MyUW Madison - Bug - Updating Preferred Name After Legal Name Change
A Name in Use can be set in MyUW for those who use a first or middle name other than their legal name. A bug within the app may prevent users from updating their last name in use after a legal name change. This document is intended to help users work through this problem.
Error Message
If you try and edit your last name in use after changing your legal last name, you will receive an error. This error states that you can only change capitalization, spacing, apostrophes, and hyphens for last names:
This error occurs even if your name is written in the correct format. The system mistakenly compares your new last name in use to your former legal last name.
Example:
- Buckingham Badger's name in use is Bucky Badger.
- Bucky gets married to Goldy Gopher and changes his last name to Gopher.
- Bucky's legal name is now name Buckingham Gopher.
- UW HR updates his legal name, and Bucky can see this change in MyUW.
- Bucky tries to change his last name in use from Badger to Gopher, but sees an error message.
- Bucky is confused. His name does not include capitalization, spacing, single quotes, or hyphens.
Workaround
Users affected by this bug can take the following steps to update their name in use:
- Log into MyUW and launch the Name in Use app.
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Click Delete next to the current name in use.
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A deletion pending message will appear. Wait up to two hours for the deletion to take effect.
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When deletion pending no longer appears, click Change to set a new name in use.
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It may take up to 2 hours for your changes to appear in MyUW. Changes to other campus applications may take up to 48 hours, including the campus directory, including the UW Directory and Office 365 email accounts.
If you run into any errors or if your data does not appear correctly:
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Employees should confirm your legal name has been updated in the Human Resources System (HRS).
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Students should confirm their legal name has been updated in the Student Center.
Important notice for anyone who has elected to remove their legal name from the campus directory:
After following the instructions above, if you have previously elected to suppress your legal name and still want it suppressed, you will need to re-request this change by emailing nameinuse@studentlife.wisc.edu.
If this workaround does not resolve the issue, please contact the DoIT Help Desk for further assistance.