Dear @carsonk,
I want to check something with you. You say in your message above "1) the Sassafras server requires a purchased Sassafras Key per computer and they do not want to pay for a Sassafras key on student-owned equipment and 2) their policy does not allow school assets on student equipment, period."
Regarding the first point, I think this is incorrect. To be able to run Isadora on any laptop one, one only need to download the KeyAccess software shown at this link
http://www.sassafras.com/support/
As you can see, there is no cost for this. Anyone can download it and use it for free.
Regarding point #2, I guess I can see the problem is the definition of a "school asset." I would argue that, without the central server maintained on campus, the Sassafras version of Isadora I have provided to you is not any kind of 'asset" because the program will only run in demo mode if it cannot reach **_your_** Sassafras Keyserver. The program has no value by itself (i.e., without connecting to the key server) and, as such, cannot be considered an asset.
As the owner of this license, you have the right to distribute your specially encoded Sassafras key server version to anyone on campus. This is how it is handled by at least two dozen other institutions across the globe. They just upload the software installer where students and staff can download it. Others could download it also, but it wouldn't work for them as it is tied to your unique Sassafras key.
I don't know if any of these arguments can be used to persuade your IT department, but if a phone call to someone there would help, I'd be very happy to make it.
Let me know what you need to solve this problem.
Best Wishes,
Mark