Penn State GitHub - About Organizations

GitHub Organizations give departments and teams a centralized space to collaborate on projects, manage access, and streamline workflows within shared repositories. By leveraging Organizations, teams can structure their repositories more effectively, work together seamlessly, and integrate third-party tools to boost productivity and development efficiency.

What is a GitHub Organization?

According to GitHub: “Organizations are shared accounts where businesses and open-source projects can collaborate across many projects at once, with sophisticated security and administrative features.”

On GitHub, repository URLs follow the format: https://github.com/<account>/<repo>

• If the repository is in your personal account, the <account> portion is your GitHub username.
• If the repository is in a GitHub Organization, the <account> portion is the Organization’s account name.

Within the Penn State Enterprise, your unit may already have a GitHub Organization. You can check the list of existing Organizations and owner contact information. Each entry includes a contact email—please use that email to request membership.

In addition, all Penn State GitHub users are automatically invited to the Penn State University Organization. This Organization includes GitHub’s core features at no additional cost, but does not provide premium add-ons (see our GitHub FAQ KB article for details). Its purpose is to give users a GitHub “home” when they don’t need extra features or when their unit doesn’t maintain its own Organization. User access there is managed through GitHub Teams.

Why should I create a new Organization?

You may want to create a separate GitHub Organization if:

• Add-on features are required. Your unit needs GitHub features that may incur additional costs, and no existing Organization covers those needs.
• Branding or visibility is important. Each Organization has a display name, and a shorter name appears in repository URLs, making your work easier to identify.
• You need a shared umbrella for multiple projects. An Organization can provide a central space for you and your colleagues to collaborate across many repositories.
• You require different administrative settings. A dedicated Organization allows you to configure policies and permissions independently of other groups.

Keep in mind that individual repositories have their own settings as well. In some cases, you may be able to achieve your goals without creating a new Organization. Refer to GitHub’s documentation before proceeding.

Things to think about before requesting a new GitHub Organization

• Management responsibility: Creating a new GitHub Organization means you are responsible for its management. Penn State's GitHub Enterprise Administrators can assist, but you and your co-owners are in charge.
• Your Organization has four attributes you must specify:
  • Organization Name:
    • A short name with no spaces. Example: psu-unit-name
    • We request a prefix of psu- followed by the name of your unit (e.g., psu-myorg).
    • If you have a justification for not using psu-, please note it in the request form.
    • It is part of every repository URL, must be unique, and should be descriptive.
    • A UMG based on this name will be created and set as the Organization’s email contact.
    • It is difficult to change later since it appears in every repository’s URL.
  • Display Name:
    • Appears as the title on your Organization's home page.
    • Can be longer, include spaces, and is easy to change.
  • Description (optional):
    • Appears under the Display Name on the Organization’s home page.
    • Can be longer and more detailed, and is easy to change.
• Suggestions:
  • Choose your Organization Name carefully—it is difficult to change later.
  • If internal to Penn State, consider using psu- as a prefix.
  • Check github.com to ensure the name is available.
  • Use your unit name as the Display Name. Add details in the Description.
  • Keep the Description brief.
  • Read the GitHub documentation on Organizations.
• Example:
  • Organization Name: psu-myorg
  • Display Name: Penn State Department of Me
  • Description: A department dedicated to the study of me. Website: nowhere.psu.edu/me
  • Email: umg-psu.dept.me@psu.edu

Each request must be approved by the GitHub Enterprise Administrators in Penn State IT.

Request your GitHub Organization using this ServiceNow form.

GitHub Organization documentation

About GitHub Enterprise accounts

Request an Organization within the Penn State GitHub Enterprise Service