Course Textbook Adoption
Ordering and Compliance
Evolution of “The System”
• Then
– Orders were placed with Bill’s by office
– Orders were placed with FSU Bookstore by office
– Books were listed on Department website,
“publishing” our reading lists by office
• Now
– Orders are placed with Bill’s by Professors
– Orders are placed with Course Textbook Adoption
Tool through BlackBoard, ensuring compliance by
office
– FSU Bookstore is automatically notified via system
Benefits of the “New System”
• Students are able to see, when they
register, what books are being used
– This system places the information in the
student’s hand WELL IN ADVANCE.
• This will also usher in less “drop/add”
based on book selection
Compliance to what?!
• Higher Education Opportunity Act
(2008), Section 112
• Florida Statutes (2008), 1004.085
• Florida Board of Governors
Regulations, 8.003
Higher Education Opportunity Act (2008),
Section 112
• The purpose of this section is to ensure that students
have access to affordable course materials by
decreasing costs to students and enhancing
transparency and disclosure with respect to the
selection, purchase, sale, and use of course materials.
It is the intent of this section to encourage all of the
involved parties, including faculty, students,
administrators, institutions of higher education,
bookstores, distributors, and publishers, to work
together to identify ways to decrease the cost of college
textbooks and supplemental materials for students
while supporting the academic freedom of faculty
members to select high quality course materials for
students.
Florida Statutes (2008), 1004.085
• Community colleges and state universities shall post on their
websites, as early as is feasible, but not less than 30 days
prior to the first day of class for each term, a list of each
textbook required for each course offered at the
institution during the upcoming term. The posted list
must include the International Standard Book Number
(ISBN) for each required textbook or other identifying
information, which must include, at a minimum, all of the
following: the title, all authors listed, publishers, edition
number, copyright date, published date, and other relevant
information necessary to identify the specific textbook or
textbooks required for each course. The State Board of
Education and the Board of Governors shall include in the
policies, procedures, and guidelines adopted under
subsection (4) certain limited exceptions to this notification
requirement for classes added after the notification deadline.
Florida Board of Governors Regulations,
8.003
• Each university board of trustees shall adopt a
regulation that establishes textbook adoption
procedures to minimize the cost of textbooks
for students while maintaining the quality of
education and academic freedom. At a
minimum, the regulation shall provide for the
following:
(a) A deadline for the adoption of textbooks each term
that shall provide sufficient lead time for bookstores
to confirm the availability of the requested materials
and, where possible, maximize the number of used
books available.
Consequences?
• “The federal act does not specify a
penalty. When one is not in compliance with
federal requirements, however, an institution is
positioned to be denied its federal funding, e.g.,
student aid made available under Title IV. On
the local level, one may be assured that there
would be measurable consequences should--to
cite only one example--our Pell-eligible
undergraduates be rendered ineligible due to a
unit's decision to test the waters.”
– Dr. Joseph McElrath, Associate Vice President for
Academic Affairs
Important Points To Consider
• The entire process is established by the
Provost’s office; not the College or
Department
– Compliance must be met at the University
level. Deadlines and procedures are out of
our hands
• Graduate course descriptions are due at
the same time!
Important Points To Consider
• Instructors are ultimately responsible for
getting their orders in on time, and
meeting compliance expectations
– The Department can only help you become
“compliant” if you provide the information to
us in a timely manner
Summer / Fall 2010
• Book orders will need to be in by March
9th
– Summer and Fall
– Registration opens March 15th
• Sections that are pending funding,
instructors that are pending contracts,
etc. will be exempt
Honesty Policy
• The College’s and Provost’s office has an
“Honesty Policy” in regards to reporting
books for compliance
– If we know the books, we should be posting
them
• This is much like the standard we expect
from our students with Academic Honor
Code
Summer / Fall 2010
• Your part
– Because our Department is so large, and
these deadlines typically give us about a one
week crunch period, the more you can
contribute, the quicker the Department can
become compliant and continue with other
areas of planning
Summer / Fall 2010
• To simplify the process, we are asking
you to order your books through Bills.
This process takes about 10 minutes (or
less!) for a course requiring 10 books
• To begin, simply go to this link
Ordering Through Bill’s – Step 1
• Go to this link
• Fill out the information
– Make sure to list your course codes and
estimated enrollment correctly
– You do not need to forward the order to
another bookstore, because the new system
already does it for you
– Once you submit adoptions, you’ll receive a
confirmation email shortly after
Ordering Through Bill’s – Step 2
• Send your confirmation from Bill’s to
Andrew Mason at asmason@fsu.edu
• Andrew will then process your books
through BlackBoard and monitor the
Department’s compliance – unless you
are planning to complete the Bb portion
on your own.
Desk Copies
• Most publishers now do desk copy
requests online. The easiest way to order
them is to go to each individual site, and
order straight through them
• Again, if you would like the Department to
help you in ordering Desk Copies, we are
here for you
Conclusions
• Thank you, in advance, for your help and
diligence during this transition time
• Remember, the Department’s Support
Staff are here to help you if you face a
problem or need additional help
• Becoming compliant puts us (and keeps
us) in good standing with the College and
Provost’s Office