Skip navigation | Text-only | Español
FAQs

How is Software Licensing Handled?

Budget restrictions severely limit the ability of ITTS to purchase software and thus ITTS cannot purchase software that is required by individual departments or programs, however desirable that software might be for the mission of the department. Software that is used for specific classes must be purchased by the department using it. All software applications submitted to ITTS for deployment on campus must be properly licensed by you or your department. When you make a new software installation request, you must include the licensing documentation. You will also be responsible for purchasing an adequate number of licenses, based on the number of students who will be using it, or on the number of lab machines on which it will be loaded. Please be certain to investigate licensing before requesting software to be installed in the campus labs, including minimum system requirements. Software licenses come in a variety of types:

  • Workstation licenses require the purchase of an individual license for every computer on which the software is made available.
  • Site licenses require a set fee to be paid, either a flat rate unrelated to the number of computers, or on a scale based on the number of computers attached to the network.
  • Some software is sold in “lab packs” containing licenses for five, ten, or more computers.
  • Concurrent use licenses are becoming increasingly rare; these licenses require the purchase of a sufficient number of licenses based on estimates of how many customers are actually using the software at any one time, and generally are accompanied by “license manager” software. You do not need to purchase licenses for software that is already in the labs unless you are requesting wider access to a limited-use program. This would be the case, for example, with software that is currently used on a limited basis by a particular department which may have purchased 10 or 20 licenses and find they need more.

[Top]

What are the Limits on Installing New Software?

Although we make every attempt to accommodate faculty software requests, occasionally certain pieces of software will simply not work within the campus network environment, therefore it is imperative that you check prior to purchase.

Any software that is submitted for installation must be supported by the vendor under the current operating system. Customers are encouraged to upgrade their existing curricular programs whenever possible. ITTS reserves the right to remove, after notification, software that is no longer supported under an operating system when the operating system used in the computer labs is upgraded.

Also, please be aware that ITTS will not install evaluation or trial versions of any software, due to their time restrictive nature.

[Top]

Support

ITTS can provide only very limited support for software specifically designed for your discipline. We will make every effort to install the software you request and get it running, however we cannot provide technical support for individual customers or provide guidance on how to use these programs. ITTS staff cannot be familiar with the details of the myriad of programs that customers request be installed. Customers are responsible for obtaining technical support from the vendors of their software.

IMPORTANT: Customers must deliver to ITTS, along with the software and installation documentation, any details regarding configuration of the software, and a "script" for testing the software once it is installed. If these are not provided, the software will be installed with the default set-up and ITTS testing will be limited to seeing that the program opens.

[Top]

CDs Accompanying Textbooks

You must get a copy to ITTS before the software request deadline and we will be happy to determine whether or not the CD will work correctly on the lab machines. Also, please be aware that ITTS will not install evaluation or trial versions of any software, due to their time restrictive nature.

IMPORTANT: Many publishers refuse to allow CDs which accompany textbooks to be installed on a network. Be sure to contact the publisher to determine the nature of their licensing agreements before requesting that a CD be installed on the campus computer labs.

[Top]

How do I request software?

Although in general you do not need to request software that is already on the network, if your teaching or research needs require a specific version of an existing application, you should make that need known to ITTS via the software request process. The software that is currently installed in the labs is detailed in the supported software page.

Requests for software to be installed on the campus network and/or lab machines must be made via the on-line Software Installation Request Form. Software that is used only by faculty or staff in their offices must also be purchased by those departments. Questions regarding installation of software for office use only should be directed to the ITTS helpdesk at 672-2085.

Software that must be requested by the deadline includes the following:

  • General purpose software
  • Curricular-specific software that you may be using alone or in conjunction with textbooks.
  • Add-ins for existing software such as MS Word or Excel
  • Special templates, fonts, etc., you use with existing software
  • Plug-in applications for web browsers.
  • Any other deviation from the existing or above referenced proposed lab specification

[Top]