Standard for Storing and Using Name, Sex/Gender, and Pronouns
These guidelines are for use by BU technical and client service owners responsible for all university technology services ranging from unit-specific applications to university-wide administrative systems, collaboration services and infrastructure.
Standards are available for:
Scope
The collection of data covered by this Standard includes the items listed below. IS&T Service Owners and Project Managers will be alerted as additions are made to it. Others who collect, store or use personal information for anyone in the BU Community should refer to this Standard often. Any service intending to customize identity information fields must contact the Identity Access Management service to discuss before enabling local customization.
Boston University is committed to addressing people by the name they choose to be called, even when that is different from the name that appears on legal documents. To support this, BU Identity and Access Management services include a self-service feature for members of the BU Community to provide a Display Name.
Standard: Any BU Service or project that involves the use of Name for members of the BU community should use the “Display Name” field. Display Name should be obtained from the IS&T Identity and Access Management directly or via the IS&T Integration service. If there is a legal/regulatory or other business constraint that requires use of Legal Name, this must be requested in writing and approved by the Chief Data Officer. In cases where Legal Name is required to be stored and used, Display Name should still be accessed and/or stored to support user interfaces and communications (not subject to the legal/regulatory requirements cited above).
Display Name should be labeled as such (or “Name”) and not as “Preferred Name”, reinforcing and affirming self-identification among all members of the Boston University Community.
Questions about this guideline can be directed to asirhelp@bu.edu.
Boston University is an LGBTQIA+ affirming institution and strives to foster an inclusive experience to all members of its community. To that end, the BU Identity and Access Management service collects self-identified Gender Identity information from members of our community who choose to provide it.
Standard: All BU Service Owners and Project Managers are encouraged to examine and evaluate whether data describing a person’s Sex or Gender is truly required to support business requirements. Unless Sex or Gender is an integral part of the service provided, it should not be stored, used, or displayed.
Any BU Service or project that does require Sex or Gender must use Gender Identity values collected via the IS&T Identity & Access Management service. If there is a legal/regulatory or other business constraint that requires legal Sex, for example current reporting requirements instituted by health insurance partner companies, this must be requested in writing and approved by the Chief Data Officer. Questions about this guideline can be directed to asirhelp@bu.edu.
Boston University recognizes that binary, gendered pronouns do not reflect its diverse community and is committed to using the pronouns chosen by its members. The BU Identity and Access Management service collects self-identified pronouns for members of our community who choose to provide them.
Pronouns should be labeled as such and not as “Preferred Pronouns”, reinforcing and affirming self-identification among all members of the Boston University Community.
Standard: Any BU Service or project that has a business need to use Pronouns must obtain this information from the IS&T Identity and Access Management or Integration service. Questions about this guideline can be directed to asirhelp@bu.edu.
As BU advances its data and communication systems to better reflect our diverse community, service owners should review any use of gender references such as salutation or descriptors that are derived from binary sex code.
Standard: Wherever language or title is used that has been translated from sex code, the following replacements should be implemented:
- Where a legal requirement exists to use or display sex as opposed to gender identity, a blank sex code (neither male nor female) should be displayed as “Other”.
- Use of “Him” or “Her” should be replaced with a description of the person to whom the information display or communication is addressed (i.e., “Student” in place of “son” or “daughter”; “Employee’s” instead of “his” or “hers”).
- Do not use gendered titles (Mr., Mrs., Ms., etc.) that have been derived from a binary sex code. Instead, use first and last Display Name as the salutation.
Questions about this guideline can be directed to asirhelp@bu.edu.
These guidelines have been developed and approved in consultation with the Strategic Information Group. Please send any questions to asirhelp@bu.edu.