Displaying a nickname/preferred/chosen name instead of the user's first name

Overview

Based on the SIS Data Import Definitions found in SIS Import Definitions (for Views and CSV Files), Student Success & Engagement now supports a dedicated Preferred Name field on the Person data feed, in addition to the existing Nickname field. When a Preferred Name is supplied for a user, it displays in place of the legal first name throughout the UI, while the legal first name is retained in the original first name field for search purposes.

Institutions that do not send a Preferred Name value, or that need first name replaced in locations the dedicated field doesn't reach (see "Known limitations of the Dedicated Field" below), can still use the workaround approaches described later in this article that involve making a change to the Person data feed extract definitions or implementing a code change. Those approaches remain valid and are unaffected by this update. In most cases, changing the first name displayed on the UI outside of the new dedicated field is a paid engagement with the Professional Services team, either utilizing a subscription plan or Watermark Academy.

Dedicated Preferred Name Field 

SS&E now accepts an optional Preferred Name string on the Person data feed for all user types sent via SIS import. This is separate from, and does not affect, the existing Nickname field. Institutions can continue to use Nickname exactly as before.

How it displays

• When a Preferred Name is supplied for a student and/or staff user, it substitutes for the legal first name everywhere the legal first name is currently displayed in the UI (known limitations documented below), for any role viewing that record (Advisor, Recruit, Instruct, Admin, and the student's own view).
• This substitution also applies in the mobile app and in the Next application, anywhere a student's or staff member's first name is shown.
• When adding a prospect, a text field for Preferred Name is available on the prospect creation screen and on the custom/prospect CSV import. If a preferred name is set on a prospect record, it displays in place of first name in the same locations.

Searching

• The search index includes both the legal first name and the Preferred Name, so users can find a student by either name.

Known limitations of the dedicated field

• In Admin > People, the first name column continues to show the legal first name; it does not substitute the Preferred Name.
• Preferred Name is not substituted into the "full name" custom variable used in messages/emails, and Watermark does not plan to add Preferred Name as its own custom variable at this time.
• In locations that rely on templates for the name, the Preferred Name may not be reflected.
• The following built-in reports continue to list first name and not preferred name: Achievement Detail,Attendance and Registration Detail, LMS Activity, Note Activity, Key Engagements, Registration Activity, Available Staff, Current Wait List, Current Wait List By Staff, and Attendance Summary.

For institutions that need first name overridden in one of the locations above, or across the board regardless of role/screen, the workaround options below (data extract changes or a code-level change) remain the way to accomplish that, since they operate on the underlying first_name value itself rather than substituting it in the UI.

Choosing between the dedicated field and a workaround

Current State - Student View

• By default, when a student is logged in they will only see a Student View.
• A student user is only assigned the student role.
• On the Student View, a student user will see SS&E users displayed as first_name last_name based on the data imported on the Person data feed from the SIS — or, where a Preferred Name has been supplied for that user, the Preferred Name in place of first_name.
   

Current State - Staff View

• By default, when a staff/faculty/student-staff user is logged in, they only see a Staff View.
• On the Staff View, a staff user sees all SS&E users displayed as first_name (nickname) middle_name last_name based on the data imported on the Person data feed from the SIS — or, where a Preferred Name has been supplied for that user, the Preferred Name in place of first_name, with (nickname) still shown alongside it if a nickname is also present.

SIS Import - Data Extract Query Changes

In order to display a nickname/preferred name instead of the first_name on the UI, this may be done with a change to the data extract definitions.

Once changed, the first_name will display the user nickname/preferred name in the Person Data Feed - Imported Data View for all users, both staff and students.

A few options are:

Option 1:

Change the Person data extract query to set first_name on the user in SS&E to the nickname value if one is present. Please note that this would apply to all users (including students).

Option 2:

Set fist_name in SS&E to the value of nickname (if it is available).
AND
Set the value of nickname in SS&E to the content of first name if nickname is present. Again, this would apply to all users.

Option 3:

Put the nickname in parenthesis as part of the first name field and remove the nickname field. Again, this would apply to all users.

Option 4:

Informer Reports

When using Informer reports to export the SIS data to SS&E, the user's "Chosen" first, last and middle names can be added to three columns at the end of the person.csv Informer report so that those specific values are what's used in SS&E for first, middle and last names when available for a user.

In general, the steps are to:

1. Add the chosen names (first, middle and/or last) to the person.csv informer report*.
   • These should be placed at the end of the file so as not to mess up the rest of the query.
   • For example, if you only wish to use this for the firstName value then you would only need to add the "chosen first name" field to the person.csv file
2. Update the accelerate query to use the preferred name in place of the relevant name value (first/middle/last) if there is one, and to use the legal first name if there is not a chosen name.
   • This is an Apache drill query in the accelerate in the case of a CSV (or Informer) customer.
3. For example, on an informer CSV customer the firstName part of the query would change from something like p.COLUMNS[1] as firstName, to something like:  case when nullif(p.COLUMNS[?], '') is not null then p.COLUMNS[?] else p.COLUMNS[1] end as firstName,
   • Where the "?" is the column number starting with 0 and not 1. So the 14th column of a file would be COLUMNS[13]
4. In addition, if you are not already overriding the Person feed mainQuery then you would also need to copy that over from the parent side to the child XML.

*For assistance with adding data to the Informer output, please reach out to your Informer supplier.

SQL Views

When using Database Views to export SIS data into SS&E, a user with "chosen" values would replace the contents of their first, last, and middle name fields with the preferred name(s) so that whatever is included in those fields displays within SS&E.