Grouper: Learn About the Grouper Org Tree

Learn About the Grouper Org Tree and App Tree.

In this article:

• App Tree vs. Org Tree – What's the Difference
• Dual Tree Advantage
• Requesting Grouper or Consultation

App Tree vs. Org Tree – What's the Difference

App Tree (also referred to as App Stem)

Grouper app stems house policies that control access to specific resources, systems, and applications. 

Who 

Policies grant access to specific users subsets (e.g., all staff, All Morris faculty, all UMD students) and can be as general or granular as needed. (For example, we can limit access to a specific course resource, enrollment period, system campus, etc.)

What 

Policies also determine what an authorized user can do once provided access to the resource. For example, if the resource is door access to the dorm, a student has different privileges than the dorm maintenance staff. 

Org Tree
 

The Grouper Org Tree will run concurrently with the Grouper App Tree. Whereas the App Tree houses policies that map to systems and resources, Org tree groups are user populations that can be added as essentially pre-made reference groups to policy groups in the App Tree or the Org Tree. 

Examples of Org Tree Setup for Academic Units and Business lines 

• Academic Unit
  
• Business Line
  

Dual Tree Advantage

Management of specific user populations through the Org tree allows greater simplicity, flexibility and efficiency for groups that already exist in the App Tree (sometimes referred to as the "app stem.") 

The old way

An OIT team manages 10 different systems in Grouper. When a new developer joins this OIT  team, they need to be added as members to 10 different app stem groups.  

The new (dual tree) way

All 10 systems managed in Grouper include an org tree reference group for developers. When a new developer joins the team, they are added to the org tree ref group, and automatically given membership into the 10 different systems.

Instead of adding the new developer to 10 groups, you add them to just one group. 

Dual Tree Diagram

Requesting and Managing Grouper

Grouper is available to University employees who submit a Grouper Access Request Form. 

Once an ARF is submitted, the Grouper team can help you figure out a Grouper solution that works best for your unique needs. You may need an app tree, an org tree, or a combination of the two.
Once the trees are built and tested, the Grouper team hands over maintenance to the administrators you assign from your team who are granted access to add or remove members to groups, and other admin functions. 

If you've never submitted an Org Tree request, there are a few extra fields to fill out. Please see Onboarding to Org Tree for more information.