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Facilities Inventory: Facility Naming

Last updated: August 5, 2015
Content created: April 16, 2014

Back to the Facilities Inventory Documentation

Current fields in the Facility Inventory System describing facility names include the following:

15-character name
(All capitalized) used by Facilities and CIT in various web pages and web views for other systems’ consumption.

25-character name
(All capitalized) This name is required by the State University of New York (SUNY) and not used at Cornell University.

Facility Name (limited to 30-characters)
This is the most commonly used name.  Many computer systems use this name, including the website "Find Facility Information".  This name is limited to 30 characters, the character limit in the mainframe which previously housed the inventory system.

Facility Full Name (Official Name)
This is the official full name of the facility and can be up to 500 characters long.  Every building should have an official full name.  Many buildings do not have an entry in this field at the time of the writing of this document.

Facility Nickname
Any previous name, as well as known nicknames. When any other name field is changed, the replaced name is moved to the nicknames field, so that no name is ever lost.  One facility can have multiple nicknames.  The nicknames help searching in the "Find Facility Information" web pages.

CU directory name
This name matches the 30-character name and is populated only when a building is a primary location for staff within Tompkins County.

Principles for Naming

  • Determine the Full Facility Name.
  • When possible, use the 30-character limit for the 30-character name as the starting point for the official/full name.  Try to use the same name for the "Facility Name" and "Facility Full Name".
  • Try to use an acronym (first letter(s) of each word) before an abbreviation (removing letters).
  • When abbreviating:
    • Remove spaces between words as the first preference.
    • Remove vowels before consonants.
    • Do not use periods.
    • Use the list of Recommended Standard Abbreviations (Confluence link, NetID login required) proposed by the Space Planner wherever possible.
  • For non-Ithaca facilities, use the first few letters in the name to identify the geographic location.  Use these letters consistently in other facilities in the same area.  Examples include GNVA Jordan Hall in Geneva and LI Duck Hatchery Building on Long Island.
  • Small buildings within Tompkins County with highly changeable programs should be named using the street name, the street number, and a program name.  An example is "Thurston Ave 534, Zeta Psi".
    • Naming facilities by address can create redundancies within “Who I Am” which uses the "CU Directory Name".  When in doubt, ask Facilities Inventory staff for guidance before using an address in a name.

Naming Conventions for Cooperative Extension Locations
The paperwork to assign the facility code and the appropriate name will be completed by the college occupying most of the space.  In order of appearance in the name:

  1. First three characters are:
    • CCE – if the facility is a county seat extension (not located in New York City)
    • Ext – if the facility includes extension but is not the county seat
    • Ext – if the facility is located in New York City
  2. Followed by college abbreviation
    • CHE, CALS and including all occupying colleges in order of most space occupied at the time of the facility name assignment
  3. Followed by the name of the location
    • County if it is in the county seat and not in New York City
    • City if it is not in the county seat
    • Borough if it is located in NYC
  4. Followed by street number; if there is more than one facility in the location

Special Considerations:

  • A name should not have both CCE and Ext.
  • The ILR School is now uses “Outreach” instead of “Extension” when referring to the school’s off campus activities.  "ILR Extension" has become "ILR Outreach".

Examples (assigned in FIS):

1441:  Ext CHE_Queens_164 = extension location for CHE in Queens borough.  The location includes more than one address so 164 is included as street number.

1004H:  ILR MAIN ST 237, BUFFALO = ILR outreach location.

3960Q:  CCE Delaware = Cooperative Extension County Seat for Delaware County with no Cornell presence.

Some Naming Ideas

  • For small utility buildings, consider using the name of a department or program followed by the facility’s type or function.  Examples include "Freeville Entomology Shed 2", "Ornithology Barn", and "NEAS Dog Kennel Facility".
  • For facilities not located within a Cornell complex of buildings, consider using the unit or program name followed by a geographic area.  "Public Affairs Western Region" is an example.
  • Buildings named by function are fine. Examples include "Field House" and "Gasoline Storage Shed".
    • Within one campus, consider appending the location for multiple facilities of the same function, for example "Traffic Booth – Carpenter Hall".

Other Points

  • Any honorific name identified to recognize one or more people needs to be approved by the Committee for Names and Memorials.  The committee is administered by Alumni Affairs & Development.
  • Changing the name of a major building on central campus requires approval by the Committee for Names and Memorials.
    • There is no definition for "major building"; non-major buildings include sheds and greenhouses.
    • Central campus is loosely defined as the Facilities Inventory definition of Core Campus (between the gorges).
  • Applying an honorific name to a SUNY-owned (01) building, or changing an existing honorific name on a SUNY-owned building, requires that Contract College Facilities submit a letter to SUNY informing them of the change before it is implemented on the building or in the inventory.   See samples in the Facilities Document Archive, e.g., record number 553_016 for King-Shaw Hall.
  • Changing the name of a facility can have a BIG impact on many people (think emergency response, phone and data connections, mail, etc.).  Tread lightly.  When in doubt, leave a name alone.