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Microsoft 365 - Custom Email Addresses in the @wisc.edu Domain

Divisions, departments, and organizations will occasionally have need of an email address in the wisc.edu domain. For example, an interdisciplinary project spanning multiple departments may wish to request an email address representing the project without a tie to any single member organization participating in the project (e.g. project@wisc.edu vs. project@department.wisc.edu).

Policy

Custom addresses in the @wisc.edu domain are subject to the following conditions:

  • Custom email addresses may be reserved in the @wisc.edu domain for department, organization, or division use.
  • Student organizations can't request custom addresses within @wisc.edu domain. They can request accounts within @rso.wisc.edu domain and can make request alternate addresses in the studentorg.wisc.edu domain.
  • Unit leader approval - chair, director, or dean - is required.
  • The custom@wisc.edu email address is an alternate/alias attached to an Microsoft 365 shared mailbox or service account used for role-based work; the custom@wisc.edu address will not be attached to an individual person (NetID@wisc.edu), Microsoft 365 group, or resource accounts.
  • The left-hand identifier for the account (before the @wisc.edu) must be tied to the organization, department, or division requesting the account unless the email address is truly a unique, university-level role or program. The address, dean@wisc.edu, isn't an acceptable custom address due to a number of individuals in this role at UW-Madison. The address, cals.dean@wisc.edu, is an example of an acceptable custom address.
  • All requests for custom email addresses are subject to review and approval by the Microsft 365 Team/Leadership.
  • Custom email addresses that are a security concern, for example harassment, please escalate to Cybersecurity for review.

Address Limitations

  • The custom address cannot contain any characters/symbols other than the following: a-z 0-9 . -.
  • Minimum of three characters. Maximum of fifty characters.
  • Must include a period or hyphen.
  • Can't include consecutive special characters: bucky..badger@wisc.edu.
  • Can't include symbols on either end: .bucky.badger.@wisc.edu.
  • Can't be existing NetID account: bbadger.
  • The custom address isn't a credential and can't be used to log into M365 or other campus services.
  • The custom address is only supported to work as an email address within Microsoft 365.
  • @wisc.edu addresses can't be used as the from address when sending messages via any 3rd party services (e.g. Constant Contact, MailChimp, etc.). It will be marked as spam due to our DMARC/SPF configuration. If you need to send from a 3rd party service, you should choose an address in an Microsoft 365 subdomain that allows sending from mail marketing systems.

Request a Custom Email Address

This request won't create an email account(mailbox). Only the custom@wisc.edu address. 

Note: You'll need to have a valid NetID to submit a custom email address request. The request form requires you to validate your NetID before submitting a request by clicking on the "Check NetID" button. If you don't click on the "Check NetID" button, you won't be able to submit a custom email address request.

Review and processing of new custom@wisc.edu address requests may take up to two weeks.

See Also


Keywords:
microsoft office365 o365 m365 custom email address wisc.edu policy request role alias alternate account vanity custom@wisc.edu service account netid shared mailbox 
Doc ID:
51595
Owned by:
O365 S. in Microsoft 365
Created:
2015-05-21
Updated:
2026-01-05
Sites:
DoIT Help Desk, Microsoft 365, Wisc Account Admin