Three Mississippi State University departments will have access to various Microsoft software products for the 2010-2011 school year.
Microsoft Developer Network Academic Alliance is a program which offers annual memberships to accredited departments that grants access to various Microsoft software products for instructional purposes. Students currently enrolled in computer sciences or computer engineering classes are eligible for free software through the departmental alliance with the MSDNAA.
The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Information Technology Services and the Department of Computer Science and Engineering all share the agreement with Microsoft. The alliance makes 21 Microsoft software programs available for professors to require for class in a way similar to choosing textbooks.
Tom Ritter, ITS Security and Compliance Officer, said Microsoft offers the software for academic purposes to the STEM areas: science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
“It’s Microsoft’s way of departmentally offering software,” he said.
The Departent of Computer Science and Engineering made laptops mandatory for all students in 1999, causing every student to need software they could work on individually. Department Head Donna Reese was the first to initiate the department’s connection with the MSDNAA in the early 2000’s.
“Since we require all students to have their own laptop, it was a good way to get them all access to the software that they needed in their computer science classes,” Reese said.
For $500 per year, the department can get Microsoft software for hundreds of students that would normally cost $150 or more per individual. The cost-effectiveness was one of the main reasons for the transition, Reese said.
“It’s given our students and faculty access to tools without them having to worry too much about the cost associated to the students because the department with that one cost can get access to all those tools,” Reese said.
After logging in to the MSDNAA website, students can download the software onto their computer through the Internet or request a software-encoded CD to be mailed to them.
Even though some of the well-known Microsoft programs are not offered through MSDNAA, Lisa Henderson, professor in the Departmnet of Computer Science and Engineering, said she sees benefits of the specific software that does come with the alliance.
“Most of the ones that my students are interested in, the Microsoft Office software, aren’t provided, but [MSDNAA] does provide the operating system and compilers and that’s a great way for them to upgrade their operating system,” Henderson said.
As long as Microsoft maintains a reasonable rate for its alliance, Reese said she does not see a change in the near future.
“It’s very cost-effective, so as long as Microsoft continues to provide that, we are definitely using enough out of the package for it to pay for itself,” Reese said.
