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SPSS

SPSS is a computer program used for statistical analysis that the University of Mary Washington licenses for academic use.

SPSS on Campus

The University of Mary Washington has an enterprise site license for SPSS, allowing installation of the latest version of the software (version 15) on any university-owned computer. Prior to the start of Fall 2007 classes, User Services worked on upgrading SPSS on all existing lab and classroom installations.

If you would like to have SPSS installed in a lab or classroom where it has not previously been available, please contact the Help Desk at x2255.

With the purchase of the new license, faculty members who use SPSS on their office computers will need to arrange to have a User Services technician visit their office to upgrade SPSS and enter the new license information.

Student Use of SPSS

Students may access SPSS in a number of University computer labs, including

  • Chandler 101, 109, 209
  • Trinkle B8, B10
  • Combs 349
  • Jepson 401
  • Monroe 105,106
  • CGPS North 123, 124, 125, 259 and
  • CGPS South 115, 116 and the Library.

Students should note that access to some of these labs may be restricted. Additional information about the labs and their operating hours is available on the Computer Labs page.

Students who wish to install SPSS on their personal computers will need to purchase a software lease through the third-party vendor, e-academy. Students who need access to the Advanced and Regression modules of SPSS, should purchase a six- or twelve-month lease of SPSS 15 for Windows Graduate Pack.

Faculty and Staff Work-at-Home Use of SPSS

As part of the new site license, we can now grant UMW faculty and staff work-at-home licenses for the PC version of SPSS. If you would like a copy of SPSS to install on your personal computer, please stop by the Help Desk (currently located in the modular unit behind George Washington Hall). You can check out a copy of the SPSS media and installation instructions. You will be required to show your faculty or staff ID and to sign an agreement not to illegally distribute the software. You must return the SPSS media to the Help Desk after installing the software.

Please be aware that while we provide SPSS for installation on faculty and staff home computers, the University does not provide any troubleshooting support for these installations.

SPSS on the Mac

In addition to the campus license (which only covers the PC-version of SPSS), UMW also licenses 10 Macintosh copies of SPSS for use in Jepson 401. These are the only Mac versions of SPSS on campus. You can, however, run the PC version of SPSS on an Intel-chip Mac that has Windows installed. Please note that work-at-home versions are not available for Macintosh users.

SPSS 15 Specifications

If you are a student who is planning on purchasing an SPSS lease to install the software on your personal computer or if you are faculty member interested in installing SPSS through the University's work-at-home license, please be aware of the following minimum system requirements:

  • Microsoft Windows XP or 2000 (NOTE: SPSS 15 is NOT currently Vista-compatible)
  • Intel Pentium-compatible processor
  • 256MB RAM (minimum)
  • 400MB free hard drive space
  • SVGA monitor
  • Internet Explorer 6