Web DNS Policy & Naming Guidelines

The Domain Name System (DNS) maps Internet Protocol (IP) numeric addressing schemes to descriptive names, so that individuals browsing the Internet do not have to remember numeric addresses.

ITS is responsible for administering the UWW.EDU domain officially acquired by the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater. In this capacity, ITS allocates, registers, arbitrates and maintains the "name space," guaranteeing best performance, fair use and compliance with DNS conventions and University of Wisconsin - Whitewater's policies.

Name Servers

All domains using University resources must reside on our domain name servers. ITS is responsible for the security, operation and maintenance for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater network, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Departments, colleges and other university units are not allowed to setup their own domain name servers. Units that host their own servers must request domain names from ITS, these names will be created and distributed on a case-by-case basis.

Other Domains

Support for other non-uww.edu domains will not be permitted. All hostnames for machines on the 140.146.x.x domain will reside in the uww.edu domain or sub domain. Users may not register their own domains for machines on the university network.

Exceptions

For an exception to this policy to be reviewed, the request must be initiated by the head of the requesting unit using a UW-Whitewater e-mail address. Requests must include the following information:

• A description of the purpose, function and nature of the organization and proposed domain name/website;
• An explanation for how the organization and the website are tied to the mission of the university;
• An explanation of how the requestor is associated or affiliated with the university;
• Affirmation that the request is not on behalf of a private business or commercial activity; and
• Contact information including e-mail and telephone.

E-mail exception requests to: helpdesk@uww.edu

Subdomains and Shortened URLs

Website addresses shall be short, intuitive and consistent with site-wide naming conventions. Maintaining such consistency and intuitiveness is a service to our Web visitors - Web addresses are easier to communicate and easier to remember.

Requirements

The webmaster will review subdomain and shortened URL requests for variations on the uww.edu domain name only for: campus-wide services and major units such as colleges, alumni, university library, camps, etc.

• Preferred format: go.uww.edu/service
• Names will adequately, appropriately and uniquely describe the unit/content while keeping the address as short as possible.
• Do not use spaces or any special characters (e.g. #, %) and use all lowercase letters.
• When necessary, use a hyphen to separate words.
• Watch for inappropriate words within the address, especially when combining words, such as student(s) should not be shortened to "stud", "std", etc.

Request Process

Requests for new subdomains or shortened URLs must be initiated by the head of the requesting unit using a UW-Whitewater e-mail address. Requests must include the following information:

• The proposed domain name of the service or unit and at least two alternate names in case of conflicting interests or existing names.
• A description of the purpose and function of the proposed domain name/website.
• E-mail request to: helpdesk@uww.edu
• All requests will be reviewed in a timely manner and a response will be communicated back to the requestor.