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Technology at SCU

Microsoft Office 2021

Microsoft Office 2021 will be available for faculty and staff university-owned computers beginning in February 2024.

Academic Technology will begin including Microsoft Office 2021 (Windows) and Office 2021 for Mac Standard (Mac) on new university-owned computers for faculty and staff beginning August 2023.

For university-owned and supported computers with BigFix, faculty and staff can request Office 2021 in late February 2024.

Our Microsoft license requires Proof of University Ownership to install Microsoft Office 2021.  Computers with PC Replacement Property Tag have been verified.  For computers that do not have PC Replacement property tag, proof of University Ownership and University supported hardware will be required prior to the software installation.

For macOS computers managed in Jamf - look for the SCU "self-service" icon (the Santa Clara University mission icon in your dock) for the Microsoft Office 2021 install to upgrade yourself.

For SCU owned and supported macOS computers that are not managed in Jamf, and for all SCU owned and supported Windows computers, please follow the steps below:

  1. Contact the Technology Help Desk at x5700 OR via email at techdesk@scu.edu and request an Office 2021 upgrade.  A call ticket will be created for you.
    1. You will need to provide the following information when you call us.
      1. Computer Name
        1. For Windows OS, click on “Start” and go to the “Control Panel”.  Click on the “System & Security” link, then go to “System”.  Your computer name appears near the middle.
        2. For macOS, open “System Preferences” and go to “Sharing”.  Your computer name appears at the top.
      2. PCR Tag Number (e.g., 2000xxx) or Asset Tag Number (e.g., L-0xxxx or D-0xxxx)
      3. Serial Number/Service Tag Number
        1. For Windows OS, check for a black label near the PCR Tag Number or Asset Tag Number on your computer.  Look for the line Service Tag.  This is your serial number.
          1. If you cannot find or see your Serial Number / Service Tag, you can also try visiting Dell's support site to have it identify your computer.
          2. Click this link to go to the Dell Support site.
          3. On Dell's support site, check the box near the middle for your computer's information.  If the info does not appear, you may need to download and run Dell's Support Assistant.  That box will prompt you to download the Support Assistant and walk you through installing it.
          4. Downloading of software install should begin.
          5. Run the software and let it download the rest of the package about 2.5mb.
          6. The results will show on the website after its done detecting.
        2. For macOS, click on "Apple", "About this Mac".  The serial number is listed on the last line.
      4. Operating System
        1. For Windows, right-click on "Start", go to "System".  The Windows version is listed approximately half-way down the page.
        2. For macOS, click on "Apple", "About this Mac".  The operating system is listed in the window.
  2. Once your call ticket has been received, a technician will deploy the Office 2021 software to your computer.
    1. Software deployments will be done remotely with BigFix, our software patching system.  If your computer does not have BigFix installed, a technician will contact you to install BigFix only.  Once BigFix is installed, Office 2021 will be installed remotely.  NOTE: If you are using your University owned computer at home, please keep in mind that software deployment may be slow.  The Microsoft Office software is a large download and the delivery speed will be dependent on your home's Internet service provider.
    2. Software deployments will only be done Monday to Thursday, 9am to 3pm.
    3. The Office 2021 installation will be an upgrade only.  Your existing installation of Office will be removed during the process.
    4. The software installation will be silent.  The technician will send you an email when the upgrade starts, then a second email once installation is complete so you can verify your computer received the software. At that time your call ticket will be closed.

 NOTE: If you are using your University owned computer at home, please keep in mind that software deployment may be slow.  The Microsoft Office software is a large download and the delivery speed will be dependent on your home's Internet service provider.

Office 2021 may require software patches once it is installed on your computer.  This will also be performed by BigFix silently.  If you are running Office 365, you will need to remove Office 365 prior to the installation of Office 2021.

Contact the Technology Help Desk at x5700 or send an email to techdesk@scu.edu with the information in Step 1 above if you wish to have Office 2021 installed on your computer University owned and supported computer.