Domain Name Guidelines
Just as the “Block A” logo is a visual symbol of the University of Arizona brand, your domain name is a digital representation of our brand and your department, organization or group. It signifies to our audiences how they can find you, what your place is in the overall structure of the organization and what information they expect to find on your website.
The following guidelines will help you determine whether your department, organization, or group is eligible to apply for a domain name. Refer questions concerning these guidelines to brand@arizona.edu with the subject line Domain Name Guidelines.
Domain name requests are reviewed by the Brand Equity Review Board, consisting of leadership from University Marketing & Brand Management and Trademarks & Licensing. The Board meets weekly to provide feedback and direction on complex requests for logos, domain names, supporting graphics and signage. If you would like to meet with the Board on a brand equity topic, please contact Janice Simcoe.
Learn more about why carefully selecting domain names is important to you and to our brand.
Did you know the majority of University of Arizona sites get 60%+ of their traffic from Google? Caring for and curating the proper domain name will ensure that our brand reputation remains consistent and also helps our audiences find you in Google and other search engines.
Choosing a Domain Name
Domain names are an important aspect of web communications as they provide audiences with information about the affiliation and location of the organization with a particular URL. Strategic, well-formulated subdomains and subdirectories will help users navigate within the large complex ecosystem of arizona.edu. The following rules are designed to provide clarity for the University of Arizona community of marketers and communicators and maintain consistency for internal as well as external audiences.
Note: Any domain issued on behalf of the University, must also not violate the University of Arizona’s “Acceptable Use of Computers and Networks Policy.”
All web sites that represent a University of Arizona administrative unit, school, college, department, service, center, institute or event must be registered within the arizona.edu domain. URLs that contain .com, .net, .org, etc. are not permitted. Use of our trademarked brand elements will not be permitted on domains outside of our University network unless with permission from the Brand Equity Review Board and Trademarks & Licensing.
A subdomain is a part of the main Arizona.edu domain and is used to differentiate areas of the University from one another while also maintaining itself as a member of the overall University identity and brand. Subdomains are reserved for university schools and colleges, departments, and other official groups within the University. It can also be used for official services and products. For example, the Libraries, the Alumni Association, the Foundation and university-wide applications (uaccess, uaconnect, etc.) are official University departments, groups and services and are eligible for a branded domain name.
In some cases, approval must be given by the Brand Equity Review Board before securing a particular subdomain name.
If a subdomain is not deemed appropriate for the requested business function or goal of the website, a subdirectory to Arizona.edu may be requested. In some cases a subdirectory may already exist, so it is important to check with your web administrator or email brand@arizona.edu for assistance.
- All departments, administrative units, centers and institutes must be contained within the root directory of the unit to which they report.
- University-wide administrative units and campuses will reside in a root directory of arizona.edu.
- Departments, centers and institutes within the schools and colleges, the Provost's Office and Student Affairs will reside in a directory under their reporting unit.
- Student organizations will reside under the directory www.arizona.edu/students.
Good Examples of Branded Subdomains and Subdirectories:
SUBDOMAINS:
- Office of the President: president.arizona.edu
- UITS: it.arizona.edu
- UAccess: uaccess.arizona.edu
- Human Resources: hr.arizona.edu
- Social & Behavioral Science: sbs.arizona.edu
SUBDIRECTORIES:
- Admissions: arizona.edu/admissions
- Degree Search: arizona.edu/degree-search
- CAPLA School of Architecture: capla.arizona.edu/academics/school-of-architecture
- Scholarship Universe: financialaid.arizona.edu/scholarshipuniverse
Root Level URLs for Marketing Purposes:
If a unit has a long web address that is difficult to share effectively, they can ask to have a shorter redirect link from the main university website. The University of Arizona Brand Equity Review Board will evaluate these requests to be considered for approval.
To be eligible for a redirect, the following conditions must be met:
- The link will be used by many people outside the university who may not be familiar with its internal structure. For example, a link like arizona.edu/orientation would be visited by all admitted students each year.
- The proposed name for the redirect should not be ambiguous on its own, without any additional department or unit qualification. Keyword-driven domains that don't include college, school, unit, or department names would require special permission. For example, technology.arizona.edu could refer to different departments, such as UITS or electrical and computer engineering. Permission for this type of subdomain must be approved by the Brand Equity Review Board.
- The senior administrator of the requesting unit must provide written approval for the proposed redirect URL before submitting the request to the Brand Equity Review Board.
Special Event URLs
Event web sites should be marketed under the URL for the unit that is hosting the event. Root level URLs are given only for university-wide events that are sponsored by multiple units and are held on a consistent basis.
Examples of root level URLs:
- commencement.arizona.edu
- orientation.arizona.edu
- homecoming.arizona.edu
- springfling.arizona.edu
- tedx.arizona.edu
Do’s and Do Not’s for Name Requests
Do submit for Brand Equity Review Board approval any request common names that can be used by multiple colleges or departments (environment, data, health). These are reserved for top-tier colleges and departments or programs that support high-level strategic initiatives.
Example: environment.arizona.edu
Do submit acronyms or initials for the college, department, center or institute for review and approval by the Brand Equity Review Board.
Examples: capla.arizona.edu, sbs.arizona.edu
Do use short and memorable subdomains, avoiding words like “office” or “department” if possible.
Do use specific language if there are multiple departments with similar names, for example, use "research-facilities" instead of just "facilities.
Do maintain only one active subdomain for groups/departments/units/colleges; older variants may be redirected to primary target.
Do format domain names in all lowercase.
Do limit the number of characters in your requests under 63.
Do not establish subdomains for temporary sites or for names expected to change.
Subdomains should not be used as shortcuts redirecting to other URLs.
Sites affiliated with multiple institutions and are not solely our organization should be registered on an unaffiliated .org domain.
Avoid using .com, .biz, or other commercial extensions for websites, and do not use our branding on these websites without express permission from our Trademarks & Licensing office.
Do not use names of individuals or student groups, unless it is the actual name of the division or college.
Example: frankehonors.arizona.edu
Any existing third level domain names that do not meet these guidelines were either approved exceptions or legacy domains created prior to this standard. The existence of these domains is not considered precedent setting.
Brand Equity Review Board reserves the right to deny any third level domain name for reasons not stated above.
Domain Name Submission
Submit your request here for your arizona.edu subdomain or marketing URLs.