A topic relevant to many students was brought to attention Wednesday, when the Faculty Senate Executive Committee met with Student Association President Viqar Hussain to discuss the issue of rising textbook prices and bookstore return policies.
"We're starting to make some noise and make professors aware of the cost of textbooks," Hussain said.
To give members of the FSEC an idea of costs associated with textbooks, Hussain and the SA searched Facebook for 10 undergraduate students' course rosters, which were used as models. Textbook requirements for each course and their cost were researched to form a projected contrast between new and used books.
Last year, UB estimated that the average student would spend $850 per year on books. According to the survey, buying used textbooks could bring the cost down to $640.
The FSEC agreed that something has to be done to control prices, and made spreading awareness of the issue their first initiative.
According to Hussain, the strategies used by publishing companies pose several problems to both faculty and students. A common tactic is "bundling," or packaging the required texts with extra materials like lab manuals, CDs and access codes that can only be used once.
"It's another way for publishers to make money," Hussain said. "Sometimes students have to buy an access code just to hand in homework."
The University Bookstore, owned by Follett's, has a reputation of being more expensive than other bookstores and has problematic exchange policies, according to the FSEC. Bookstore policy says that if a book has a buyback sticker on it, a student can get up to 50 percent of the original price if the instructor is using the book again. If the book doesn't have a buyback sticker, a student can only get 10 to 30 percent back, and sometimes even less.
UB doesn't guarantee a certain amount of sales to Follett's, so the FSEC advised on buying textbooks from online book exchanges, including the one provided by SA. However, the committee said they would like to make the books available on campus as affordable as possible.
The FSEC discussed the idea that instructors have a large role in the issue and need to be more aware of bookstore policies and book costs. According to Hussain, deciding whether to use an old or new edition is a $9-10 million decision when taking the undergraduate population into account over a series of four years.
"By providing information, I think faculty will be responsive. They're sensitive to this issue," said Peter Nickerson, committee chair.
According to Hussain, such problems aren't unique to UB.
"Colleges have the same problem all around, from Binghamton to Stony Brook," Hussain said.
For this reason, textbook pricing has been an issue in the Senate. State policy requires colleges that receive money from the government find ways to lower textbook costs. If costs inflate as they have been, according to the FSEC, the opportunity for furthering education will be threatened.
A pending revision to the Textbook Pricing and Access Act aims to help colleges make sure that better access to lower cost textbooks is available to students, according to the FSEC.
Even though Hussain's proposal is an early effort to help meet the Senate's objective at UB, students already approve of the idea.
"I think it's a good thing," said Sara Moshier, freshman nursing major.
Kaylee Sokol, a sophomore history major is looking forward to experiencing the results as well.
"As a college student, it's hard to pay for books and other things at the same time," she said.
Some were skeptical of the idea, though.
"I think it's politics," said Jake Botticello, a junior English major. "There isn't much chance of (the issue) getting serious attention."
The FSEC is now considering the formation of a university-wide bookstore committee, which would oversee the pricing of textbooks and work to raise awareness among faculty.
