News

[Text of memo sent to PSU staff and faculty the week of November 8, 2004.]

The University has begun a process to convert PSU identification numbers from individuals' social security number to a randomly generated number. The University is making this change to minimize the risk of ID fraud, to protect privacy, and to comply with recent state and federal regulations.

The first phase of this conversion is to assign a new nine-digit ID number to everyone having a record in the PSU Banner Information System. In this first phase, the new ID has been designated as an alternative ID and will have no immediate impact on campus computing processes or business transactions which employ a social security number as the ID.

All students will receive notification of their new ID number in early November. During the transition months ahead, students may reference either the social security or the new PSU ID number when speaking of their student status. Until the transition to new identification numbers is complete, both ID numbers are populated in the Banner Student Information System. The PSU BI Query Data Warehouse now also includes an identification table that can be used to cross-reference student social security numbers with new ID numbers. At this time, the Banner Student Information System and the Date Warehouse reference tables allows you and your staff to access student records using either number in the ID field of any Banner form.

Faculty and staff members will soon receive notification of their new identification number from the Department of Human Resources. Note that anyone who has already been issued a non-social security number as a Portland State ID number will not be impacted. These students, faculty and staff will keep their present ID numbers.

You are encouraged to review all document filing or computer-based systems in your department or area of responsibility to determine if they are impacted by this PSU ID number conversion. Beginning Winter Term 2005, student social security numbers as IDs will be phase out and replaced with new randomly-generated ID numbers.

The Office of Information Technology will host information sessions to answer questions about data conversion to the new ID number system at

• 11:00 a.m. on November 8, 15, and 29 in 329 Smith Memorial Student Union, and
• 11:00 a.m. on November 9, 16, and 30 in 390 School of Business Administration.

If you have other questions or concerns, please contact your tech support staff or Cindy Baccar, 5-5533, in the Office of Admissions, Registration and Records.