CIO-FAC: Draft Academic Software Licensing and Funding Principles
May 25, 2015
The following are a suggested starting point as a set of Principles for Academic Software Licensing at
Queen’s. The intended scope of these principles is academic software that is installed on personal
computers or devices, although they may extend to server-based software in some cases. They are
divided into three sections:
Common Academic Software Suite
1. Queen’s University should establish a relatively small suite of academic software products which
are broadly available across the campus. At a minimum this suite should consist of one package
for each of i) mathematical analysis, ii) statistical analysis, and iii) qualitative analysis. This suite
would serve as a common or baseline learning environment to meet general requirements.
More advanced needs would be addressed through other means.
2. Students would not be required to purchase their own copy of the above software, but may
elect to do so if permitted and offered. However most students would access this software on
computers in labs and libraries, or where feasible, through remote-access virtual labs.
3. A committee of stakeholders (faculties, Library, CTL, etc.) should meet annually to review the
makeup of this Common Academic Software Suite.
Advanced or Specialized Academic Software Requirements
4. It is recognized that academic software can be very specialized and that definitive solutions do
exist. There is no intent here to limit choice for faculty, researchers or their graduate students.
5. Where possible, license agreements should, subject to cost, be negotiated to permit students to
obtain their own copy of more advanced or specialized academic software to install on their
personal computers.
6. Students requiring such specialized software should expect to pay for it.
7. Faculties and Departments should be encouraged to participate in campus or group level
arrangements for specialized academic software, in order for the University to gain efficiencies
and maximize access.
Funding Academic Software
8. All software required for research should be funded from research funding sources.
9. It is acceptable that academic software required both for research and for teaching and learning
should have common license agreements that are funded from research funding sources.
10. Funding specialized academic software that is required for teaching and learning in a given
faculty or academic unit, will in most cases be the responsibility of that faculty or unit.
11. Software selected as part of the Common Academic Software Suite that is not also broadly
required for research should be funded centrally under the University’s new budget model as an
attributed cost.
12. As a shared service, the ITS operating budget may fund academic software licenses, provided
that the Faculties agree that this a common requirement. Where requirements are considered
broad enough, this principle may extend to specialized software as well as a Common Suite.
13. To the extent possible, funding models for academic software licenses should seek to minimize
overhead incurred across the University in one-of transactions.
14. Depending on software license terms or the funding model chosen for a license, costs incurred
in initiating, negotiating and managing that license may be considered part of the software cost.