Policy 5.2
Emory Domain Names
Responsible Official: VP for Information Technology & CIO
Administering Division/Department: Office of Information Technology
Effective Date: September 14, 2009
Last Revision: September 16, 2009
Policy Sections:
This policy explains the rules for assigning domain names to IT resources associated with Emory University and/or hosted on the Emory network.
This policy applies to any person who wishes to assign a domain name to computer resources associated with Emory and/or hosted on the Emory network.
However, this policy does not apply in these specific situations:
- Authorized Office of Information Technology (OIT) staff members routinely assigning domain names in the course of their jobs.
- Authorized Information Technology (IT) staff members for other departments assigning domain names in their department's subdomain, such as College IT assigning names under college.emory.edu.
Submit all domain name assignment requests to the Domain Name Review Committee at domainrequest@listserv.emory.edu.
The Committee consists of at least one representative from each of the following groups: UTS Web, UTS Networking, Communications & Marketing Web Office.
The Committee will consider the request and respond with a recommendation within five university business days. If the Committee recommends that the domain not be assigned as requested, the requester may amend the submission according to the Committee's recommendations and submit it again. If no agreement can be reached, the requester may appeal by sending an email request to the Vice President for Information Technology & CIO and the Vice President of Communications & Marketing.
The Committee will generally consider the following criteria in making its decision. This list is subject to change at the discretion of the Committee.
- If the domain will be used for a web site, has a mock-up design been completed?
- A mock-up design, either in images or HTML/CSS, shows that a certain level of planning has been done for the use of the domain.
- If the domain will be used for a web site, is the site closely related to an existing site?
- When possible, related sites should share a single domain name. For example, a new sub-site of it.emory.edu should use it.emory.edu/newsite/ rather than newsite.it.emory.edu or newsite.emory.edu.
- Is the requested domain under emory.edu, emory.net, eushc.org, or emoryhealthcare.org?
- For reasons of branding and consistency, Emory sites and services should use names under one of these domains. To be considered, a request for a name not under these domains must include specific business reasons why the name is necessary.
- Is the domain directly under emory.edu?
- Names directly under emory.edu are a limited resouce - the names must be unique, and the name space is shared by the entire community. Other name spaces such as service.emory.edu are much less contested.
- Does the name correspond to an existing official department?
- Official departments receive priority for domain names under emory.edu.
- Will the name be used for a web "redirect?"
- Domain names can serve as convenience aliases for longer and more cumbersome URLs. This use is acceptable but not preferred, especially in the case of multiple aliases for the same site.
- Is the requested name overly generic, or likely to be desirable for other uses?
- Because they are a limited resource, domain names should be as specific as possible.
- Is the requested name unnecessarily confusing?
- Sites and services should not use names that are very similar to existing names, or that suggest a use other than the intended one.
- Current Version of This Policy: http://policies.emory.edu/5.2
Subject Contact Phone Domain Name Review Committee the committee via listserv none domainrequest@listserv.emory.edu
Revision History
- Version Published on: Sep 16, 2009 (This policy is a significant update to 5.2 and replaces 5.2 and 5.3.)
- Version Published on: Mar 31, 2007 (Original Publication)