Washington State University has, among other inclusivity efforts, instituted updates to its student ID card policies to add support for preferred names.

According to a university release, the policy update to CougarCards is now included in WSU's Business Policies and Procedures Manual (BPPM), and will enable any WSU community members across the system to use a chosen first and middle name to be printed on their CougarCard.

Prior to the preferred name policy, members of the WSU community were required to use only a legal name on their CougarCard.

“We’ve involved a large number of departments and individuals in this process, to gain their input and shape what this change would look like,” said Craig Howard, director of Information Systems and the Cougar Card Center, in the university release.

Following the preferred name policy students, faculty and staff can enter a chosen names in their MyWSU portal, and can have their chosen first and middle names, along with their legal last name, printed on their CougarCard.

The preferred name policy will recognize two types of name changes in the form of a nickname and an official name change. The first updated student ID card will be issued at no cost, but no fees were disclosed regarding subsequent replacement cards.