What we are called at Linnaeus University

Principles

Designations of faculties, departments, offices etc. should be used in full in all external communication; in internal communication, on the other hand, abbreviations may be used. Swedish abbreviations are not translated, but are used in English too, in line with many other Swedish authorities’ practice (e.g., SCB, CSN, BRÅ, IVO etc.). When applicable, designations take the definite form (e.g., institutionen för design/the Department of Design, fakulteten för Teknik/the Faculty of Technology, etc.).

In Swedish, we follow the national standard for language use (Myndigheternas skrivregler and Svenska skrivregler). This means that

• designations of faculties, departments, offices etc., as well as job and functional titles, are normally written with lower-case letters when they appear inside a sentence, but with upper-case initial letters (on the first word only in multi-word designations) when they appear at the beginning of a sentence or on their own (on signs, in headings etc.)
  Examples:
  
  Det finns nio institutioner vid fakulteten för teknik.
  Hon arbetar vid institutionen för marknadsföring.
  Mötet öppnades av dekan Anders Andersson.
  Ledamöterna utses av rektor.
  Kommunikationsavdelningen har fått en ny språkresurs.

• designations that refer to a unique referent rather than to something that is typically found at all universities/all faculties etc. at the university, and that furthermore function as names rather than as descriptors, are always written with initial upper-case letters.
  Examples:
  
  Vid Linnéuniversitetet har vi ca 2 000 anställda.
  Mötet med Fojo ledde till en rad nya förslag.

Sometimes it may be hard to determine whether a certain designation should be looked upon as a name or not, and according to the national standard, the distinction is not absolute. The general recommendation, however, is that if you are in doubt, you should use lower-case letters.

In English, the following applies:

• Names for unique referents and designations of faculties, departments, offices, etc., are written with upper-case initial letters on all content words.
  Examples:
  
  There are approximately 2 000 employees at Linnaeus University.
  There are nine departments at the Faculty of Technology.
  She works at the Department of Marketing.

Note, however, that designations of committees, groups etc., that clearly describe functions rather than constitute names, and that are often used to refer to more than one referent, are written with lower-case letters throughout.
Examples:

The matter will be discussed by the syllabus committee for languages and communication. Study plans are approved by the respective doctoral supervisory committees.

• Job and functional titles are normally written with lower-case letters throughout, except when they function as appositives.
  Examples:
  
  Members are appointed by the vice-chancellor.
  The head of department will notify those affected by the decision.
  The meeting was opened by Dean Anders Andersson.
  The students were greeted by Head of Department Anders Andersson.
  
  (In the last two examples, the titles function as appositives; consequently, upper-case initial letters are used for all the content words)

In the following list, we have used lower- and upper-case letters in accordance with how the different names and designations should be written when they appear inside sentences (and are not used as appositives), in Swedish and English respectively.

Tables with English and Swedish names

For tables listing English and Swedish versions of all organisational units and titles, see the Swedish version of this page here.