Friday, October 18, 2002

Most Community Colleges Switch to '.edu' Addresses By VINCENT KIERNAN In the year since community colleges have formally been permitted to obtain ".edu" Internet addresses, most have done so. Many are still in the midst of a laborious transition from their old Internet addresses, however, and a few have not made the change at all. Last October, the U.S. Department of Commerce placed the academic-technology consortium Educause in charge of the ".edu" domain. One of the group's first actions in that capacity was to rescind a policy that limited ".edu" addresses to four-year institutions. Previously, most community colleges had more-complex addresses, including ".cc" and a state abbreviation. Community College of Philadelphia, for example, used the address http://www.ccp.cc.pa.us. Other community colleges used ".com" or ".org" addresses, and a few had managed to obtain ".edu" addresses despite the existing limitation. Since last year's change in policy, 659 community colleges have been granted ".edu" addresses, says Mark A. Luker, a vice president of Educause. There are 1,171 two-year institutions in the United States, according to the American Association of Community Colleges. Community colleges are pleased with Educause's handling of the switch, says George R. Boggs, the association's president. "I haven't heard any complaints at all," he says. Many of the new Internet addresses are much simpler and therefore thought to be more useful in marketing distance education and other programs. Community College of Philadelphia's new address, for instance, is http://www.ccp.edu The simplicity is valuable, says Britt Canada, dean of information-technology services at Western Texas College, in Snyder, Tex., which is in the process of moving to an ".edu" address from http://www.wtc.cc.tx.us. Mr. Canada says, "It's a lot easier to say 'wtc.edu'." Until now, the college was stuck with the longer address, he adds. "That was all that was available to us." Logistical Issues Moving to the new address poses logistical challenges for community colleges, for a variety of reasons. Pages on other Web sites link to the old address, and students and faculty and staff members receive e-mail -- including subscriptions to electronic discussion lists -- at the old address. Campus publications, like course catalogs, and even college letterheads must be updated. Making such widespread changes takes time. Community College of Philadelphia was awarded its new ".edu" address this summer but will not finish the transition to the new address until next month, says Lynette M. Brown-Sow, vice president for communications and government relations. At first, she says, the college operated two versions of its Web site, at both the old and the new addresses. Then the college simplified the task of keeping its Web content current by operating only one site, to which users were brought by either address. Advertisements run by the college on local buses already use the ".edu" address, as do new business cards printed for college employees. The college also has been gradually changing the e-mail addresses of its departments and faculty and staff members. The ".edu" address is used in new editions of the course catalog and course schedule, and departments and individuals listed there have had their e-mail accounts switched to the new addresses. In November, remaining users will be switched to ".edu" addresses, Ms. Brown-Sow says. The college probably will keep the old Web address active for a year or more because it receives about one-fourth of its applications through the Web, and some people may be aware of only the old address, she says. Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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