Preferred Name
Institutions can now send a student’s or staff member’s preferred name to SS&E. When a preferred name exists, it’s shown in place of the legal first name across the application. The legal first name stays searchable. This helps institutions support chosen-name policies without losing the ability to search for individuals by legal name.
How it works: A new optional Preferred Name field has been added to the Person data feed, alongside legal first, middle, last name and nickname. When a preferred name is sent for a person, SS&E shows it in place of their first name wherever their name appears, for users in every role.
Key details:
- Available for students, staff, prospects and applicants.
- Preferred name appears across the Advisor, Recruit, Instruct and student views, including the student’s Profile and Plan pages.
- Preferred name also appears in the Watermark Student app and in the Next application.
- Staff can search for a person by either their legal first name or their preferred name.
- A new Preferred Name field is available when creating a prospect in the UI. A Preferred Name column has also been added to the prospect and custom CSV imports.
- The existing Nickname field hasn’t changed. Institutions can keep using nickname and preferred name together.
- A new Preferred Name filter has been added to custom built reports.
- Institutions already using the preferred names documented in https://support.watermarkinsights.com/hc/en-us/articles/11306047082139-Displaying-a-nickname-preferred-chosen-name-instead-of-the-user-s-first-name aren’t affected. Those approaches to preferred name continue to work as expected with no interruption.
Known limitations:
- 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 and emails.
- In locations that rely on templates for the name, the Preferred Name may not be reflected.
- The following built-in reports continue to list legal 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.