Hardware and Software Purchases

Purchasing Technology from LionSurplus

We were recently asked to pass along the following info related to College employees buying computer technology from LionSurplus. If you are not aware, it is possible to buy equipment that was previously purchased with University funds using your personal funds. Hard drives will be wiped before the PC is sold, so the buyer will need to purchase an operating system like Windows and any software they desire. The main point you need to be aware of is:

Please make sure that anyone who wants to purchase a Penn State-owned laptop, tablet or other computer contacts ISS (Matt Dunmire - mdd16) as a first step. The purchaser should not be contacting LionSurplus directly. Our College has guidelines on what can and can't be purchased. ISS will determine if the computer is allowed to be purchased and then contact LionSurplus on the employee's behalf for a price quote.

So to summarize: You get the idea to make a purchase, and we follow through on it for you. If you have any questions contact ISS: 865-INFO or iss-helpdesk@psu.edu

Technology Purchasing Advice

Over the last few years there have been important changes made in how technology purchases are done in HHD. In an attempt to clear up any confusion on this subject here are some points regarding this and direction to help you navigate the waters.

Purchasing Software : ISS has been appointed the sole purchaser of software for HHD. Due to the need to assure that all software being used in the College is properly licensed, a central authority was needed to manage software purchases. ISS will accept your request for software, consult with you if needed, and process the purchase. ISS then installs the software for you.

Purchasing Hardware : IT Equipment is the other purchasing area that ISS has sole responsibility for. Most of these purchases must be tracked. Many times purchases like this require consultation and planning. To that end ISS employs 2 IT Consultants whose main jobs are working with our customers to assist them with these purchases. Here are examples of items you can purchase (asset not tracked) and those you cannot (asset is tracked):

Contact our Consultants using the email address iss-helpdesk@psu.edu if in doubt.

Penn State requires the completion of a CAJ (Cost Accounting Justification) form for any IT Equipment being purchased using research funds. To learn more about this please contact Niki Page in our College Research Office. Niki can be reached at nlg4@psu.edu or 863-7241.

We have put together a FAQ related to technology purchasing. You can find the FAQ here.

So to summarize, best practices dictate that you contact our office as soon as you begin consideration of technology purchases. We are here to help!

Free Microsoft Software for Students

Penn State offers Office 2019 PC and Mac and Windows 10 Upgrade to currently enrolled Penn State students at no additional cost. By clicking on the following link: http://software.psu.edu/info/microsoft-office-licensing you will be directed to a site to download the software directly from Kivuto Solutions, Inc.

Software under the agreement is only available via download and must be completed within 31 days of accepting the terms and conditions. Please backup your download immediately upon completion and save your product key information. Penn State is NOT responsible for lost product keys or the downloaded files.

If you experience issues during the download or installation process, please contact Kivuto for support. They offer help online and via phone at 866-435-4722 or 888-396-1447 (Monday-Friday 6am-6pm EST).

If you have questions with regards to eligibility please visit this page http://software.psu.edu/info/contact-us