Microsoft Campus Agreement FAQs for UT System Institutions
Which Microsoft products are covered under the MSCA and should be made available for distribution?
All products covered under the Microsoft Campus Agreement are available to all campuses within the UT System. Please see our MSCA Products page for a complete listing of products currently available under the MSCA.
What is the difference between the Departmental media and Student & Faculty/Staff work-at-home media?
Departmental media is usually obtained under the Microsoft Academic Select Agreement (Select). This media can typically be purchased from your campus bookstore or directly from Dell, and typically requires a Volume License Key (VLK). Note: Under the terms of the current Microsoft Campus Agreement, VLKs are not to be provided to students, and should be distributed to staff only as necessary.
Student and faculty/staff work-at-home media can be purchased at each Campus' distribution point, and is individually-keyed. If a key for this media is lost or destroyed, it cannot be recreated or reclaimed. Students who lose their key will need to purchase new media.
Can departments purchase student media?
No. Departments are required to obtain and use the Select/Departmental media. Select media can be purchased from your campus bookstore or directly from Dell.
Can Faculty/Staff purchase Select volume license media for work-at-home use?
Under the terms of the current Microsoft Campus (effective September 1, 2002), faculty and staff work-at-home users must purchase the individually-keyed "student" media available at their campus bookstore.
Can the Student Windows XP Operating System Upgrade media be installed on multiple systems?
Products available on individually-keyed student media are for installation on one computer only.
Why are we having to change the Microsoft distribution to individually keyed media for student or faculty/staff?
Microsoft is now producing student specific media that is individually keyed and may not be copied. This is intended to reduce software piracy. Beginning September 1, 2002 we are required to distribute this type of media for all Microsoft Campus Agreement student and faculty/staff work-at-home products. Keyed student Windows XP media was introduced for distribution in this manner in November 2001.
Can we provide the Volume License keys to Students or Faculty/Staff who purchased MS CEA media previous to September 1, 2002?
No. Under the terms of the current Microsoft Campus Agreement which became effective on September 1, 2002, students should at no time be provided Volume License Keys. Students who initially purchased volume licensed products and have lost the VLK should be permitted to purchase a new individually-keyed copy of the software subject to availability.
Obtaining Student and Faculty/Staff Work-at-Home Media for Distribution
Our site usually purchased CEA media for distribution from the UT Austin Campus Computer Store, can we still do that?
If in the past, you have purchased CEA media from our Store for redistribution on your campus, please contact the Store manager at manager@campuscomputer.com for more information about acquiring keyed student media.
Our site duplicated its own media for distribution to students, can we still do that?
If in the past, you have duplicated your own media for students, under the CA program, you will no longer be able to duplicate media for distribution to students and faculty/staff work-at-home. Instead you will have several options:
- Your bookstore/reseller will need to purchase media for re-distribution directly from Dell, our Microsoft Large Account reseller, beginning September 1, 2002.
- If your bookstore is an MS Authorized Educational Reseller, they can purchase student media directly from MS Student Fulfillment.
- Contact the UT Austin Campus Computer Store manager at manager@campuscomputer.com or (512) 232-2531 to arrange a media purchase for distribution at your institution. UT Component Institution students/faculty/staff may NOT make personal media purchases directly from the UT Austin Campus Computer Store.
Our campus provides imaging services for our students. Is this still permissible? Which media should we use for installation?
If your campus provides imaging services for your students, wherein the students do not receive media and will not receive a license key, you may use the Select volume media (not Student media) and the volume license key for this service.
Our campus makes CA software available to students via secure download, can we continue this practice under the new agreement?
If your Campus previously made CEA software available for students via secure download, please send e-mail to software@its.utexas.edu. We have not yet ascertained how this type of distribution will proceed.
There are several MSCA products for which Microsoft Fulfillment does not make keyed student media available for distribution. As we are licensed to distribute these products, what are our distribution options?
These products may be distributed using Select Volume Licensing media in the following manners:
- Controlled download from your secure network server(s) or other storage device(s). Please send e-mail to software@its.utexas.edu if you wish to pursue this method of distribution.
- Manual installation by you at a central location that you control.
- A system of controlled short-term checkout of applicable volume licensing media solely for purposes of individual user installation, provided that this option is available only for products for which a volume licensing key is not required. Such products include Office 2000, Mac Office X and Mac Office 2001.
Obtaining Department Media for Distribution
What are our options for procuring departmental MS Select volume license keyed media for distribution to departments?
- Your bookstore/reseller will need to purchase media for re-distribution directly from our Microsoft Large Account reseller beginning September 1, 2002.
- Your site can purchase a Microsoft Select Fulfillment Subscription through our LAR and duplicate the media on-site.
- If you wish to duplicate your Select media using a third-party vendor, please send e-mail to software@its.utexas.edu
Server Licenses
How do I acquire server licenses?
Server licenses are not available under the Microsoft Campus Agreement. Departments can obtain Microsoft products at greatly discounted prices under the Microsoft Academic Select Agreement.
Do departments have to purchase individual Client Access Licenses (CALs) for NT/2000 Server, SQL Server, Exchange Enterprise Licenses, etc?
Please refer to the information on purchasing Client Access Licenses.
What if I need CALs other than those covered?
Client Access Licenses for a variety of products can be purchased through Dell under the Microsoft Academic Select Agreement.
Our department has Windows Terminal Server, how does this agreement relate to that?
As with other server products, media and licensing for Windows Terminal Services are not covered by the MSCA, but can be purchased under the MS Select Agreement. Beginning with Windows 2000, Terminal Services became a service of Windows Server rather than a separate server product.
For computers accessing Windows Server 2000 and 2003, The University of Texas System has Terminal Server CALs licensed for the entire system. All clients are covered regardless of the operating system they are actually running (such as Mac OS, UNIX, etc.)
Windows 2000 Systems Administrators can configure the Windows Licensing Service to use a volume license enrollment number for these CALs. To receive this enrollment number, please send a request including proof of licensing to SDS.
For Windows Server 2003, administrators must obtain CAL tokens from Microsoft using a volume license enrollment number. A license server must be configured to handle the disbursement of CAL tokens to eligible clients. Please see How do I configure Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server services for more information.
