Efforts made to restore Adobe access comes amid student criticism of the initial choice to remove student access.
Kennesaw State’s Student Government Association is collaborating with President Kathy Schwaig to fund Adobe Creative Cloud licenses for students’ personal use in response to recent demands.
This past March, KSU announced that students would no longer be provided with personal licenses to the Adobe Creative Cloud Software and that students would only be able to access the platform through university computer labs.
With many students required to use Adobe Creative Cloud for classwork and final projects, this decision was met with backlash and demands to return the software access to students.
According to Director of Public Relations John Brogan, SGA has been in contact with University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue to advocate for student licenses. Brogan went on to state that while Perdue has agreed to look into the request, SGA hopes that more student government associations around the state will collaborate with KSU to bring more attention to the issue.
Brogan also stated that he and his friends have faced challenges with their own work since losing access to Adobe.
“For me, as someone who uses these softwares quite often, it really comes down to the fact that a lot of these devices that do have the licenses on campus just simply do not have the power requirements to do what a lot of students need to have done,” Brogan said. “I have many friends who are animation majors who have tried to use the on-campus devices and it is nowhere close in terms of capability, which has then led them to have to buy Creative Cloud licenses on their personal devices out of their own pocket.”
There is a change.org petition, created by KSU student Amelia Barnett, asking for KSU to return funding to Creative Cloud licenses. As of September 2023, that petition has amassed over 2,000 signatures. The central concern expressed by petitioners is that many students don’t always have the time to go to and from campus for assignments.
“As a parent of a student enrolled at KSU majoring in digital animation, it was assured to us that my child would have full access to Adobe,” petition signer Maggie Barnett Noland said. “Knowing my child had full access and the ability to work on and off campus through Adobe was a determining factor in choosing her educational path at KSU. Knowing my child has the ability to work on and off campus at any given time is a win-win knowing that her educational needs are being met.”
Students were originally given personal access to the Adobe Creative Cloud during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when students were at home and unable to attend in-person classes. The cost of the licenses was covered by a federal COVID relief fund, which is no longer available. If a student wishes to purchase a license for their personal device, it will cost them a monthly fee of $19.99.
SGA will continue to collaborate with Schwaig and Perdue, with hopes of returning student licenses in the upcoming semesters. In the meantime, Brogan has recommended the free software option on Davinci Resolve for students looking for a more affordable alternative to the Adobe Creative Cloud. For students looking to use Adobe software in the computer labs, the website for KSU’s University Information Technology Services contains computer lab locations and their hours.
