Status: Executing
What: URI is changing the way we handle names and pronouns in our institutional data systems. This effort will be guided by the ITGov principles adopted on November 8th, 2021.
Why: The University of Rhode Island has long recognized that personal identity, gender identity, and individual self-expression are important facets of an inclusive and equitable community. The time has come to have our institutional data systems reflect these same principles.
This is a large project involving nearly every institutional data system we currently operate. It will necessarily be a phased approach as we first modify our core data repositories and then work to have accurate data delivered to all other institutional data systems.
Phase 1: e-Campus changes
- Make the setting of name and all associated modifiers accessible to all members of the URI community.
- Work with the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center to work out pre-defined pronoun choices while still supporting free-form entry.
- Allow full access to pronoun selection facilities available to all members of the URI community.
- Work with admissions to ensure that both name and pronouns are accurately transferred from Slate into e-Campus.
- Work with HR to ensure that other data entry (hiring, affiliate, visitor, etc.) accurately and consistently captures appropriate name and pronoun usage.
- Modify data feeds for ancillary systems to include proper name and pronoun fields.
Phase 2: Identity management systems
- Verify and ensure that core identity-related systems (Active Directory, Azure / O365, GMail) properly populate with names and pronouns where applicable.
- Build systems that properly consume and reflect any name or pronoun changes in e-Campus.
Phase 3: Ancillary system changes
We have a large group of ancillary systems that all need to reflect these changes. The following is only a partial list sorted roughly in order of the number of users.
- Brightspace
- Starfish
- Medicat
- AIMS Parking
- Housing Systems
- Dining