Functional names developed and chosen for university units, programs and associated entities (e.g. centers and institutes) must adhere to the following conventions:
- Names must reflect the nature of the activities conducted and services provided under that moniker.
- To the greatest extent possible, names should be succinct and concise, and fashioned so as not to create confusion with any existing entity under the UB umbrella. Names should explicitly describe the entity’s relationship to the university—for academic units, this should reference “department,” “center,” “institute” or similarly descriptive noun; officially-recognized student organizations should reference “club,” “group,” “team,” “chapter,” or the like.
- Names must be respectful of, and not include, other copyrighted names or phrases either within or beyond the copyrighted assets of the university.
- Gratuitous use of “UB” in lieu of the phrase “you be,” such as UB Learnin’ or UB Safe, is categorically not permitted.
- When beginning the development of a unit, program or entity name, do not begin with a desired acronym and engineer a name to fit. This often results in strained and confusing names that sacrifice clarity and meaning for “creativity.” Similarly, in an acronym-inclined culture, be cognizant of a desired name’s acronym to avoid embarrassing or inappropriate acronyms (e.g., “Academic Support Services”).
- Names must not include exponents, subscripts or superscripts, unnecessary articles (e.g., “The”) or punctuation, nor any other character that is not a letter or number.
Should any facet of the university’s naming standards necessitate an adjustment or exception, a formal request must be lodged with University Communications for review and approval. All requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis, and will only be granted in alignment with a well-articulated and compelling business case.