Canadian Roundtable on Academic Materials and You

Last week I wrote about the high cost of academic materials including textbooks, and the different option you have as a student when selecting your academic materials. If you missed it, you can check the blog address above for the whole scoop. Academic materials, such as text books and course-packs, are very important to students as well as faculty. For students they can be a supplement to the ideas and information presented in class, and for professors they can be an additional tool to relay the information to students.

Due to the high importance and high cost of academic materials, 21 universities from across Canada, including Saint Mary’s, have joined to create CRAM, the Canadian Roundtable on Academic Materials. This new organization represents the student associations and bookstore from these campuses.

The first meeting took place in November of 2008 in Toronto. This was initially organized by the student’s association and bookstore from the University of Alberta. The members discussed the direction of the new organization, different ideas about what CRAM could accomplish, and shared information about the issues. They decided to create an ongoing medium for cooperation between Canadian bookstores and students. The group will also ideally include all stakeholders, including faculty representative, the publishers, and librarians.

This past June, I had the opportunity to attend the second major meeting of CRAM . The conference was very informative and productive. We had the chance to meet with key representatives from the publishers and express our concerns over the rising cost of textbooks. We also had information sessions on copyright issues, what other campuses are doing to make a difference, among others. There was lots of discussion between the student representatives about running book exchanges, working with the administration on our campuses, and organizing an awareness campaign, all of which SMUSA are currently focusing on. CRAM is also planning media releases to draw attention to this issue, as well as advocacy campaigns targeting various levels of government.

CRAM and SMUSA want to create awareness on the side of the students, the faculty and bookstores and ensure that we play a role in helping to bring down the cost of these materials to students. Overall, the primary goal is create an affordable option for academic materials for all students.

Why your textbook prices have skyrocketed

Everyone knows the cost of textbooks is high. The price for textbooks in Canada between 1998 and 2007 has increased at 2.8 times the CPI. The CPI is the consumer price index, the rate at which items should increase in price in the market over time.

Many publishing companies come out with frequent new editions of each textbook. In the past, there may have only been a new edition every seven or eight years. Now, we can expect a new edition every three years. If you are trying to buy a used edition for your class, make sure it is still okay to use with the professor first. There are also other components and features of the textbook which may make it obsolete to buy the used or previous edition. The phenomenon of bundling is becoming more common. This is when publishers pack CDs or other online access codes with the textbook. These CDs or access codes may expire after a year. Also check with your professors to see if they will be using the extra components for their class. If not, you may not need to buy these costly features.

Many students and instructors are asking why new editions and price increases happen for books with little changes in curriculum, especially for example calculus and physics. This is a common problem, which the publishing industry tries to explain through a need for new end-of-chapter questions for and adapting the curriculum examples to current events and pop culture.

Another issue is who the textbooks are marketed to. The market is the professors, but students are the ones who have to pay. Each publisher rigorously tries to sell their books to professors via local sales reps. Often the professors are not told of the cost of the book, or continue to use a book year after year, even though there are recent and expensive new editions. The publishers make it difficult for the professors and bookstores to continue to use the old editions because of supply issues.

All of these things are making used textbooks obsolete, driving up the costs for students, who are the end user of the book. The data showing the rising costs of textbooks is supported by many PIRGs (Public Interest Research Groups) in the US and a number of Canadian university bookstores. Get to know the issues and get involved. Write your local politicians and talk to your professors about the issues.

Make sure you keep in mind the following important dates:

Friday, September 12th
-Last day for registering and changing courses
-Last day for filing applications for graduation for degrees, diplomas and certificates to be awarded in January 2009 or Spring Convocation 2009
-Last day for payment of first semester tuition fees

Friday, November 7th
-Last day for withdrawing without academic penalty from three credit hour courses

ATTENTION POTENTIAL 2009 GRADUATES!

For all those potential spring 2009 graduates, this notice is for you! The application for graduation form is due this Friday September 12. If you intend to walk across that stage in May with your fellow classmates, make sure to pick up your form outside the registrar's office and return it by Friday. It only takes a minute to do, so don't miss out. If you still aren't sure if you are going to be graduating in May, fill it out just in case. Any questions, please contact the registrar's office before the due date!