Half of faculty textbook requests met deadline

Early faculty requests could mean more used books.

By Belinda Kocen

Published Oct. 30, 2008

The deadline for textbook requisitions is today, a day about which student groups and the University Bookstore have worked to remind professors.

As of 6 p.m. Thursday, faculty members have turned in 54 percent of textbook requisitions. The University Bookstore placed a graph on its Web site that counts the number of received adoptions so students and faculty could track the percent of courses that have adopted textbooks for next semester. The Web site stated there are a total of 13,788 courses that will be offered next semester, with 7,491 book requests that had been turned in by Thursday.

MSA senator Craig Stevenson said he does not believe the Course Materials Advisory Committee made a prediction for an exact number of textbook requisitions that would be turned in on time.

"According to (Retail Services Director) Sherry Pollard, the number of adoption forms turned in has a tendency to jump in past years, so hopefully we can make it over the 50 percent mark," he said.

As of mid-day Thursday, they met that mark.

Pollard spoke to the Faculty Council on Thursday regarding the importance of the adoption program. When professors adopt a textbook before the deadline, the bookstore can better plan for which books it needs or order, resulting in more used copies of books.

Pollard said last year 39 percent of courses had textbook adoptions in on time.

Because of the Textbook Transparency Act passed last year, bundled book packages are required to be available unbundled so the cost is less. Also, digital book adoptions have become popular, are less costly and are better for the environment.

The next option available to faculty members to make books less expensive is to adopt a book for three years so it can be used for a rental program. Pollard addressed the Faculty Council regarding that possibility as the next goal of the Course Materials Advisory Committee.

- News Editor Allie Blood contributed to this report