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System Requirements System Requirements System Requirements

System Requirements

Minimum System Requirements

Microsoft Office or Microsoft Office compatible files are required for assignments at Southwestern College – Professional Studies (SCPS). Some courses require the sole use of Microsoft Office software. Your Microsoft Office 365 subscription account, provided for free for the duration of your enrollment at Southwestern College (SC), includes the Microsoft Office Suite for Windows and macOS. Learners must ensure compatibility with Office features required for work submitted in any SCPS course if an alternative office suite software is used such as Google Docs or OpenOffice, etc.

1. To download the Microsoft Office Suite from your SC Microsoft Office 365 account, please log on to Office 365.
2. Click on Install Office.
3. Follow the instructions on the screen.

Note: If you use a Mac and require Microsoft Access, please note that there is no version of Access available that will run directly on macOS. Learners with Macs will need to use either Bootcamp (only available on Intel Macs) or some virtualization software (Parallels, WMVare Fusion, or VirtualBox, etc.) to install a copy of Windows (at extra cost and not provided by SC), and then install the Office suite from there. This method, however, is not fully supported by the SC Helpdesk as it does not have the resources to assist with a complicated setup process.

You may find the system requirements for Microsoft Office 365 – Education here.

Blackboard Learn is the learning management system platform used by all the courses at SCPS. This system is browser based. Therefore, it is essential that the browser that you use is compatible with Blackboard Learn. Please use the Blackboard Learn Browser Checker available to check your browser’s compatibility.

Zoom is the software used in courses for live and recorded presentations including recorded presentation assignment submissions, video and instant messaging conversations with your colleague learners and instructors, group members, and other communications. Every learner is provided a Zoom PRO account for the duration of their enrollment at SC. You will find a Getting Started with Zoom PRO for PS Learners manual available to you in Academic Resources in each of your courses. You may find the system requirements for Zoom here.

Technical Support

Southwestern College provides learners support for the most commonly used software required for their educational program. These include Blackboard Learn and Deets Library and their interoperability with:

Technical support for all other purposes, all other software, and all hardware may be obtained via the respective vendor’s online resources and customer support. Some helpful online resources for technical support beyond what Southwestern College supports are as follows:

  • Zoom
    • Please consult the Getting Started with Zoom PRO for PS Learners manual for several options for support located in Academic Resources in your course.

If you have any questions regarding system requirements or technical support issues not addressed on this page, please contact the SC Helpdesk at sc.helpdesk@sckans.edu or view the technical support page.

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