Expanding inclusive language with the new EApp
“Allowing respondents to indicate their identities gives an organization a clearer picture of the people it serves and can be an indicator of an organization’s inclusivity of people across the sex, gender, and sexual orientation spectrums.” (Gender and Sexuality Campus Center, Recommendations: collecting information on sex, gender, and sexual orientation)
Recently, two questions within the UW System (UWS) EApp regarding sex and gender have been updated. These questions have been relabeled and several response options have been added to each question to better acknowledge UWS and its universitys’ current understanding and acceptance of gender, sex, and gender identity. Additional information icons have been added to each question to allow applicants to better understand the detailed context and view resources for how institutions will use the data from these questions.
For UW–Madison, currently the Oracle PeopleSoft SIS field that is used to store legal sex is labeled GENDER and was updated to ensure it is able to consume the new “Another legal sex (X)” option from the “Sex” question in EApp. Additionally, because we are now affording applicants to specify another legal sex of X, the Office of the Registrar has modified the update your personal information form to allow current students, when requesting a change to their sex, to indicate that it is “X” (another legal sex).
Although the information is collected in the EApp, there is no field in SIS, or other applications, to store gender/gender identity information at this time – collected in the EApp previously as “Gender Identity” and now as “Gender.” There are various applications that impact continuing students, faculty, staff, etc. and also do not reflect gender, sex, and gender identity appropriately. Considerations and conversations are beginning to determine how to incorporate gender/gender identity into UW–Madison applications.
This is an incredibly complex and important initiative, to ensure students feel they are accurately represented. It is incredibly exciting that System acknowledged this and updated the EApp. The Office of the Registrar has been in conversation with the Data Governance Council and other campus partners to determine how best to move forward to align with these EApp changes, take advantage of this opportunity, and better incorporate our acceptance and understanding of gender, sex and sexual identity into more of our work and services.