ANN ARBOR—The University of Michigan today announced a multi-year licensing agreement that offers students, faculty and staff Microsoft software products at significantly reduced costs.

The agreement allows all U-M faculty, staff and students at their 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—University members 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 provide the tools our faculty, staff and students need to succeed,” says Jose-Marie Griffiths, U-M’s university chief information officer and executive director, Information Technology Division.

Students will be able to purchase Microsoft Office 2000 and FrontPage 2000 on CD-ROM for $33. They can also purchase Office 98 for the Macintosh. The price is a significant savings over the current estimated retail price. The University expects to realize 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.

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 which are requested and required by the University community,” says Griffiths.

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. Details on faculty and staff purchasing will be forthcoming. They will be available on the Web site at http://www.itd.umich.edu/microsoft/

Jose-Marie Griffithshttp://www.itd.umich.edu/microsoft/