By
Daniel Scarpinato
Arizona Summer Wildcat
State statute will allow current students to keep their Social Security numbers as a form of identification.
UA officials have decided not to reassign identification numbers to current students despite a state statute that limits the use of an individual's social security number.
Bob Lancaster, interim coordinator for CCIT, said that the decision not to convert the numbers was made after CCIT officials determined that the system would have to be taken out of service for several days in order to accommodate the switch.
Although Lancaster did not have exact numbers, he said approximately 12,000 to 15,000 employee numbers had to be changed.
He said that over time there would be nearly 500,000 student ID numbers that would have to be changed and reassigned.
"The magnitude was just massive," he said. "This conversion will still satisfy the law requirement."
The conversion, which has been downsized a great deal from its original expectation, must be completed by June 2002, according to the statute.
Rather than converting all student numbers, incoming students will receive new assigned numbers and existing students will hold onto theirs with the option of getting a new one.
The system will not, however, be ready for new student ID numbers until sometime in mid-fall, Lancaster said. Incoming students will still receive their Social Security numbers unless they specify otherwise.
The first students to receive the computer-generated numbers will be the incoming students of 2002.
At that point, students who want to use their SSN for identification can submit a form to have it changed.
Lee Martine, a non-degree seeking student, said that keeping his SSN for identification is not a problem for him.
"I think its OK," he said. "You don't have to memorize a new number."
Sara Womeldorff, a secondary education senior, works in student admissions and doesn't see why a change would be necessary.
"We can't give out Social Security numbers, even if we know the person," she said. "Plus everything else uses the Social Security number today. I don't mind."
The system has already been accommodated to handle the new employee ID numbers, Lancaster said.
These ID numbers, which have been converted a year before the deadline, will require one more technical step before they can be used by employees.
Lancaster explained the system will need to be programmed to read the numbers.
That process will take place this weekend, and after that employees can be identified on the computer system using the new numbers.
Michele Norin, an outreach coordinator for CCIT, said that employees' first opportunity to use the numbers will be for an online benefits open enrollment process scheduled for August 13.
"We have just this past week notified employees of their new numbers," Norin said. "We've heard fairly positive feedback, not much negativity."
CCIT will allow several months for other departments to get ready for the switch.
