Campus Institutes New Identification Numbers For Students, Faculty and Staff Members

Campus Institutes New Identification Numbers For Students, Faculty and Staff Members
by Pamela Mclaren

Nearly every day there are reports of the latest virus to infect computers or of a hacker who has penetrated the computer system of a university, corporation or governmental agency.

The same can be said for identity theft, a crime that occurs when someone uses another individual’s name, Social Security number, credit card number or other identifying information. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, an estimated 7 million consumers became victims of identity theft in 2002.

“A vital, busy university campus like ours deals with thousands of sensitive records and communications daily,” said Michael Parker, chief information technology officer. “We continue to work to make sure that our information system is secure and available for the needs of the campus community.”

Last fall, Information Technology began a campuswide identification project to further protect students, faculty and staff from potential identity theft. The project was developed in conjunction with several new laws that mandate enhanced protection of individuals’ Social Security numbers, including use of SSN to identify students and campus employees.

By the end of December, the Student Information System (SIS+) was modified to assign a new nine-digit number, beginning with “8,” to identify students. The current student ID (usually SSN) will be retained as an alternate key to bring up student records in the SIS+ system. SSN can no longer be used for public posting or on any materials mailed to students, unless required by state or federal law.

“The changes on SIS+ should be transparent,” said Susan Kachner, director of administrative computing in Information Technology. “Students and staff members will still be able to look up students records either by their Social Security number, their name or by the new ID number.

Similar changes were made to faculty and staff member records. All faculty, staff and others associated with the campus were reassigned a campus ID with new nine-digit numbers.

Later this year, the campus will modify all other uses, such as in cashiering and the Student Health and Counseling Center, as well as in conjunction with the Titan Card. The new ID number, however, does not mean that students, faculty and staff members will need new Titan Cards. Titan Cards carry a separate 16-digit number unrelated to Social Security or ID numbers.

To learn more about the campuswide ID Project, go to http://www.fullerton.edu/cwid. To find out your new ID number, click on “Get Your CWID” on the left-hand side of the page.