Effective immediately, registered student organizations and other recognized student groups will be allowed to register groupname.studentorg.berkeley.edu subdomains for their organizational websites. Campus units will continue to be allowed to request top-level (unitname.berkeley.edu) subdomains.
Background
Student organizations were previously allowed to register top-level berkeley.edu subdomains (e.g. groupname.berkeley.edu). This practice was discontinued in September 2022 to better align with campus regulations regarding student organizations
Student organizations are an important part of the fabric of the student experience at UC Berkeley. The campus provides a number of resources to support student organizations through the LEAD CenterCalLink serves as the official directory for all student organizations.
The campus recognizes that many student organizations desire to have their own web presence as part of the berkeley.edu domain. Allowing student organizations to register groupname.studentorg.berkeley.edu subdomains balances the desire of student groups to convey their connection to UC Berkeley while clearly communicating the connection student groups have to UC Berkeley.
Why is this decision being made?
The berkeley.edu domain is an important campus resource and top-level subdomains convey an official status with the university and imply university control of the website. The campus has an obligation to ensure campus websites meet applicable university policies, including those relating to accessibility, privacy and security and support the mission of the university. This change will minimize confusion, more clearly convey the status of student organizations in relation to the campus, and preserve the ability for student groups to manage their websites as independently as possible.
Who made this decision?
Communications & Public Affairs is responsible for ensuring the appropriateness of berkeley.edu subdomains. Berkeley IT is responsible for administering the berkeley.edu domain. This decision was made in consultation with various campus units and after careful consideration of student feedback, including several meetings with the Open Computing Facility.
Why weren’t students consulted about this change?
Before making any final decisions, the campus met several times with the leadership of the Open Computing Facility. The OCF is a student-run organization and was consulted on this decision as they host the websites of roughly half of all student organizations. The feedback of the OCF leadership, as well as the results of a survey conducted by the OCF, were heavily considered as part of the decision-making process.
When does this decision go into effect?
Effective immediately, student organizations are able to request groupname.studentorg.berkeley.edu subdomains. As of Sept. 22, 2022, student organizations were no longer able to request top-level subdomains.
Student organizations with existing top-level subdomains (groupname.berkeley.edu) have until June 30, 2024 to transition their websites to a groupname.studentorg.berkeley.edu subdomain. Network Services is available to help with this process. Website administrators should contact dns@berkeley.edu to initiate this process.
Once transitioned, the previous top-level subdomain will be redirected to the new subdomain address through the end of the 2025-2026 academic year. This date was chosen in response to student feedback and to ensure a smooth transition, minimize confusion and allow groups time to deplete existing promotional materials referencing the old name.