Virginia.edu Subdomain Naming Standard

Table of Contents

1.  Purpose and Background
2.  Standards
     a) Third Level Domain Name Requirements
     b) Fourth Level Domain Name Requirements
3.  Definitions
4.  Related Links
5.  Exceptions

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1. Purpose and Background

The University of Virginia’s subdomain naming standard for the virginia.edu domain is designed to eliminate duplicates, avoid conflicts, minimize ambiguity, and better support University branding efforts.

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2. Standards

Third Level Domain Name Requirements

Information Technology Services (ITS) and University Communications (UC) will approve third level domain names (e.g. abc.virginia.edu) requests based on the following criteria:

  • Proposed names must:
    • meet at least one of the following conditions:
      • reflect the name of the University organizational unit (e.g., division, college, or department) or a consortium of many different organizations from inside or outside the university (e.g. communications.virginia.edu)
      • be a university-wide resource that is not clearly associated with any single department or unit (e.g. sustainability.virginia.edu)
      • be a resource offered to people or groups from outside the university that are not familiar with the University’s internal organizational structure (e.g. presidentialsearch.virginia.edu)
    • originate from an academic or administrative unit of the University including:
      • schools
      • departments
      • centers
      • institutions or administrative organizational units
    • contain at least 2 characters (e.g. it.virginia.edu)
    • be comprised of only letters, numbers, and hyphens
  • Proposed names must not:
    • be for individuals or student groups
    • be a generic word that would easily apply to multiple areas within the University (e.g. database.virginia.edu).
    • be a name that would conflict with potential University sites or services (e.g research.virginia.edu).
    • be likely to change in the foreseeable future
    • contain more than 63 characters
    • begin or end with a hyphen
    • contain trademarked or copyrighted names owned by non-University entities
    • be controversial, offensive, or misrepresent their purpose.

Any existing third level domain names that do not meet these standards were either approved exceptions or legacy domains created prior to this standard. The existence of these domains is not considered precedent setting.

ITS and UC reserve the right to deny any third level domain name for reasons not stated above.

Fourth Level Domain Name Requirements

ITS and UC will approve fourth level domain name (e.g. def.abc.virginia.edu) requests that meet the following criteria:

  • request is made from the organization associated with the third level domain name.
  • requested name meets the following technical criteria:
    • contains only letters, numbers, and hyphens.
    • does not start or end with a hypen.
    • is 63 characters or fewer and when paired with the third level domain name, does not exceed 255 characters (including the dots).
  • requested name must not:
    • contain trademarked or copyrighted names owned by non-University entities
    • be controversial, offensive, or misrepresent their purpose.

ITS and UC reserve the right to deny any fourth level domain name for reasons not stated above.

Request a third or fourth level subdomain for virginia.edu via the Service Portal.

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3. Definitions

See the list of definitions for the Acceptable Use, Data Protection, Information Security, and Privacy & Confidentiality policies.

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4. Related Links

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5. Exceptions

If you think you need to request an exception to these requirements, please refer to the Exceptions Process.

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APPROVER: Chief Information Officer