There are many benefits to creating your departmental folder structure in this way. This structure maintains a good system of permissions and only allows select users to manage their folders. You should only give co-owner access to mangers and people who oversee units or departments. The co-owner role allows for a manager to add, delete, and modify folders and users as needed.
While the folder structure is flexible, we recommend that the folder hierarchy in your departmental Box account reflect the structure of your department. This means that you should make managers of each department the co-owners of their specific department folders. Managers assigned as co-owners to department folders can create all the necessary sub-folders and manage the users and content in those folders. Any subsequent collaborators should be brought in as Editors or whichever permission level applies to that user and folder. Co-owner is the highest level of permission that should be given in the departmental account. The following image is a sample organization chart to demonstrate the best practice of building your folder structure in box.com.
Now here's the file structure you would want to create in Box:
Folders for External Projects in the Department
It is recommended that the Department Admin create some folders outside of the ordinary structure to allow for collaborations that may exist outside of the ordinary realm of the department. If there are cross-campus collaborations, or work with outside contractors, then it would be beneficial to create a separate folder so that the permissions remain clean. In the image below, you can see a folder that I have created called “External Projects.” This is where you can put external projects to the department.
The Importance of the Departmental Admin Creating Department Folders
It is recommended that the Department Admin be the only person to create folders at higher levels. This ensures a smooth transition if that departmental admin should ever leave or transfer from the department. Department Admins should be logged into their department account and not their own personal account when creating high-level folders. Department Admins should not invite themselves (i.e. invite their individual account to be co-owner) to be co-owners of folders for easier management. Doing this, gives the co-owner access to content and search results that extend beyond the permissions that should be allocated to them.
