Editor’s Note: This story is the first in a series about the new MyNIU system.

Students can expect major changes in how they interact with the university online.

The new student information system, dubbed MyNIU, will affect everything, said Brent Gage, assistant vice provost of enrollment services.

One of the changes in the new system is the emphasis on students’ Z-IDs. Only certain faculty members, such as the faculty at the financial aid office, will be able to see students’ social security numbers.

“But if you go to the financial aid office, they’re not going to ask, ‘What’s your social security number?’ They’re going to say, ‘What’s your Z-ID?’,” Gage said. “That would be the key to look everything up.”

Because of the new focus, Gage said that some offices on campus will have to change how they work. However, Gage could not offer any specifics.

Some students like Joe Tedeschi, freshman Spanish language & literature major, are positive about the new emphasis.

“It’s safer with all of the identity theft and what not. It’s Z-IDs; what’s the worse that could happen?” Tedeschi said. “You have to write [your social security number] down every time you go into the Foreign Language office. It’s on paper, so people can steal it.”

However, Gage insisted the new emphasis was only one of many changes in the MyNIU system.

“Our student records, the way grades are stored, the way transfer articulations work, the way the building system works and the way financial aid works,” Gage said. “[Every] way the university works with students; all of that is moving to a new platform.”

Gage described having the financial aid office and the Office of the Bursar operating on the same system as beneficial to students.

“When you do something, it happens immediately throughout the system because it’s an integrated system,” Gage said.

As for NIU’s current system, Gage described as being “antiquated” in terms of technology.

“It’s a complete change from simple to complex, in a very positive way,” Gage said.