Faculty need high-quality course materials for their classes, and they need students to actually be able to use them. Educators and higher education staff saw that students were being priced out of accessing essential materials and have taken action across the country. From writing, adopting, and curating open textbooks to advocating for consumer protections for students, educators and staff have been central in ensuring faculty and students through course material access. Faculty, librarians, administrators, and staff have been key advocates and actors for textbook affordability, these resources are designed to help you bring these projects to your campus.
Open Textbooks
Open textbooks not only remove cost barriers for students but also provide educators with flexibility because of their permissive copyright licenses. Faculty can revise, remix, retain, and redistribute open materials freely.
Automatic Billing
Faculty and staff are often the first to raise questions around the ethics and practicalities that surround automatic textbook billing. Faculty have increasingly voiced concerns over potential threats to academic freedom, student data privacy, and the long term implications of these deals.
Course Marking
When students are able to financially plan they choose the classes they can actually take when they can take them, letting them know how much they will spend on textbooks before they register helps them do this. It’s a policy that just makes sense but it needs all hands on deck to be successful.