UVU Domain Names

Initial posting on Web and announcement via UVLink: 10.8.08

The following domain name procedure was approved by Web Advisory Council on 8.20.08 and was then presented to President Hitch on 8.21.08.  Soon thereafter it was presented to President's Council on Thursday 8.28.08.

Rationale for a Domain Name Requirement

All web sites and other internet sites used to conduct Utah Valley University activities must contribute to the overall mission of the university and be consistent with the highest standards of academic and professional conduct. In addition, all sites must clearly identify the UVU connection and must be officially recorded with UVU. Since colleges, departments and other units are a subset of the University, domain names are expected to reflect an association with the University. Maintaining a consistent Web presence at uvu.edu also allows the highest possible search ranking results and ensures our ability to statistically track Web usage via Google Analytics.

UVU Unified Domain Name Requirement

In order to create a cohesive Web identity and to ensure the integrity of the University's commitment to a unified Web presence, the University has established the following guidelines with respect to domain names:

1. The principal domain name for the Utah Valley University is "uvu.edu". All websites that are funded and/or sponsored by the University are required to have uvu.edu-based web address. This includes all websites for academic, administrative, student-sponsored and/or other organizational units within the University.
2. Unless otherwise permitted as described below in the section “Domain Namespace other than uvu.edu”, University funds may not be used to purchase or maintain non-uvu.edu domain names.
3. Organizational units within the University do not have the authority to register Internet domain names on behalf of the University or their respective organizational unit. Web Development Services is the official institutional contact and registrant of domain names on behalf of the University.
4. Services provided by University affiliates may be registered under the uvu.edu domain, or may be registered outside of the uvu.edu domain.

THIRD LEVEL DOMAIN NAMES

Third Level Domain Names Defined

An individual domain name is generally categorized by the number of levels. For example, uvu.edu is a second-level domain because it has two levels and woodbury.uvu.edu is a third-level domain because it has three levels. Levels are counted from the far right of the domain name to the left. Any domain names with the same first and second level labels are considered to be within the same namespace. So, woodbury.uvu.edu and ce.uvu.edu are both in the uvu.edu namespace and both are third-level domain names.

Requesting a Third Level Domain

Sub-domain names are a logical representation of a subset of the uvu.edu domain.   Examples include "unitname.uvu.edu" or "officename.unitname.uvu.edu". There will be a $40 per year charge for each third-level domain name created. Third-level domains can be requested through Web Development Services.

SUBDIRECTORIES

Users may request a subdirectory other than their default subdirectory on uvu.edu which redirects to their default directory.  Examples of subdirectories would be of the form “www.uvu.edu/unitname/”. There will be a $40 per year charge for each subdirectory name created and redirected.

DOMAIN NAMESPACE OTHER THAN UVU.EDU

Domain names outside uvu.edu may be allowed if all the following conditions are met:

1. The proposed name will be used by many people from many different organizations outside UVU.
2. The proposed name is not likely to be confused with the name of a UVU department or unit.
3. The proposed name signifies an organization or venture, commercial or noncommercial that is not explicitly part of UVU.
4. The proposed name is for a project with external funding.
5. The proposed name has the explicit approval of the university central administration or dean, director, or departmental executive officer of the college, center, institute, or equivalent unit to which the name would be associated.

Below are some reasons that domain names outside the UVU namespace (uvu.edu) may be purchased and hosted at UVU.

• Facilitate collaboration between UVU and non-UVU groups
• External organizations that have been approved to be hosted by the University which are not wholly owned or controlled by the University. Examples of this exception include non-UVU organizations, professional affiliations, consortia, and cooperatives in which UVU is a member institution.
• Certain institutes or centers that have statewide missions and that may be specifically authorized/established and/or funded by the state legislature.