Chosen or Preferred Name Information for Action Card
Chosen or Preferred Name Impact Statement
By selecting the chosen or preferred name option, you could be limiting your Action Card usage. State of Alabama voting sites, for example, may not accept your Action Card as proof of identification when voter registration rolls contain your legal name. It is advisable to carry a government-issued form of ID such as a driver’s license or passport with you in order to access resources that are not on The University of Alabama campus or to assist law enforcement in public safety matters. On campus, examples of where your legal name are necessary include, but are not limited to, financial aid documents, payroll, official transcripts, diplomas, and federal immigration documents. The University of Alabama is not responsible for limits placed on your Action Card usage at on and off-campus locations due to your selection of chosen or preferred name.
Chosen or preferred name can be set under View/Update Personal Information in myBama. This must be done before chosen or preferred name can be reflected on Action Card.
Students, faculty and staff members have the option to display their chosen or preferred name on their mobile ACT Card.
How to Opt into Chosen or Preferred Name on Mobile ACT Card
If a student, faculty or staff member opted into using a chosen or preferred name when submitting their photo for approval online while setting up their ACT Card, their chosen or preferred name will automatically show.
If a student, faculty or staff member did not opt into chosen or preferred name when submitting their photo for approval online while setting up their ACT Card but would like to do so now will need to first update their chosen or preferred name under View/Update Personal Information in myBama, then confirm the change to a chosen or preferred name under Action Card Number + Chosen or Preferred Name in myBama.
Anyone who was not required to submit their photo for approval online and had their photo taken at the Action Card Office instead, will need to follow the same protocols.
Students, faculty and staff joining UA after this implementation will see the feature of chosen or preferred name carried over to the mobile ACT Card automatically so long as a chosen or preferred name is set through myBama and the chosen or preferred name option is checked during the online photo submission process.
How to Revert to Legal Name on Mobile ACT Card
Selecting chosen or preferred name may limit use of your card when legal name is required. If intending to use the mobile card for instances where legal name is required, such as voting, picking up legal documents, etc., the chosen or preferred name can be reverted to legal name by unchecking the chosen or preferred name box under the Action Card Number + Chosen or Preferred Name in myBama.
For in-person requests for a chosen or preferred name option, the cardholder will check the chosen or preferred name option on the New or Replacement Action Card form in the Action Card Business Office. The cardholder cannot select a different chosen or preferred name option at the time of the card production request. Cardholders selecting the chosen or preferred name option will not have their middle name printed on the Action Card or shown on the mobile ACT Card.
Faculty, staff and students ineligible for the mobile card will have their legal name, as designated in Banner, printed on their Action Card unless they specifically opt for chosen or preferred name, as designated in Banner, at the time they request their first or replacement Action Card. Areas of card usage could potentially be impacted by the cardholder opting to select chosen or preferred name. See Chosen or Preferred Name Impact Statement.
The University reserves the right to remove a chosen or preferred name if it contains inappropriate or offensive language.
Action Card Fees associated with the Chosen or Preferred Name Option
Faculty, staff and students ineligible for the mobile card:
- First time requests for an Action Card by an eligible cardholder will include the chosen or preferred name option – No charge
- Requests for replacement for lost Action Cards will include the chosen or preferred name option and the standard $35 card replacement fee
- Requests for replacement Action Cards due to the cardholder’s preference to (1) change the printed name from a legal to chosen or preferred or (2) changing from a prior chosen or preferred name in Banner to new chosen or preferred name in Banner will include the standard $35 card replacement fee per request