Prepare yourselves and your computers: updates are coming.

 
Wayne State College can now offer a free copy of Office 365 to faculty, staff and students.

 
“Office 365 is an entire suite of services from Microsoft,” said Chief Information Officer of Network and Technology Services (NATS) John Dunning. “That includes things like Office 2016, and Office 2016 is the most recent version of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher and (allows) access to that whole list.”

 
Faculty and staff were among the first to receive the update.

 
“On campus, we upgraded all of (the programs) during the summer time in the computing labs from (versions) 2013 to 2016. And that has to be coordinated with faculty (first) because they’re buying textbooks that align with the particular version,” Dunning said. “To make sure the texts match what’s in the labs.”

 
Many administrative staff members were also granted early access. One staff member was an office assistant for the department of Natural and Social Sciences, Dawn Hirschman.

 
“I was a little frustrated at first,” Hirschman said. “I wasn’t sure if my address book would go through, but after some digging around, it became really easy. It was a good switch.”
Hirschman advised others to attend information sessions.

 
“During the summer, they were helpful for what questions I did have.”

 
Now, students will have access. Previously, Microsoft allowed for only faculty and staff to get licenses of Office; now students will also have access.

 
“Any student at Wayne State, while you’re actively enrolled in classes, gets a free copy of Office 2016 to use,” Dunning said. “We had some work to do to integrate Office 365 so that you can log in with campus credentials. We got that done over last year and the summer so we could release it this fall.”

 
The license is only valid while you are enrolled at WSC.

 
“Be aware that when you graduate, and no longer a student, you’re going to lose your license to this,” Dunning said. “You can subscribe to it on your own. And it’s really reasonably (priced). This is a Cloud-delivered subscription model, not an ‘I bought the software, and I own it’ model. The industry is going in this direction.”

 
To install and receive Office 365 first go to office365.wsc.edu. Next, sign in with the campus credentials (username and password for eCampus). Once you are logged on, in the top left corner you’ll see a black button that reads “Install Office 2016.” This will allow it to be downloaded onto the desktop and will be affiliated with your Wayne State account. It is a “Cloud-delivered subscription model,” which means it is not buying it from a store.