Dear University Community,
We are writing to inform you of important changes regarding the university’s Microsoft licensing, which will have an impact on some of our staff, adjunct faculty, and emeritus faculty.
Quick Summary
Microsoft recently announced that, as of August 1st 2024, they will be eliminating a few specific license offerings (known as the A1 Plus licenses) previously available to educational institutions. This change will impact the university’s Microsoft licensing and result in adjustments in access to Microsoft software for a limited set WP employees. The biggest impact will be the removal of the ability to use the installed version of the Microsoft Office software on non-university computers for specific groups of individuals (adjunct faculty, emeritus faculty, and limited groups of non-FT employees.)
More Detailed Information:
Current university employees in full time or project/part-time roles will maintain their existing access.
Enrolled students’ access will remain unchanged.
University computer lab and classroom computers will continue to have access to the installed Office programs through device-based licensing.
Adjunct faculty, emeritus faculty, and limited populations of non-FT employees will no longer have access to install and use the Microsoft Office software on non-university computers. They will continue to have access to the Microsoft tools available through www.wpunj.edu/365, including Outlook email and the web-based Office programs.
Of note for all employees and students, Microsoft will also begin enforcing a total storage limit (100GB between email and cloud-based storage, aka OneDrive) for individual accounts. We do not envision that this limit will impact most individuals, and Microsoft will send advance notifications to any individuals approaching that threshold.
For more information about Office 365 and OneDrive, please consult our IT Wiki article.
For adjunct or emeriti faculty who have interest in access to the installable version of Microsoft Office for use on personal computers, a discount program is available through Microsoft. Visit the following website for additional information. You will first be prompted to validate your eligibility with your WPUNJ email address and then receive an email in your WP account with a link to create a Microsoft account with a personal email address (not your WP email) for a discounted Microsoft Office 365 subscription.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/workplace-discount-program (this will allow for 30% off for $48.99/year for Microsoft 365 Personal or $69.99/year for Microsoft 365 family)
Alternatively, a non-subscription version of the Office software (Microsoft Office 2021) is still available for purchase, as a one time purchase software, at many computer retailers (one deal we've found is through PC World for ~$40).
If you require any assistance or have questions about the changes or available resources, our IT Helpdesk staff are available to assist. Please reach out to our team by creating a Helpdesk ticket at www.wpunj.edu/helpdesk or by calling (973) 720-4357.
Thank you.
Information Technology