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Name Change Policy
All students
currently enrolled are granted the opportunity to change their names on institutional
records upon the production of legal evidence indicating their name
change. Download the ‘Change of Name’ form from the Registrar's website. The form, along with the appropriate
documentation, should be submitted directly to the Registrar’s Office.
What type of documents can be considered legal?
- Certified
copy of marriage license, court order, or dissolution decree reflecting the
name in full; or
- Current
passport or other government issued official proof of identity (Driver’s
License or State ID are acceptable)
Do I get a new email address when I change my name?
No, your email
address will not automatically change.
If you are also requesting to change your RISD email, you must contact
the OIT helpdesk directly.
How do you handle International Student Records?
International
students must use the same name on their records as on their documents from the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security and their passport. The only exception is
that you may add on an Anglicized first name in parentheses after the legal
first name (e.g. Ji Yun (Kathy) Kim).
How do you handle gender changes? Transgender students?
A certified
copy of a court order or documentation from a health professional that a gender
change is underway is required if a change in gender and name is to be recorded
on a student’s record.
Do you update former student records?
After a student
graduates or separates from RISD, the student’s academic file is closed. College records are historical documents and
are not altered retrospectively. Name
changes, except in cases of adoption and legal gender change, are always
applied from the time the change is made forward. RISD will accept requests from RISD graduates
for a change of name only if a certified copy of a court order is presented.
If I have graduated, can I get a new diploma with
my new name?
If your name
change request is accepted (you have already submitted the ‘Change of Name’
form along with your proper documentation to the Registrar’s Office), then a
diploma may be reissued for a graduate whose name has legally changed. Your old diploma must be returned and there
is a fee of $50.00 to reprint a new diploma. The new diploma will indicate that
the diploma has been reissued due to a name change. The official signature(s)
on the diploma may not be the same as the signature(s) on the original. Please be patient as the request will be sent
to the printer and a new diploma may take up to a month to process. To request a diploma to be re-issued, submit
a letter to the Office of the Registrar including the following information:
- Name & Address to which the
diploma should be mailed
- Name under which graduate attended
(and new name that it was legally changed to)
- Current phone number and email
- RISD ID number (if known)
- Approximate graduation date
- Degree and major
- Your signature and the date
- Enclosed check for $50 made out to Rhode Island School of Design