Student Employees

Change how your name is displayed in the following systems: 

• as Sender or Recipient when using your McGill email address 

• when logged into various systems or your computer using your McGill Username 

• when using myCourses, Office365 suite (e.g. Teams, Outlook) 

Student account

Add / change your "preferred first name" from the Personal menu in Minerva.  

Staff account 

Fill out the Display name and prefix change form.  

NOTE: To add the prefix Dr., you must update the Prefix of your Legal Name in Workday. Please see How to Modify Names in Workday in the Human Resources Knowledge Base. For more information, contact Human Resources: https://www.mcgill.ca/hr/contact.  

Student account 

See instructions in 'To change your McGill email address (alias)’ tab on the personal information - name and gender page.

Staff account 

If you have already set up an email alias as a student, you do not have to set it up again for your staff email account.  

Anyone who wishes to change the first name portion of their McGill email address to better reflect their preferred first name can request an email alias.  

With an email alias, you can change the first name of your McGill Email Address from firstname.lastname to alias.lastname. 

For the procedure to create an email alias, please follow these steps at: https://mcgill.service-now.com/itportal?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_artic... 

This will allow people to send you email using your new email alias. However, your existing McGill email address, which is also your McGill Username, remains unchanged, and people may also continue to use that address. Staff will still need to use their "McGill Username" (firstname.lastname [at] mcgill.ca) and not the email alias when signing into myCourses, myMcGill, and Minerva.   

Note: Changing the email alias alone does not change the Display name. Staff will need to fill out the Display name and prefix change form in order to change the Display name. 

The University is working to introduce changes that will use the Preferred Name in more IT systems. 

For technical issues with Preferred First Names please report the issue to McGill IT Services at: https://mcgill.ca/itsupport/servicedesk 

To update your McGill ID card follow regular procedures as outlined on the following website: https://www.mcgill.ca/hr/self-service/id-cards. 

If you add a preferred first name, change degree levels or faculties, or your card expires, there will be no charge for a replacement as long as the old one is returned. 

Student employees who have access to labs or other McGill facilities using their student ID card should consult the appropriate Security contact to ensure that their access is not interrupted. 

Note: Please wait 24 hours after entering your preferred first name before requesting a new McGill ID card. This ensures that our information systems will be updated with your preferred first name so that a new ID card can be issued.  

Student account

Your legal name is the one that will appear in official records, such as official transcripts and diplomas. See the tab 'To update your legal name or gender marker' on the personal information - name and gender page.  

Staff account

If your first name, last name, title, or date of birth is incorrect in your McGill records, or if you have changed your name or title and would like it changed in your official record, see How to Modify Names in Workday in the Human Resources Knowledge Base. For more information, contact Human Resources.  

NOTE: Changes you make in Workday are NOT automatically synchronized with your display name, campus address and telephone number on McGill systems. 

Workday 

You can update your legal name and preferred name in Workday, using the instructions in the following PDF: Changing Preferred and Legal name in Workday. 

IMPORTANT NOTES: 

• You will be asked to provide/attach proof of identification when changing your legal/official name. 

• Changing your official name is the only way to change your McGill Username (used to authenticate to systems); however, if you only want to change the way your name appears in your email address, you can follow the instructions in the article Change the name (create an alias) for my McGill Email Address 

• NOTE: Changes you make in Workday are NOT automatically synchronized with your display name, campus address and telephone number on McGill systems. 

Student account:

See instructions in 'Address and SIN Changes' tab on the personal information page.

Staff account:

Login to Workday to update your Social Insurance Number. 

Note: To login to workday and make these changes, you must be connected to the McGill VPN.  

Student account:

See instructions in 'Address and SIN Changes' tab on the personal information page.

Staff account:

Login to Workday to update your address and emergency contact information. 

Note: To login to workday and make these changes, you must be connected to the McGill VPN.  

How do I change my McGill Username? Do I have to change my legal name? 

Your assigned McGill Username is created based on your legal first and last name and possibly your middle name and suffixed digits if an account already exists with the same name. 

If you do not want to change your legal name, but want to change your McGill Username, you will require approval to do so:   

Students: contact Enrolment Services, once approved the request will be submitted to IT Support. 

Student employees: contact IT Services at https://mcgill.ca/itsupport/servicedesk 

You will be contacted to arrange the timing of the change. This will also cause a disruption to your account for approximately 1 hour. 

Note: When we change your McGill Username, your account is renamed – any existing emails will be retained but your old email address will be lost and emails sent to it will bounce back to the sender.   

I see "Mr. / Ms." displayed on my name on McGill systems, how do I remove this prefix? 

Go to the Display name and prefix change form and under Prefix, select "No Prefix". 

If I change my legal name, is my McGill Username automatically updated? 

No. When you request to have your legal name changed on your official McGill record, (students or faculty and staff) your McGill Username is not automatically changed. 

You must request to have your McGill Username match your legal name by contacting IT Support. 

The change will affect how you log into McGill systems and therefore cause a disruption for approximately 1 hour. 

Note: When we change your McGill Username, your account is renamed – any existing emails will be retained but your old email address will be lost and emails sent to it will bounce back to the sender. 

I haven't changed my legal name, but I still want my email to show as a different alias on my address. 

You can create an email alias.  

I created an email alias, does this also change my display name on McGill system? 

No. Staff fill out the Display name and prefix change form if you want to create a preferred display name. Students make this change in Minerva under the Personal menu > Name Change. 

The icon in my Microsoft 365 profile doesn’t show the correct initials. How do I fix this?

This is a known issue with the way Microsoft automatically creates the default icon based on your display name. 

You can either change the way your display name appears by changing your preferred name filling out on the Display name and prefix change form or by replacing the default icon with an image. 

I changed my campus telephone number and address in Workday, will this also be changed in the Global Address List (GAL) in Outlook? 

No. Any changes you make in Workday will not be populated to your display in the GAL. You have to make these changes using the Display name and prefix change form. 

ADDITIONAL REFERENCES:

Students: View this page on the Enrolment Services website: Name, Address, and SIN Changes  

Student employees: Contact Human Resources.  

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