The following process outlines how to name and rename physical, academic and administrative entities at RISD. This process, which is overseen by Campus Services (Jack Silva, vice president), ITS (Rick Mickool, chief information officer) and Marketing & Communications (Kerci Marcello Stroud, chief marketing & communications officer), builds on the campus functional naming system that was created in fall 2019.

This process focuses exclusively on functional names. For guidance on philanthropic, honorific or sponsored names, which are given to recognize exceptional contributions, please see RISD’s Naming Policy, which is overseen by Institutional Advancement.

Background: Campus Naming System

In fall 2019, Jack Silva and Kerci Marcello Stroud proposed and Cabinet approved a functional naming system for physical, academic and administrative entities at RISD. The impetus for this proposal was that RISD had multiple ways of referring to a given campus facility or department and a lack of consistency in how to refer to similar entities. This created a negative experience for both visitors and the campus community, and led to frustration, inefficient workflows and safety risks.

To address these challenges, the naming system aimed to improve:

• accessibility by being
  • clear / direct (easily understood)
  • concise (titles need to fit on maps and signage at a reasonable point size)
  • logical (readily makes sense)
  • easily alphabetized (to reinforce logic)
• consistency through
  • minimalism (to avoid excess verbiage, punctuation and/or visual clutter)
  • alignment to RISD editorial styles
  • leadership commitment to using system in all communications going forward
• safety by emphasizing
  • street address prominence in all signage
  • addresses aligned to the city’s 911 system
  • only one listed entrance for each RISD building (tied to firebox location)
  • consistent use of building names in all campus communications (e.g. posters, newsletters, emails, campus calendar)

The resulting approved list of building and department names, which also reflects any spaces named by donors, can be found on the identity site under “building names, addresses and contents.”

Functional name creation and change process

The following process for functional naming and renaming of physical, academic and administrative entities, seeks to ensure names meet the criteria of our campus naming system (above); are introduced smoothly from an audience perspective; and as easily as possible for both the person requesting a name and teams involved in operationalizing functional name changes.

Process:

1. Sponsoring Cabinet member reviews and approves: The person requesting the change brings it to their Cabinet member for approval. The requesting person should consider the above RISD naming system criteria when proposing a name.
2. Marketing & Communications, ITS and Campus Services review and approve: The sponsoring Cabinet member sends the proposed name to the Campus Services vice president, chief marketing & communications officer (CMCO) and chief information officer (CIO) for review and workflow assessment. (Does the name meet the above criteria? Where will the name need to be changed?). They provide feedback and a feasible implementation timeline to the sponsoring Cabinet member.

• President reviews and approves: Once the sponsoring Cabinet member, Campus Services vice president, CMCO and CTO agree on the name, the sponsoring Cabinet member proposes the change to the president for approval.
• Sponsoring Cabinet member informs Cabinet: When the change is approved by the president, the sponsoring Cabinet member informs all Cabinet members of the planned name change and asks them to flag any questions or concerns.