Buying Software: a Guide for College Students, Faculty, & Staff

St. Norbert College students, faculty, and staff may wish to purchase or acquire copies of various software programs for use on their personal computers.

Anti-virus software

Although the College's license for the McAfee VirusScan permits SNC students and employees to install and use it on their personal/home computers, we recommend that you use Microsoft Security Essentials instead (required for student computers on the SNC network). This is because McAfee VirusScan only protects against viruses, not spyware, while Microsoft Security Essentials protects against both. To download these programs, see our downloads page.

Microsoft Office

Students

Microsoft offers discounts on Microsoft Office for students:

Microsoft Office Professional 2010 Academic (Windows)

Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac Academic (Mac)

Employees

Office 2003, 2007, and 2010 (Windows) and Office 2008 and 2011 (Mac) are available for home use by St. Norbert College employees who have that same version of Office on their office computers. This “Work at Home” option permits you to use it for College-related use only, and you must sign an agreement to that effect. Microsoft does not allow us to distribute copies of the installation disc; they require that you burn your own disc (detailed instructions will be provided). To do so, go to the IT office, Cofrin 119, M – F, 8:00 – 4:30, to sign an agreement and get the instructions. If you don’t have a CD/DVD burner in your office, or if you do, but feel that you need assistance with this process, bring your blank disc to the Tech Support Help Desk in the Library.

College employees may also be eligible for academic discounts from the vendors listed below.

Other software

St. Norbert College, as a member of the Wisconsin Association for Independent Colleges and Universities (WAICU), participates in a software purchase program which allows St. Norbert College students and employees to purchase software products for personal use at discounted prices. For details, see the following vendor web sites:

CDWG

JourneyEd

You may also find educational versions or prices through other commercial vendors, such as amazon.com. Prices at these sites vary, so shopping around is recommended.

Free software

Some software programs, such as web browsers, e-mail programs, and spyware removal tools, are available for free. For more information and links, see our downloads page.

Software available through the St. Norbert College network

Many common software programs, such as Firefox, Microsoft Office, Adobe Reader, IM programs, media players, file transfer & decompression utilities,etc. are available on most College-owned computers and can be installed on College-owned computers through the campus network. For Windows computers, go to Start - (All) Programs - Network Software. For Macs, contact the Help Desk.

Some campus computer labs have additional software available only in those labs. For details, see our Computer Labs page.

Assistance and questions

If you have any questions or need more information, contact the Help Desk at (920) 403-HELP (4357) or helpdesk@snc.edu. The Help Desk is for St. Norbert College students and employees only.