University of Florida Identification Numbers
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UFID Proposal
MEMORANDUM
DATE: August 14, 2001
TO: Provost Colburn
FROM: Steve Pritz
SUBJECT: ID Policy Committee Recommendation
I appreciate the opportunity that you provided me to work with such a great group of committed professionals. They were all very supportive as we worked to develop a recommendation for a new University of Florida ID.
The ID Policy Committee unanimously recommends that the current social security number based ID be replaced with a new 8 digit public ID number that would be linked to a nine digit private number [the number that does not change (NDC)]. The private number would be the record key used by data processing systems and would not be disclosed publicly.
The link of the 8 digit number to the NDC (and other identifiers that might be attributed to a person) would be managed through a correspondence mechanism or directory [a campuswide directory is currently being designed by the Directory Subcommittee of the Cooperative Computing Initiative (CCI)] and will be proposed to you at a later date.
The following are the benefits of this proposal:
- The eight digit public number will prevent students from confusing it with their social security number when applying for federal financial aid.
- The public/private ID combination insulates internal systems from future public ID changes.
- By using a nine digit internal ID, the number of systems changes are reduced
- It provides a directory for additional identifiers such as phone numbers, pin numbers, Gator One, GatorLink, future PKI identifiers used in other software such as alumni systems, ERP systems, and library systems. This will lower future development costs and improve our ability to offer electronic services.
- The Directory Committee has worked for 2 years to develop its concept and proposal. If approved, it would provide the infrastructure necessary to implement this new ID technology.
The Directory Committee's proposal will provide implementation time estimates as well as estimated resources. Implementation resources required in each department will vary depending on the number of software programs and displays. Preliminary estimates are that the costs will be substantial. The goal is for departments to complete their local modifications simultaneously with the development of the central directory.
While all committee members contributed to this proposal, I want to especially thank Dr. Conlon for his guidance regarding the public/private number concept. He mentioned this to me early last year when I was doing research on ID options prior to you naming the Policy Committee. His creativity in modifying the concept both philosophically and functionally allowed the group to accept it from both an ergonomic and technical aspect
The work of the committee is documented at the following url: http://www.reg.ufl.edu/id-numbers/. Please let me know if you require additional information regarding the recommendation.
Steve Pritz
Office of the University Registrar
Email questions about the UFID number to ufid@ufl.edu
Email questions about the UF Directory project to directory@ufl.edu
Email questions about new Gator 1 card to ID Card Services at
dlooney@ufmail.ufl.edu or call (352) 392-8343.
