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All software packages purchased with university funds are owned by the university. Computer Services maintains an inventory of all software packages owned by the university. If you have software that was purchased with university funds and which is not registered with Computer Services, you must contact us immediately. Computer Services ensures that all software purchased by the university is properly registered with the manufacturer and safely stored. In addition, we install the software on your computer and can make sets of working or backup copies of software packages in situations that require it (in accordance with the software package's license agreement).
Computer Services maintains site licenses for many of the software packages used by the university. In cases where there is a restriction on the number of concurrent users of a particular software package, a network device enforces the limit.
Please contact Computer Services if you would like to find out if the university already owns a license for a particular software package.
Planning on using software as part of an academic course at the university? There are many issues that will affect the probability of success of academic use of computer software. The biggest issue is the time it takes to successfully integrate software use into curriculum. Time is necessary to evaluate software, test it on university systems and for the teacher to learn to use it well enough to understand its pedagogical implications. We suggest at least one semester lead time for academic software use.
Computer Services REQUIRES at least one semester's notice if you plan on having your students use software on university owned computers. Software provided by instructors for academic use is still bound by our Software Acquisition Procedure. We will determine if it is compatible with existing equipment and that your intended use complies with license requirements. Written permission from the author or publisher of such software for the use of the number of copies which will be needed by the anticipated class may be required. Any software which needs to be installed on the network must be presented early enough to permit this operation and also requires permission for appropriate number of simultaneous users licensed.
In most cases, it is illegal to copy a commercial software package for the use of anybody other than the person who purchased the package and for use on more than one computer at a time, without specific permission from the author or publisher for the type of use intended. If you are unsure about your specific copyright responsibilities for a particular software package, please contact Computer Services for a consultation. Pirated software can cause many problems due to the lack of documentation, incompatibilities, lack of upgrades, lack of vendor support, and viruses. High quality software is generally worth the price charged by the vendor, particularly if backed by good support. We take pains to negotiate site licenses and other arrangements with software vendors to best serve the campus community. Disregard for copyright laws can jeopardize these arrangements.
Software on the campus computer network may not be copied to local hard drives or diskettes without express written permission of Computer Services. Non-Computer Services software may NOT be installed on the campus network except by Computer Services personnel
In cases of software piracy, Computer Services will take action to protect the interests of the university community.
Software Acquisition Procedure
Planning on purchasing new software? There's a lot of great software available out there for sale, but not all of it is guaranteed to run on your system, or on the campus network for that matter. The unfortunate truth is that there a lot of popular software packages available on the market that are incompatible with our network, or cause stranges things to happen.
This policy has been been developed to ensure that all software placed on computer systems will coexist with our campus computer network and currently installed software and additionally to ensure that arrangements for support and training of new software is made before acquisition. Any computer system with installed software acquired without the coordination of Computer Services is subject to losing partial or complete support by the department to include disconnection from the campus network. This policy extends to products labeled as freeware and shareware.
Software acquired prior to the March 22, 1995 without the previous coordination of the Department will be eligible for grandfathering on a case by case basis provided that arrangements can be made for support and training of the product.
Faculty and staff wishing to purchase new software should use this policy as a guideline for the process of acquisition. The following outlines will provide you with a step by step process designed to ensure that your software meets your needs and is compatible with the computer system you plan to install it on. This process will also ensure that you and other users of the software will have the necessary training and support required to use the software effectively.
In all cases, the first step in acquiring new software is performing an assessment of your needs. Determine what it is you want the software to do for you.
Requests for computing service that exceed "Basic Service," are considered requests for "Plus service." These requests should be forwarded by the user to his/her
department head, coordinator or supervisor on the TSR (Technology Services Request)
Form. Prioritization of requests are then coordinated with the Director of Information Services.
This phase of the process should be a coordinated effort between
you and the CS staff person. Our staff person will research the product to
determine the following information:
If a demo or evaluation copy of the product is acquired, our staff
will work with you in evaluating the product. Testing will
be done to determine that the product delivers the functionality
you desire and that it is compatible in the environment it will
be installed in.
The CS Staff person will propose a support agreement for your software.
A determination will be made as to the level and detail of support
and training that Computer Services will provide you and any other
users of the requested software. Certain circumstances may make
it necessary for you to seek outside training and/or support for
your software. If this is the case, you will need to make arrangements
for this support before you purchase the new software.
Prior to purchase, the staff person will attempt to find the most
economical source of the requested software. We will provide
you with a quote and all other information pertinent to the purchase
process along with an endorsement from Computer Services indicating
that the requested software meets with the specifications outlined
in this policy.
Once the software is received, it will be inventoried by Computer
Services. Installation of the software will be performed and/or
supervised by our staff. You will then be trained by the
party specified in your support agreement.
Unless your software is not to be supported by Computer Services,
you may direct all support issues to our staff. In cases
where support of your software is to be performed by an outside
agency, you will contact that agency for resolution of any support
issues.
Freeware and Shareware
Software provided at no cost or on a 'try before you buy' basis
is widely available on the Internet and online services. If you
wish to install software of this nature, you will need to submit a TSR (Technology Services Request)
Form. These requests should be forwarded by the user to his/her
department head, coordinator or supervisor. Prioritization of requests are then coordinated with the Director of Information Services.
If the software meet compatibility standards, we will make an archive of the software on disk and place it in our inventory as with any commercial software purchases. If shareware is downloaded to your computer, you will need to comply with its contractual terms, including the period of time during which you may use the software without purchasing it. Shareware residing on your computer after the expiration of the examination period, whether you use it or not, constitutes illegal possession. At the end of the specified term, you are responsible for either purchasing the software through a conventional inventory purchasing process, or uninstalling it (please notify Computer Services of either decision).
Site license software
Software which is licensed for use on multiple computers at a
site falls under this category. Purchasing a site license is often
more cost effective than puchasing individual copies of software.
This type of software is subject to all specifications outlined
in the steps above.
Locally developed software
This software refers to software created by you or another member
of the campus. Compatibility testing will be done as with all
other software. If you wish to install this software on computer
systems maintained by Computer Services, you must allow us to
inventory an archive of the program.
Pirated software
Pirated software refers to the unauthorized duplication of software
or the use of shareware beyond the specified trial period. Pirated
software will not be tolerated on any systems maintained by Computer
Services.
Wordprocessing, Spreadsheet, Database, and Presentation software
Software which falls under this heading will need special justification
before receiving approval from Computer Services. A standard software
suite containing each of these types of applications for each
computer platform (Windows, and Mac) will be installed and
supported on the network and will be made available to all campus
users.
Submitted to campus policy process as extant policy, 3-21-96, goldstein
