Breanna Denney /Nevada Sagebrush
Macintosh computers sit idle in a University of Nevada, Reno’s Reynolds School of Journalism classroom on Monday, March 23, 2015. The university recently entered a partnership with Adobe to bring Adobe software to every university computer.
The University of Nevada, Reno, has launched two new partnerships with Adobe to make Adobe software accessible to students.
The partnership includes two different agreements. The two agreements allow the installation of Adobe Creative Cloud on any university-owned device and the discount of Adobe software for any university employees.
“Our current relationship includes two contracts: (1) A new Enterprise Term License Agreement (ETLA) which allows UNR to install Creative Cloud for Education on any University-owned device (same as we do for Microsoft Office and some other campus-licensed software); and (2) a long-standing Cumulative Licensing Program (CLP) agreement which allows University employees to purchase Adobe software products at a higher ed discount through Adobe authorized vendors,” Office of Information and Technology Director of User Services Tina Hill said. “With the new ETLA, individual departments no longer need to purchase Creative Cloud through the CLP agreement every year.
The partnership is primarily for university employees, according to Hill. However, university students can still use any Adobe software on any university-owned computer or device.
“Both agreements allow any University employee to purchase Adobe software for University-owned computers,” Hill said. “Students do not need a subscription because under the ETLA Adobe provides an educational version of Creative Cloud that allows any active NetID to use Creative Cloud on University computers. Currently, the ETLA is funded by the University’s Planning, Budget & Analysis office, so Creative Cloud is available to the entire campus community at no cost to departments or individuals.”
The program does not allow students to download Adobe software for free to their personal devices. However, students can download it for a reduced price with a student email.
“Although not provided as part of the campus agreements, students can use their UNR email to purchase Creative Cloud for a personally-owned computer for $19.99 per month,” Hill said.
The partnership was a reasonable action to take due to the heavy presence of Adobe software in classes at the university.
“All but two NSHE institutions currently have an ETLA contract with Adobe,” Hill said. “The two that didn’t participate do not use Creative Cloud as much or at all in their curriculum. One of the main reasons UNR purchased Creative Cloud for the campus was to provide Acrobat Pro on all computers to give faculty and staff the best tool available to produce fully accessible content for websites, courses, and other documents. Many departments use Creative Cloud in their curriculum, and the agreement allows us to make Creative Cloud available throughout the campus rather than just specific labs.
Finally, also mentioned above, managing Creative Cloud and other campus software under a campus agreement saves the University money by reducing overhead costs.”
In addition to the presence of Adobe software in university classes, the fund-saving opportunities made the partnership a wise decision, according to Hill.
“Overall, having an agreement saves the University money in discounts, purchasing, and administrative overhead costs,” Hill said. “For example, in the past, in order to remain in compliance with Adobe’s licensing terms, proof of purchase had to be on record for every computer that Creative Cloud was installed on, but now all computers are covered under the ETLA agreement so that documentation is no longer required. For another example, ETLA agreements are renewed on an annual basis with one purchase order for the entire campus instead of dozens of individual purchase orders by departments across campus – less paperwork for everyone.”
Olivia Ali can be reached at oali@sagebrush.unr.edu or on Twitter @OliviaNAli.
