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Guelph Finalizes Campus Agreement With Microsoft
Site licence provides free access to MS software
Microsoft Office Professional is now available for download at no cost to U of G staff and faculty or their departments. The recently acquired Microsoft Campus Agreement site licence includes the full 2003 suite of products — Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access Publisher, InfoPath and Outlook.
The new agreement will ensure that all U of G departments can upgrade their desktops to the latest campus release of MS Office, says Leon Loo, acting manager of academic services in Computing and Communications Services (CCS).
“This will enhance faculty and staff members' ability to share and work collaboratively in a consistent application environment across campus,” he says.
Loo notes that these licences are intended for use on work-related activities, not for personal use, and apply only to U of G work-related computers, including home computers used for University business. Microsoft products not covered by the new MS Campus Agreement are still available for purchase through the Microsoft Academic Select program. Software downloads and more information are available from the CCS software distribution site at www.uoguelph.ca/ccs/downloads.
In addition to the current 2003 version of Office Pro products, the MS Campus Agreement will provide ongoing upgrade capabilities once the newest version of the Office Pro suite, MS Office Professional 2007, is available, says Loo. CCS is developing a roll-out plan for the 2007 version and will provide details prior to the software's release early in the new year.
Loo notes that CCS has been developing a site licensing program on campus in recent years.
“The goal is to enhance access to the software tools needed by the University community by removing or reducing barriers such as cost. The program is also designed to simplify software licensing compliance across campus. Many agreements within this program take time to negotiate and are built on trust relationships between the vendors and the University. We encourage individuals and departments to respect this relationship by complying with end-user licence agreements.”
Individuals or groups who currently co-ordinate licences or are considering new licences can take advantage of CCS's software licensing resources, including the development of funding models and communicating and negotiating with vendors, says Loo.
Other software applications available to the University community include the McAfee Virus Scan software, statistical software packages, Adobe software applications, Macromedia products, GIS software and Oracle calendaring applications. Some of these products have a cost, but it's considerably lower than the off-the-shelf price paid off campus, he says.
The MS Campus Agreement site licence is an example of CCS's ongoing efforts to improve collaboration, consistency and cost savings in technology and software, says Loo.
“This fits into the strategic planning and fiscal responsibility mandates prevalent across campus, as well as the chief information officer's integrated plan released this year, including the iCampus vision.”
For information about iCampus, visit www.cio.uoguelph.ca. Direct inquiries about the MS Campus Agreement or other software to the CCS Help Centre at 58888help@uoguelph.ca or Ext. 58888.