Quick Links to distributed software covered in this article:
Overview
IT Services (ITS) uses a system called recharge billing to help manage "ad-hoc", individually licensed, and/or non-enterprise software used across the university. The recharge model helps ITS cover the costs of supporting these services, and is one way ITS is able to offer and support applications that would otherwise be unavailable for purchase or use across the system.
This approach helps:
- Make software costs fair and transparent and consistent
- Ensure departments pay for what they actually use
- Support the work ITS does to manage, support, and maintain these services
What's Included in the Distributed Software Service
As a part of this service, ITS manages several parts of software licensing, including:
- Buying and renewing licenses
- Reviewing and approving software
- Managing user access and accounts
- Supporting users with technical issues
- Maintaining and monitoring systems
Two Main Ways Software is Billed
-
General Licensing – Departments buy software licenses directly through ITS, often referred to as "ad-hoc" licenses.
-
Cost Distribution – Costs are shared across departments based on how much they use, or a set formula. For example, Microsoft software is billed based on a calculation of full-time employees (FTEs) in a department.
Rates
ITS strives to find the best balance between cost savings and availability. In some cases this may mean a significantly lower price than retail cost. For others it may mean similar pricing to retail but often with enhanced features. For software or applications that are more complex or require extra work for integration and support, ITS adds a minimal 10% administrative fee to help cover that effort. It is anticipated that rates listed will remain within 5-7% of the amounts listed year-over-year as the intent of distributed software central management is to stabilize pricing overall.
License Types and Rate Development
| License Type |
How It Works |
Rate |
| 1-to-1 |
Purchased by request from departments |
At cost + 10% administrative fee |
| Campus-Wide |
Shared across campus |
Cost split based on department usage |
| Set |
Fixed number of licenses |
Cost split among departments using them |
| Cost Distribution |
Shared licenses billed using a set calculation |
Based on pre-determined usage formula |
Current Software and Rates
*Please note rates are current as of 11/04/25 listing the proposed FY26 amounts (pending final VCAS approval).
Below is a list of software included in the recharge and the rates for each.
Used for graphic design, video editing, PDF creation, and more.
| License |
Annual Rate |
| Creative Cloud – Employee |
$269 per user |
| Creative Cloud – Students |
$150 per student seat |
| Creative Cloud – Device (labs/shared computers) |
$210 per computer |
| Acrobat Pro |
$132 per user |
Used for artificial intelligence tasks and queries.
| License |
Annual Rate |
| Google Gemini |
$269 per user |
| Microsoft Co-Pilot |
$150 per student seat |
Used for on-demand instructional design module creation.
| License |
Annual Rate |
| Articulate 360 |
$795 per user |
Used for Microsoft Suite products available to students, staff and faculty through M365.
Microsoft Distribution
Staff and Faculty $101 multiplied by the departments PCN calculation
Shared Student Rate $90.05 per d-level
Microsoft licensing costs have long been distributed across departments using a calculation based on active positions, rather than per-license purchasing. This includes faculty, staff, and student employees. Rates are based on each department’s PCN data as of October 1 of the previous year and is calculated as:
- Total full-time faculty & staff PCNs * 1
- Total part-time faculty PCNs * 1/3
- Total part-time staff PCNs * 1/2
- Shared Student Rate
- Half of all student employee positions, shared evenly across departments
For FY25 year, Microsoft distribution costs total approximately $176,589, supporting about 1,768 employees across 231 departmental levels. The licenses included in this cost are:
- Office 365 A5 Suite for Students
- Office 365 A5 Suite for Education Qualified Employees (faculty and staff, excluding trades/adjunct)
- Office 365 A1 Suite for trades and adjunct roles
- Visio Pro site license
- Project Pro site license
Used for Microsoft Pro application based add-ons (not applicable to the web tools available at no cost with M365).
| License |
Annual Rate |
| Microsoft Project Pro |
$795 per user |
| Microsoft Visio Pro |
|
| PowerAutomate Pro |
|
Used for marketing and communications.
| License |
Rate |
| Salesforce Marketing Cloud (Individual User) |
$1,551 per user |
| Salesforce Marketing Cloud (Service Account) |
$2,200 per account |
Used for statistical analysis.
| License |
Rate |
| Education Analytical Suite for Admin and Teaching/Research |
$1098 per user |
Used for statistics and data analysis.
Other SPSS add-on licenses may be available for purchase as an ad-hoc license. Please submit a software request to inquire about licensing.
| License |
Rate |
| SPSS Standard Package (includes Advanced Statistics, Custom Tables, and Regression add-ons) |
$157 per computer |
| AMOS add-on |
$139 per computer |
| Missing Values add-on |
$125 per computer |
| Complex Samples add-on |
$185 per computer |
TeamDynamix (TDX) - UAA Applicable Only
Used to manage work requests ("tickets"), assets, and services.
| License |
Rate |
| TeamDynamix (Individual User) |
$370 per user |
Ad-Hoc Licenses (Purchased Individually)
If you do not see the software you are looking for, please submit a software request ticket to inquire. New ad-hoc licenses are purchased individually at the request of a department and the list is being updated often. These are sold at cost plus a 10% processing fee.
- Microsoft tools (e.g., CoPilot, PowerBI, Project, Visio, Power Automate)
- SPSS Term (annual access) Add-ons
- Articulate
- Other software purchased individually through ITS
Need additional help?
If you’d like more information or have questions about billing, please reach out to the IT Business Office at uaa_itbusinessoffice@alaska.edu.
For support, requests may be submitted anytime using the Software Request form.
For immediate assistance please use the Contact Us page.