The University Record, December 6, 1999 By Wanda Monroe
Office of the University Chief Information Officer
The University of Michigan today (Dec. 6) announced a multi-year licensing agreement that offers faculty, staff and students Microsoft software products at significantly reduced costs.
The Microsoft Licensing Agreement allows all U-M faculty, staff and students on all three campuses—Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint—the use of a specific set of Microsoft products for all of their computers. In addition to gaining access to the most popular Microsoft products, including operating systems and Microsoft Office¨, members of the University community may upgrade their covered Microsoft product licenses to the latest version at discounted prices throughout the life of the agreement.
“The savings we will realize from this agreement will allow us to do other important work while at the same time providing the tools our faculty, staff and students need to succeed,” says Jose-Marie Griffiths, university chief information officer and executive director of the Information Technology Division.
Under the agreement, students, for example, will be able to purchase Microsoft Office 2000 and FrontPage 2000 on CD for $33. The price is a significant savings over the current educational price of $174 for Microsoft Office Professional and the more than $500 price tag in local software supply stores. The $33 package does not include documentation.
The University expects to realize a significant savings for all schools, colleges and administrative units for the software and server licenses and upgrades. Other benefits include more accurate budgeting by departments, and the ability to obtain and install the software on office, home and mobile computers as needed without paying for a license agreement for each machine.
Griffiths notes that while the Microsoft agreement is a cost-saving initiative, the University is not limited to using only Microsoft products. “The University will continue to enter into purchasing agreements with any software vendor who develops products that are requested and required by the University community,” she says.
Students will be able to purchase the Microsoft Office 2000 Professional for Windows, Office 98 for Macintosh, and FrontPage 2000 for Windows with a U-M ID card at the Michigan Union Ballroom 9 a.m.–4 p.m. Dec. 13 and 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Dec.14. Faculty and staff products will be available for individual purchase at the Computer Showcase in the Michigan Union beginning Dec. 13. For more information, check the Web at www.itd.umich.edu/microsoft/.
