Educause to Manage .Edu Internet Domain

Washington
The U.S. Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has announced the award of a five-year cooperative agreement with the Washington-based Educause organization, which authorizes the higher education IT group to manage the ".edu" Internet domain name for higher education institutions. Educause is the nation's leading nonprofit association representing the higher education community on issues of information technology, deployment and usage.
The five-year cooperative agreement calls for Educause to provide policy development and administrative services, including registry and registrar services, for .edu. In addition to the registration services currently provided to four-year colleges and universities in the United States, Educause will expand registration to regionally accredited community colleges. Starting Nov. 12, Educause began accepting applications for new .edu names through its Web-based application at <www.educause.edu/
edudomain>.
"The Department of Commerce is very pleased that because of this agreement, the education community will have a greater ability to participate in the management of the .edu space," says Nancy J. Victory, assistant U.S. Commerce secretary for communications and information.
"We look forward to working with Educause to see that the .edu domain is used to the greatest benefit of higher education in America," she adds.
The specific mission of Educause, a nonprofit association of more than 1,800 colleges, universities, corporate partners and other associations, is to advance higher education by promoting the smart use of information technology. Serving the nation's top technology leaders and a diverse membership of IT professionals in higher education, Educause programs include strategic policy initiatives, research, professional development activities, print and electronic publications, awards for leadership and exemplary practices, and a wealth of online information services.