Administrators are limited by Pronoun feature... please update!

[ngugliucci]

I can see through past posts that users have been asking for this update for several years.

Though we appreciate the inclusion of user-chosen pronouns, allowing only one selection from a list is inadequate. Some people use multiple sets of pronouns. In order to accommodate this, administrators have to list out many possible combinations which becomes unwieldy. A solution to this is to allow users to choose multiple sets of pronouns from the list. I'm working with IT admins who really want to be as inclusive as possible, but they are limited by the functionality provided. Inclusivity can be be greatly improved by taking this one step further. The "Please ask" option is not sufficient when there are such common combinations such as "she/they" or "they/he" that people use.

Additionally, no pronoun list will EVER be complete. An "enter your pronouns" text box would allow for this. I understand that this is a slightly more complicated feature, as an unrestricted text box could be misused. However, this may be a solution that can eventually be thought through and managed properly with "word block lists" and the like.

Please note: I am not looking for suggestions on what to add to a list of pronouns. I have already talked to my local IT administrators about this. They are already doing what they can! From what I can tell at this point, the multiple-choice and/or text-entry feature needs to be implemented further up the chain at Canvas/Instructure. If that is incorrect, and there is a way that local administrators can enable these options already, I would be glad to know how so I can pass along that information.

I thank you all for your time and hard work. 

[emlarson · Accepted solution]

We developed a workaround for this exact issue, which I realize might be unwieldy depending on your institution's size and might not be possible if your SIS feed isn't configured like ours:  The "feed" of the pronoun field isn't limited by what's in Canvas' dropdown menu.  We have a default set available to choose from the GUI, but on the handful of occasions where something different is requested through our Tech Desk, I create a one-line feed file with that person's preference and upload it through the SIS import.  We caution the requestor that if they flip to something different in the GUI they can't flip back to what we gave them, because it doesn't really exist in the system - it's just a custom manual edit, but one that seems to stick reliably through all our usual feed updates.

[jacobse]

Hi,

I saw you recent solution using the SIS Import feature, however it was my understanding that Canvas didn't support importing of pronouns.  Is that a recent change to the product and SIS import structure that allows for pronoun imports from SIS or a unsupported import process?

Additionally i am wondering if anyone has found a solution for not being able to update existing pronouns entered by the LMS administrator as my understanding is once its entered, we make changes and were told our only option was delete and re-create which removes that pronoun selection from users that had previously set it as their option?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.