Create local account with no write access on mass computers?

I'm running a bunch of iMacs (10.6.8 & 10.8.2) on a network managed by an Xserve (10.6.8) at a small university. We recently purchased several Adobe suites and they apparently do not work when logged in with a network account. So, for at least a short term work-around, how do I easily create a local account on all the computers that does not have write priviledges to the local drives (or at least limited write--there my need to be some system folders that Adobe needs to write to locally, but not sure yet)? I can use a network drive for saving projects (even though Adobe told me that wouldn't work...), I just don't want students to be able to manage, add/remove programs, or save their projects locally.