Site description: 3411 Because of changes in the “991” numbering system, Indiana State University will now use the terms “university ID number” and “university username,” instead of the term “student identification number.” An email sent from ISU Tuesday said that the change was effective immediately. According to the email, “The identification number formerly known as Sycamore ID Number or 991 is now the University ID Number. The username formerly known as Sycamore Username, Sycamore Login, Portal Login or Sycamore ID is now University Username.” The email stated that this is due to future university ID numbers that will begin to start with a prefix other than “991.” “There is a numbering algorithm in our systems that applies the University ID Number to each student as the student is admitted. Once we are ‘out of’ 991 numbers, the system will just begin to use 992 as the initial three characters of the University ID Number,” Dr. Lisa Spence, the associate vice president for academic affairs and chief information officer, said. Spence said that university ID numbers will begin with “992” in the future, so the university is working to address the change now. “We needed a change to address the fact that right now we all call them ‘991 numbers.’” Spence said. “Since we need to make this change, we decided that we should make it in the best way possible. So we realized that we should use this opportunity to agree on consistent terms, and then have an information campaign about it to help everyone get used to using these new terms. We really do hope that this alleviates some confusion about which thing a person is talking about when a student is visiting in an ISU office or talking with someone over the phone, or even when staff and/or faculty are working together.“ This change will affect both staff members and students. Alfred Vangilder, ISU sophomore majoring in recreation and sports management, said that as a desk manager he will have to get used to not asking for a 991 number because it could cause confusion among students. Dr. Lori Henson, assistant professor in the department of communication, said that the change will take some time getting used to. “It’s going to be a little bit of an adjustment to call it something else when I’m advising students,” Henson said. “When I’m advising students, I always say ‘what’s your 991?’ and I’ll probably have to get out of that habit, but that’s okay. I don’t expect it’ll make my job too complicated.” Some students don’t view the change as a big deal, but also think that the change will take time to get used to. Fatimah Aldawood, freshman public health sciences major, said that the change doesn’t really matter and wouldn’t affect operations on campus very much. Froy Vega, a sophomore business management major, said he believes that they’re doing what is necessary for future Sycamores, but thinks that the change could cause some confusion at times. The use of “991” has been around for about 16 years. “The 991 number has been in effect since the early 2000’s. This numbering scheme was developed in order to reduce the use of Social Security Number as a commonly-used identifier for most departments on campus, due to security and identity theft concerns related to Social Security Number that had emerged by that time,” Spence said.

Website title: Student Number changed to University Username