Gender Recognition & Lived Name

Policy Overview

Across the University of California, students, staff and faculty have advocated for changes to make UC more equitable and inclusive. In a significant step toward this goal, President Michael V. Drake, M.D., announced a new presidential policy — Gender Recognition and Lived Name (GRLN) — in November 2020 to ensure that all individuals are identified by their accurate gender identity and lived name on university-issued documents and in UC’s information systems.

The GRLN policy requires UC to provide:

• At least three equally recognized gender options in university information systems — woman, man, and nonbinary.
• An efficient process for current students, faculty, and staff, and for UC alumni and affiliates, to retroactively amend their gender designations and lived or preferred names on university-issued documents, including eligible academic documents, and in information systems.

The policy relieves a substantial burden on many members of the UC community, including but not limited to individuals who are transgender, whose gender identity differs from that indicated on official documents, who are survivors of abuse and/or trafficking, whose lived or preferred name is a variation or a shortened version of their legal name, or who have married and had a legal name change but wish to retain the name under which they publish academic works.

The full implementation of the policy and procedures was completed by December 31, 2023, with the exception of UCPath, which was given an extension to June 30, 2024.

---

Managing Your Name and Gender Data

Please refer to the following pages on how to manage your name and gender data:

• Information Technology Services: Managing Your Name and Identity Data at UC Santa Cruz
• Office of the Registrar: FAQs for Students: Personal and Privacy Information
• Office of the Registrar: FAQs for Faculty: Personal Information
• Office of the Registrar: FAQs for Staff: Personal Information

---

Report an Issue

---

Implementation Updates

Across the University of California, students, staff and faculty have advocated for changes to make UC more equitable and inclusive. In a significant step toward this goal, President Michael V. Drake, M.D., announced a new presidential policy — Gender Recognition and Lived Name (GRLN) — in November 2020 to ensure that all individuals are identified by their accurate gender identity and lived or preferred name on university-issued documents and in UC’s information systems.

“The University of California continues to fully embrace diversity in our country,” said UC President Michael V. Drake, M.D. “We believe this policy is a step toward an even more inclusive community and, in turn, will help build a stronger, more vibrant society.”

The policy relieves a substantial burden on many members of the UC community, including but not limited to individuals who are transgender, whose gender identity differs from that indicated on official documents, who are survivors of abuse and/or trafficking, whose lived or preferred name is a variation or a shortened version of their legal name, or who have married and had a legal name change but wish to retain the name under which they publish academic works.

The full implementation of the policy and procedures was completed by December 31, 2023, with the exception of UCPath, which was given an extension to June 30, 2024.

---

Policy Guidance

If you are a UCSC community member (staff, faculty, students, volunteers, et cetera) collecting, processing, or reporting on gender and/or names through any systems or forms, you need to ensure the systems and the forms are in compliance with the University of California’s Gender Recognition and Lived Name (GRLN) policy. Compliance with the policy requires:

1. Providing a minimum of three equally recognized gender options: woman, man, and nonbinary.
2. Only collecting lived names of students, employees, alumni, and affiliates (e.g., on documents, in communications, and name displays in systems), except when legal names are required by regulations.
   • Generally, documents that the university provides to the federal government or in conjunction with Social Security Numbers require the use of legal names. This may include but is not limited to financial aid documents, payroll records, medical identification and records, federal immigration documents, and tax forms. 
   • While legal names may be collected for reporting to third parties, only communicate to the individual using their lived name. Legal names must be kept confidential and accessible only to users who have a legitimate business need.
   • If you believe that the system or form you use has to use legal names, please fill out this GRLN Record a Required Use of Legal Names form that helps track these cases.

Legal names must be kept confidential and accessible only to users who have a legitimate business need.

---

Steering Committee

Campus Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Lori Kletzer formed a Steering Committee to examine the current use of genders and names in systems across campus and to provide guidance to campus units on steps to implement the GRLN policy. This committee disbanded after completing its work in December 2023.

Committee Members

• Travis S. Becker, Assistant Dean of Students, Strategic Initiatives & Policy Analysis (co-chair)
• Judith Estrada, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (co-chair)
• delfín bautista, Director, Lionel Cantú Queer Center
• Laurie Carnahan, Enterprise Applications Service Manager, Information Technology Services
• Frank Dang, Clinical Information System Analyst, Student Health Center
• Detmar Finke, Web Developer – Digital Communications Specialist, Staff Human Resources
• Dadao Hou, Director of Policy and Planning, Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 
• Aisha Jackson, Vice Chancellor of Information Technology, Information Technology Services
• Sterling Nicholson, Business Process Analyst, Staff Human Resources
• Elvia Ontiveros, Director of Business Administrations, Policy, Project & Resources, Staff Human Resources
• Tchad Sanger, University Registrar, Office of the Registrar

Back to Top