New UCDenver domain name Q&A
Beginning in April, the University of Colorado Denver will convert to a new computer
domain name: UCDenver.edu.
What does this mean to me?
Starting at the end of April, all UC Denver faculty, staff, and students will be converted
to an email address that will end with UCDenver.edu.
Our primary website address will change to UCDenver.edu.
UCDHSC.edu will no longer be available after August 2008.
Anyone typing in the old e-mail addresses or Internet addresses (other than
UCDHSC.edu) will be forwarded to the new address through June 2010.
When will this happen?
Individual computers and e-mail addresses will be converted to UCDenver.edu starting
at the end of April 2008. Application servers and computer resources will be converted to
the new domain name by October 2009.
A schedule for department migration to the new computing environment is currently
being developed. A process will be defined for notifying departments prior to the
migration as well as follow-up when the migration has been completed.
Pilot testing of the new computer accounts and email addresses is anticipated to start in
March. If your department is interested in participating, contact the IT Services Help
Desk: 303-315-4357 downtown; 303-724-4357 AMC.
Website addresses will begin migrating to UCDenver.edu this fall.
Why are we doing this?
The agency that oversees "edu" domain names requires that universities have only one
primary domain name. We have been operating under an exception to this rule since
consolidation in 2004. UCDHSC.edu will be taken away in August 2008; CUDENVER
and UCHSC retire at the end of 2010.
A single domain name reflects the new name of the combined university.
A single domain will allow easier communication between the campuses. In addition, email servers will be upgraded in the process, boosting service levels for end users.
A single domain allows use of new communication tools, such as listening to e-mail on
the phone; reading voice-mail on your computer; and coordinating schedules by phone.
These new features will be available after the domain conversion is completed.
What do you want me to do?
The first thing end users will notice after their computer is converted to UCDenver.edu is
that when they log in (e.g. after pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL on Windows operating
systems), they will have a new domain name choice. When you see "university" among
the log-in domain choices, you may choose it. It becomes your default domain at log in,
so you won't have to manually choose it again. From then on, your e-mail address ends in
UCDenver.edu.
If you experience any difficulties, contact your department IT support person or call the
IT Services Help Desk: 303-315-4357 downtown; 303-724-4357 AMC.
Your e-mail, calendar, and other Outlook settings will automatically be migrated to your
new e-mail account. You may wish to customize your e-mail signature to call attention to
your new address. Please do not print new business cards until the new brand identity and
logo have been finalized.
If you are in charge of your school or department computers, it’s important to start testing
departmental application servers with the new computing environment. This is especially
important for custom or homegrown applications that use the old domain names. Please
contact the IT Services Help Desk to arrange for testing and migration of your computer
resources. Departmental application and server testing is anticipated to start in April
2008.
Do I have to be at my computer when it is converted to UCDenver.edu?
No. The conversion will be done in conjunction with your department IT support person
and/or automatically by IT Services.
What about our department servers?
End users will be able to access their department servers before, during, and after the
migration of their machines and e-mail. The servers themselves will begin to be migrated
in April, with a schedule to be worked out with each school, college, and/or department.
All UCDHSC servers must be migrated by August 2008, when that domain name is
retired.
What about our internet site?
Internet sites will be re-designed as part of the change to a new domain name and a new
brand identity. Re-design work has begun behind the scenes. UCDHSC internet sites will
be migrated by August 2008, when that domain is retired. The first wave of re-designed
websites will be unveiled for the public in fall 2008. Subsequent waves of re-designs will
roll out through 2009.
In the interim, the UCDenver.edu address will point to the university's main entry page
(currently UCDHSC.edu). This fall, requests to link to the new address should be made to
Steve.Krizman@cudenver.edu or Bob.Tolsma@cudenver.edu. To avoid confusion,
printed materials will continue to use the old addresses until the conversion is nearly
complete. The cudenver.edu and uchsc.edu addresses will re-direct users to the new
address through the end of 2010.
How will this domain name change impact VPN connections?
At this time, all computing services including Virtual Private Networking (VPN) will be
migrated forward with no impact. IT Services is currently testing a new VPN service that
would be available to all faculty, staff, and students once the migration to the new
domain has been completed.