistance to those divisions that have to abide by the requirements of external licensing agencies. It may also help to decrease the number of name changes that have to be made on diplomas right before convocation.
(1965) All diplomas held by one graduate must bear the same name. When a graduate applies to have his name changed in the University records all the diplomas bearing the original name must be surrendered. These diplomas will be re-issued on application under the regulations for the re-issue of diplomas.
(1975) SRS does not require a graduate who changes his legal name in the University's records to surrender his diploma. Only in the case where a graduate requests a change of name on a diploma does SRS request the surrender of the original diploma.
(1985) The University's solicitor considers the 1975 Procedure acceptable. However, since this matter belongs to a policy on the issuance of diplomas it has been deleted from this document.
(NEW) Neither the 1965 Policy nor the 1975 Procedures indicates how alterations to name were to be reflected in official student academic records. This policy specifies how active, semi-active and archival records are to be affected by corrections and changes
of name. Furthermore, this policy provides for the creation and maintenance of a master file of officially recognized student names and their aliases.
1. Only the student's name as furnished in the original application for admission is recognized in the records of the University.
2. If the legal name differs from the records' version, a change of name may be approved at no charge to the applicant.
3. An application for the change of name must be accompanied by one of the following documents (or a notarized copy):
(i) Court document specifying change of name;
(ii) Marriage Certificate;
(iii) Divorce Certificate;
(iv) Birth Certificate;
(v) Passport;
(vi) Certificate of Citizenship (if issued in or after 1964.)
4. A woman who marries while in attendance at this University and who has had her name changed in the University records may graduate under one of the following options:
(i) maiden name;
(ii) married name;
(iii) maiden and married names combined.
5. All diplomas held by one graduate must bear the same name. When a graduate applies to have his name changed in the University records all the diplomas bearing the original name must be surrendered. These diplomas will be re-issued on application under the regulations for the re-issue of diplomas.
October 15, 1965
Recommended to the Senate by the Executive Committee
Approved by the Senate November 12, 1965
