AD97 Penn State Identification Numbers (PSU IDs)

CONTENTS:

• Purpose
• Further Information
• Cross References

PURPOSE:

It is the Policy of The Pennsylvania State University (“Penn State” or “the University”) to use the Penn State Identification Number (PSUID) as the primary identifier for faculty, staff, students, visitors, etc. This Policy is applicable to all members of the Penn State community and at all University locations and operations, and must be consistent with the principles set forth below: 

1. The PSUID is the University’s primary identifier for individuals with the affiliation of student, faculty, staff, or member, who require access to services, buildings, administrative and academic systems.  Efforts must be made to prevent assignment of multiple PSUIDs to the same individual.
2. The PSUID will not be publicly available, such as through the Penn State Directory.
3. The PSUID should never be part of the subject line of an email or printed on the address label of written correspondence, unless the full number is required (i.e. to notify an individual of his or her PSUID).
4. In order to issue a PSUID, individuals will be required to provide some personal information, which is necessary in order to perform identity matching and avoid issuing of duplicate PSUID numbers to individuals.
5. Students: A PSUID is issued to anyone applying or enrolling in University academic offerings - including credit and non-credit instruction. Students may be required to provide the PSUID when requested to obtain access to services at the University. 
   • NOTE: Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), the PSUID cannot be used to display a student's scores or grades publicly. This also precludes posting grades using only the last four digits of the PSUID.
6. Employees: All University employees are issued a PSUID.
7. Other Entities: There are other constituents associated with the University who may be issued a PSUID, who require access to University services/resources (e.g. Penn State access account).
8. If an assigned PSUID has been compromised and used fraudulently, a new PSUID number may be issued by the Identity and Access Management Office. 
9. Penn State id+ Cardholders are expected to take reasonable steps for safeguarding the confidentiality of the PSUID number displayed on the front of the ID card.  If an id+ card is replaced the PSUID number will remain the same upon reissuance of the ID card, but a new id+ number will be issued, as specified in University Policy AD24.

FURTHER INFORMATION:

For questions, additional detail, or to request changes to this Policy, please contact security@psu.edu. 

CROSS REFERENCES:

Other Policies should also be referenced, especially:

AD11, University Policy on Confidentiality of Student Records

AD24, Identification Cards for Students, Faculty/Staff, Affiliates, and Retirees

AD53, Privacy Policy

Revision History (and effective dates):

• May 30, 2018 - New policy