A message from Uday Sukhatme, Executive Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Faculties (per email dated January 9, 2009):

As you know the high cost of textbooks has become an issue discussed at both the national and state levels.  It is especially important in these difficult times that we do all that we can to ease the financial burden on our students.

The 2008 Higher Education Act reauthorization contains provisions aimed at reducing the cost of college textbooks and supplemental materials along with making this information available to students in a timely manner. Effective July 1, 2010, the law requires that all institutions disclose “to the maximum extent practicable” the International Standard Book Numbers (ISBN) and retail price information of all required or recommended textbooks and supplemental materials in their course schedules. The legislation also encourages institutions to disseminate information on alternative textbook options such as textbook rental and buy-back programs.  The campus is preparing to implement this legislation and you will hear more about this in the future.

In the immediate term there are several things that you can do to reduce the burden of textbook costs for your students.

● Consider alternative course materials particularly those that are freely available on the web.

●   Encourage the used textbook market by doing the following two things:

(i) Adopt textbooks early, especially for large classes.  If the bookstore knows that a textbook will be used in the following semester by the sixth week of the preceding semester (February for the Fall and October for the Spring), then they will plan to buy back textbooks from students at 50% of list and sell them at 75% of list (the percentages are established by the university’s contract with Barnes & Noble).

(ii) Avoid bundles.  Publishers often bundle textbooks with workbooks and web-based supplemental materials.  The bundles have different ISBNs and cannot be bought or sold in the used market because the web codes that are part of the bundle are particular to the first purchaser of the bundle.