If your agent sends outbound email or replies to inbound inquiries, it needs an email address with a sending domain. You have two options. This article explains each one, what setup involves, and how to decide which fits your institution.
Option 1: a subdomain of your institution's domain (recommended)
A subdomain is built from your institution's own domain. If your domain is yourschool.edu, a subdomain could be admissions.yourschool.edu. Other examples partners use are outreach.yourschool.edu, finaid.yourschool.edu, or the agent's name, such as missy.yourschool.edu.
Why partners choose this:
Recognition. Students, families, and campus staff see email coming from a domain they already know.
Faster warming. A subdomain inherits some of your institution's existing sender reputation, so it does not start from zero. It builds sending capacity faster than a domain starting from scratch.
What it takes: about 15 minutes of your IT team's time to add four DNS records, then 1 to 3 business days to verify and go live. Setup runs in parallel with your agent's current activity, so nothing pauses while it is configured.
For the full walkthrough, see Setting up an email subdomain for your agent.
If you have more than one agent
The standard setup is one subdomain for your institution, with a different address for each agent, such as [email protected] and [email protected].
Agents that share a subdomain share one deliverability pool, so an agent with low engagement in one department can affect inbox placement for another department. If you would rather have separate subdomains for separate use cases, that is supported. Ask your CollegeVine team.
Either way, the subdomain is dedicated to CollegeVine agent email. It should not be used for other institutional sending.
Option 2: a CollegeVine-managed domain
CollegeVine can provide the sending domain instead, with nothing for your IT team to configure.
Why some partners choose this:
No setup. Your CollegeVine team handles configuration during onboarding.
The right call if your own domain needs attention first. If your institution's domain already has deliverability problems, a subdomain carries that reputation into your agent's sending. A CollegeVine-managed domain avoids that.
You can move to a subdomain later if that changes. The new subdomain starts building its sending reputation from the beginning when you do.
How to decide
Choose a subdomain if your institution's email reaches inboxes reliably today and your IT team can add DNS records.
Choose a CollegeVine-managed domain if your IT team knows of deliverability problems on your domain, such as blocklisting or campus email landing in spam, or if IT bandwidth is limited right now.
Questions? Contact your CollegeVine team or email [email protected].