OIT Help Desk

ISU Employee: Frequently Asked Questions

Table of Contents

General Use Questions

  1. What is the Campus Agreement?
  2. Can you explain the program in more detail?
  3. What products will be distributed within the Campus Agreement?
  4. Are students covered under the Campus Agreement?
  5. Are lab machines covered under Campus Agreement?
  6. Is there a cost for the software?
  7. Is support included in Campus Agreement?
  8. Is documentation included in the Campus Agreement?
  9. What is the policy for upgrades under Campus Agreement?
  10. Can I upgrade my Microsoft operating system?
  11. What happens now when an employee leaves the university? Can they legally keep the software on their personal machines?
  12. What if ISU decides not to renew the Microsoft Campus Agreement?

Departmental Use Questions

  1. Are visiting professors covered under Campus Agreement?
  2. What record keeping is required?
  3. How do departments get the software for campus use?

Personal Use Questions

  1. Can I install software on my personally owned computer?
  2. Can I install software on a personally-owned computer I am using on campus as well as my home computer?
  3. How do individuals get the software for home use?
  4. If the software makes my personally-owned computer non-functional or problematic, what do I do?

General Use Questions

  1. What is the Campus Agreement?
    Campus Agreement is Microsoft's comprehensive worldwide annual volume license program for higher education customers. This program was designed through comprehensive feedback directly from customers with the goal of addressing the unique needs of two and four year colleges and universities. 

  2. Can you explain the program in more detail?
    Campus Agreement is an annual licensing program that allows a customer to count the number of faculty and staff full time equivalents (FTE) and multiply that by a tiered price. The customer then has the rights to run the licensed software for a 12-month period, and is licensed for all upgrades of the licensed software throughout the term of the agreement. At the end of the agreement, the customer either renews the license agreement, removes the software from its machines, or purchases the installed software. For more information on the program, see the Microsoft web site http://www.microsoft.com/Education/license/.

  3. What products will be distributed within the Campus Agreement?
    Microsoft products that will be distributed under the Microsoft Campus Agreement are listed on the ISU download site at http://downloads.indstate.edu

  4. Are students covered under the Campus Agreement?
    Yes. Students are included under the Campus Agreement as of August 2001. For more information, see http://www.indstate.edu/oit/userservices/msca/students/.

  5. Are lab machines covered under the Campus Agreement?
    Yes. Lab machines in both public and private labs are covered by the Campus Agreement contract.

  6. Is there a cost for the software?
    No.  Not if you obtain the software through the download site.

  7. Is support included with Campus Agreement?
    OIT will be providing support for these products on campus-owned machines only. Support for home computers is not included. We encourage users to try the options listed below for finding solutions to computer problems that you may encounter.
     
    • Read the README.doc or README.txt file in the installation CD's root directory. It may describe conditions that could lead to the problem you're having.
       
    • Search Microsoft's Knowledge Base for the same or similar symptoms. Common problems and their solutions or workarounds can often be found here.
      1. Go to the web page at http://support.microsoft.com/search/.
      2. Select the applicable product name.
      3. Indicate that you want to do a keyword search.
      4. Type the error message or appropriate keywords in the input box and click on "go".

  8. Is documentation included in the Campus Agreement?
    Printed documentation is not included with the software.  However, some software packages provide online documentation. In addition, most local bookstores carry a considerable variety of detailed documentation for these products.

  9. What is the policy for upgrades under Campus Agreement?
    You can upgrade to the newest versions of each product in the product offering throughout the 12-month agreement term after The Office of Information Technology has released it as a supported software.

  10. Can I upgrade my Microsoft operating system?
    Yes. To upgrade your Microsoft operating system, you must currently have a valid license for Windows 3.1 or above.

  11. What happens now when an employee leaves the university? Can they legally keep the software on their personally-owned machines?
    The Campus Agreement only covers currently employed faculty and staff at Indiana State University. When an employee leaves the university, the employee is required to remove the software from the computer on which it is installed or else purchase a license for each product.

  12. What if ISU decides not to renew the Microsoft Campus Agreement?
    The software may be used only as long as the MSCA is in effect. ISU has the option to renew the agreement annually. If the MSCA is not renewed or replaced by another agreement, ISU faculty and staff  would be contractually obligated to do one of the following:
     
    • Remove the software from all computers, including personally-owned machines;
    • Purchase licenses of the software for each individual machine; or
    • Remove the software from all computers, including personally-owned machines, and purchase a license for a different product.
       

    This is why it is important that departments keep track of the number of installations of each Microsoft product acquired through the Campus Agreement. For more information, see the question,  What record keeping is required?

Departmental Use Questions

  1. Are visiting professors covered under the Campus Agreement?
    Visiting professors are covered if they are using the software on university computers. However, they cannot install the software on their personally-owned computers on campus or at home.

  2. What record keeping is required?
    The head of each administrative unit is responsible for keeping track of the installations of each Microsoft product acquired through the Campus Agreement by recording the following information:
     
    1. Property tag of the machine
    2. Software that was installed on the machine.

    Upon request from The Office of Information Technology, these records must be made available for summarizing University utilization of the Campus Agreement. If ISU decided not to renew the campus agreement, these records would also be needed by the department. See the question, What if ISU decides not to renew the Microsoft Campus Agreement, for more information.

  3. How do departments get the software for campus use?
    All you need to do is follow the steps on the web page located at  http://www.indstate.edu/oit/userservices/msca/employees/univcomps.html

Personal Use Questions

  1. Can I install software on my personally owned computer?
    If you are eligible, you can install software on one personally-owned computer for ISU-related use only. Currently, all faculty and staff who have a computer on their desk are eligible, except for some staff in Student Affairs and Administrative Affairs.

  2. Can I install software on a personally-owned computer I am using on campus as well as my home computer?
    If you are eligible to install software on a personally-owned computer, you may install software on only one personally-owned computer AND you may install an additional copy of the software on a second portable device (e.g. notebook computer) for the exclusive use of the primary user of the first copy of the software.

  3. How do individuals get the software for home use?
    All you need to do is follow the steps on the web page located at http://www.indstate.edu/oit/msca/employees/homecomps.html 

  4. If the software makes my personally-owned computer non-functional or problematic, what do I do?
    You can consider the options listed in question 7 above, but you will not receive support from ISU.