VIVO represents the entire UF organizational structure – all departments, divisions, programs and colleges. The data is pulled from authoritative sources (PeopleSoft DeptID), and non-computerized authoritative sources (various annual reports and web page descriptions). As such, VIVO at UF represents the most comprehensive representation of UF organization structure available. And as a result of the linked open data features of VIVO, the UF organization structure in VIVO is easily traversed by following links, easily maintained, and easily visualized.
Entering Organization Names
Organization names should follow the conventions described in the following sections.
Avoid Dashes and Slashes
Avoid dashes "-" and slashes "/" in organization names. Wanting to include them may mean you have two organizations being described. For example, instead of creating "US Department of Agriculture - Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service" create "US Department of Agriculture" as a Government Agency and "Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (USDA)" as a Department within "US Department of Agriculture”.
External Organizations
Clarify in the name of the external organization that the organization lies outside UF. To do this, specific the parent organization in parentheses as part of the organization name.
Examples
Flattened Hierarchy |
Root Organization |
US Department of Agriculture |
US Department of Agriculture |
Agriculture Research Service (USDA) |
US Department of Agriculture |
Imported Fire Ant and Household Insects Section, ARS (USDA) |
US Department of Agriculture |
Department of Neurology (Cornell) |
Cornell University |
Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School (Harvard) |
Harvard University |
Abbreviations
Don't use acronyms or abbreviations unless they are so well known that the full term is not used much. When you do use acronyms, avoid punctuation. The organizations profile page has a data property to allow the abbreviations to be added and searchable.
Examples
Abbreviation |
Recommended Use |
US |
United States |
NIH |
National Institutes of Health |
USDA |
US Department of Agriculture |
ARS |
Agriculture Research Service |
CMAVE |
Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology |
Classes
foaf: Organization |
A generic class encompassing several types of organizations |
Notes |
core: Association |
A formal organization of people or groups of people around a subject or practice |
|
core: Center |
A place where a particular activity or service is concentrated |
|
core: Clinical Organization |
Any organization with a significant clinical function as a matter of course and not just through occasional clinical roles |
|
core: College |
A primary academic unit within a University or a free-standing higher education organization without graduate degree programs |
|
core: Committee |
A group of people organized for a specific purpose (e.g., a reporting or advisory role), often with a charge and for a specific duration |
|
core: Consortium |
A group of independent organizations working together toward a common goal |
|
core: Department |
A distinct, usually specialized group of a large organization |
|
subcore: Academic Department |
A distinct, usually specialized educational group of a large educational organization |
|
core: Division |
An area of corporate activity organized as an administrative or functional unit |
|
core: Extension Unit |
A unit devoted primarily to extension activities, whether for outreach or research |
|
core: Foundation |
An institution financed by a donation or legacy to aid research, education, the arts, etc. |
|
core: Funding Organization |
A defined class of organizations that fund Grants |
|
core: Government Agency |
A government agency is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions |
|
core: Hospital |
An institution that provides medical, surgical, or psychiatric care and treatment for the sick or the injured |
|
core: Institute |
An Institute normally has a research focus but may also fulfill instructional or outreach roles |
|
core: Laboratory |
An organizational unit (as opposed to the physical facility) that performs research, provides services, or processes materials |
|
subcore: Core Laboratory |
A laboratory that exists primarily to conduct research vs. to provide services |
|
core: Library |
A collection of any materials, for study and enjoyment, which has been systematically arranged |
|
core: Museum |
A building or place where works of art, scientific specimens, or other objects of permanent value are kept and displayed |
|
ufVivo: Non-Governmental Organization |
A non-governmental organization (NGO) is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government |
|
core: Private Company |
A private company is one that is privately-owned, and thus, is not publicly-traded in the stock market. Members of the general public cannot purchase stock in a private company unless that company chooses to go public and become a public company |
|
core: Program |
An ongoing academic initiative not formalized with department or division status |
|
core: Publisher |
A person or company whose business is the publishing of books, periodicals, engravings, computer software, etc. |
|
core: Research Organization |
Any organization (likely also asserted as another class of Organization) with a primary, ongoing research function, not just through occasional roles |
|
core: School |
An institution for instruction in a particular skill or field |
|
core: Student Organization |
A student organization is an organization, operated by students at a university, whose membership normally consists only of students |
|
core: Team |
An informal organization brought together for the purposes of a project or event |
|
core: University |
An institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects, and provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education |
Report a missing UF Organization
VIVO represents the University of Florida reporting structure using UF Org class and "hasSubOrganization" predicate. VIVO makes traversing the UF organizational structure simple, and visualizing the UF org structure possible.
UF org structure is both hand curated and automatically ingested.
- The first level is the root organization the University of Florida. All other orgs report up to this org.
- The second level is just three organizations – The Board of Trustees, the Office of the President and the Faculty Senate. All other organizations report up through the Office of the President.
- The third level are those organizations reporting to the president. These include the four senior vice presidents – academic affairs, administration, health and agriculture, as well as some of the vice presidents. Other vice presidents report to one of the senior vice presidents.
- The fourth level are organizations reporting to the third level.
- Organization continues to go down through reporting structure. Some UF organizations are at level 7.
If you find a UF organization is missing in VIVO, please contact a VIVO implementation team member to address the issue. Creating a UF organization requires knowing the department organization codes and reporting structure.
