Beginning this semester, Binghamton University students and faculty will no longer have to trek to the Pods to put those last-minute touches on papers, presentations or projects using Microsoft Office.

Office 365 Education for Students, which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher and Access, will be available to current students and faculty free of charge. The users are monitored by the school with help from Microsoft, which will validate that the people using the software are students or staff members of the University, and that it was installed for use with school-related content.

According to Denise Dedman, Help Desk manager for Information Technology Services (ITS), users can install the Microsoft Office suite on up to five devices including PCs and Macs, iPads, iPhones, Android phones and Windows tablets. The program can be downloaded online through the ITS page on the BU website.

Dedman said that the program is something that has been long-awaited.

“A lot of students have always come here and asked us for Microsoft Office and we didn’t have it available before, so this is new,” Dedman said. “It’s something that Microsoft is offering to the University.”

According to Logan Robinson, communications manager for ITS, the suite is available after an amendment to ITS’ Microsoft Campus Agreement, which was renewed this year. The renewal expanded access to software at no additional cost.

He said the change will help students, who no longer have to convert Microsoft documents to different versions or worry that they are not compatible.

“Another benefit to having this available for everyone with a BU email address is that it allows for everyone to have access to a common collaboration platform,” Robinson said.

Jeremy Di Luzio, a junior majoring in psychology, said that having Microsoft Office would allow him to collaborate and complete assignments at his convenience, instead of needing the Pods. He prefers Microsoft Word because the other word processing programs make sharing difficult.

“Usually I use the Pods computers, the Macs, but now I don’t have to go to the library and have it be a hassle while I’m waiting for people to get off them,” Di Luzio said. “I can just do assignments on my own computer, which is awesome.”

ITS is in the process of launching several pilot projects this spring, including color printing that can be available through students’ print quota.

According to Robinson and Michael Hizny, assistant director of networking, ITS staff are happy about the change.

“It is both exciting and convenient that students will have access to the latest version of the Microsoft Office once they become a student here at Binghamton University,” Robinson said.

Gabrielle Kohlhagen, a sophomore double-majoring in financial economics and philosophy, politics and law, said that she hopes future students are made aware of the initiative before arriving to BU.

“I think it would have been positive if it was done before students actually start school, because by the time the school year starts most students are equipped with these programs,” Kohlhagen said. “If I would’ve known earlier, I probably would have waited and taken care of it here.”