World Wide Websites!

Hey everyone,

Here's a couple useful websites if you are dealing with student loans or will be graduating soon.

Student Loan info:
http://studentloans.ednet.ns.ca/reducing_debt01.shtml

Graduate student tax relief:
http://www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/gtc/

Woot!

Toronto Star textbook issues article

Students unaware prices also cover 'teaching materials,' publishers say

http://www.thestar.com/article/568630

Jan 10, 2009 04:30 AM
Kenyon Wallace
STAFF REPORTER

Textbooks are notoriously expensive.

But publishers say the high prices include much more than just the book.

Study guides, teachers' guides, CD-ROMs and online question banks – extra materials that aren't always apparent at the cash register – are factored into the price, according to the Canadian Publishers' Council.

The council represents some of Canada's largest textbook publishers, including McGraw-Hill Ryerson, Pearson Education Canada and John Wiley & Sons.

"What the student doesn't see are all the teaching materials that are produced for the instructors across Canada that are part of the textbook package. That stuff's not sitting on the shelves," said Colleen O'Neill, executive director of the council's higher education branch.

"A textbook that costs $190, I bet, has a list as long as your arm of all the materials available, both to the student and the instructor," she said.

Many textbooks, especially those that cover specialized topics, are used by far fewer students compared to those for popular subjects. With limited print runs, unit costs increase.

In addition, professors are becoming increasingly reliant on teaching materials, the cost of which is ultimately passed on to the student, O'Neill said.

University bookstores also bear some responsibility for setting prices, she said. However, a spokesperson for U of T bookstore said they do not mark up texts.

O'Neill says she understands why students are frustrated with the price of textbooks, especially when many courses don't make full use of the book. To remedy this, several U.S.-based publishers are moving to allow students to purchase only the chapters required for a course – a practice O'Neill says Canadian students could see soon.

Pictures from the Be Book Smart Campaign!

Be Book Smart Campaign

Find your textbooks too expensive? So do we!

Campaign Overview:
Your Students’ Association has been working together with the Saint Mary’s Bookstore toward reducing the cost of materials by initiating a national collaboration effort. We have been working with post-secondary institutes from across Canada — and now we are looking for your help.

Students, instructors, and administrators make for a powerful alliance and have significant power to change things for the better. A little change can go a long way: if one single instructor switches from a $150 textbook to a $100 textbook in a 200-student class, the student population will have saved $10,000. Imagine what we can do if we all work together!

Welcome to Be Book Smart, where you can be part of the solution!

Information for Students:

Textbooks are one of the largest expenses for students, after tuition, rent, and food.The Saint Mary’s University Bookstore recommends that students budget approximately $120 per course for textbooks, which amounts to $1200 per year for a full course load. That’s a huge expense for most students!

In fact, textbooks account for 17.7% of the average student’s educational costs. Considering the costs of textbooks are increasing at a rapid rate in excess of inflation, this percentage is likely to increase even more and place even more financial pressure on already over-burdened students.

How can I help?
We need engaged students to help with the campaign by discussing this issue one-on-one with instructors and by getting the message out to other students. We are trying to make this issue front and center everywhere on campus, and we can’t do it without you!

How can I save money now?
There are several ways to save money on your textbook purchases. You might try the tips below:
-Buy used books. It's the obvious answer, but is always effective.
-Try older editions. Ask your instructor if an older edition is close enough to the current one. In some cases, this will help you find used books.
-Shop around. Try the Bookstore, Browsers, or any other retailer you can think of. These all sell used books as well.
-Search the SMUSA Online Book Exchange. Click on the Book Exchange tab on the left menu.
-Check bulletin boards or public notice boards. They’re often littered with bulletins advertising used books in various subjects.
-Ask friends. Borrow, share, or buy books from friends who have taken the same class.
-Get creative. Look for eBook options of the text or try to find international editions without the glossy, full-color pages.
-Don’t buy at all. Look for reserve copies in the library to sign out.

Information for Faculty:

Students are now recommended to set aside the equivalent of 24.5% of their instructional fees for textbooks. Considering the costs of textbooks are increasing at a rapid rate in excess of inflation, this percentage is likely to increase even more and place even more financial pressure on already over-burdened students.

Many instructors remember when textbooks were much more affordable and are already doing their best to help keep costs down for students. Students fully support our instructors’ right to choose their teaching materials. But by working together we can do more to ensure that academic materials remain of a high quality and affordable! Please read on below to see how you can help students!

Tricks and Tips: Publishers’ Tricks and the Ways Around Them:

Trick: Constant edition changes — Drives up prices and removes access to used books, often without adding any real value.
Tip: Ask yourself if an edition change really necessary, or if the old edition work just as well. You can also try to negotiate an edition freeze, which will allow you to keep the same book for multiple years, even if a newer one becomes available.

Trick: Bundling — The cost of developing bundles is absorbed into the book so that publishers can claim the bundles are free.
Tip: If the bundle is of little value, or you won’t be using it, request to purchase only the textbook (unbundled) at a lower cost.

Trick: Failure to provide the price — The price may not be given, or may not reflect the actual cost to students.
Tip: Ask what the price is before you adopt a textbook. When discussing pricing with the publisher’s representative, ask what the actual cost will be to the students. Request the price that the bookstore will be receiving the textbook at.

Trick: Price hikes — When a textbook becomes better established, prices are raised to take advantage of this status. This often causes the instructor to drop the text, or students must buy a significantly more expensive textbook.
Tip: If you plan to teach a course for a few years and to use the same text throughout, negotiate a deal that will put a price freeze on the book.

Trick: Aesthetics — Textbooks are often loaded with glossy, full-colour pages and hard covers to make them more aesthetically pleasing. Naturally, this drives up the price — without adding any academic value.
Tip: Ask if black and white or one-colour editions are available, in soft cover and standard paper where possible. Where full-colour images are needed, consider posting them on the internet as a supplementary source.

Trick: Unsolicited desk copies — Publishers sometimes send “free” copies to market their textbooks, but the cost ultimately goes to students.
Tip: If you receive a textbook that you did not request and have no intention of using, simply refuse to accept it. You can enlist the help of your departmental support staff to refuse or return unsolicited texts that arrive by mail.

More Cost-Saving Tips:
Questions to Consider When Selecting Course Materials:

Am I making publishers compete?
If a few textbooks are all the same quality, consider selecting the least expensive, even if there is a marginal difference. Also, be sure to ask the sales reps if they are willing to reduce the list price if you adopt their text. This will make cost the distinguishing factor, and publishers will have to compete for your selection.

Do I really need the textbook?
If most material can be made available online or through Coursepacks, photocopies or lecture notes, consider making the text a recommended reading and having your lectures reference these other materials.

Do I need a new edition?
If there have been no substantial changes in creating a new edition, consider suggesting to students that the previous edition is still acceptable. If you used the old edition in the past, hold on to the references and page numbers to make both editions viable options for students.

Is there someone in the department teaching a different level of the subject that can use information in the same text?
Many textbooks are designed to cover a full year of study (based on US curricula), and you may only require a part of an edition. Other instructors may be able to use other sections for their classes.

Would a Course pack work?
Custom Courseware can be more affordable than textbooks when used effectively. It is worth noting that this option is not as affordable as it once was, due to the increase in Access Copyright costs. Keep these costs in mind when designing your Course pack, and look for alternatives where possible.

Is there an alternative to an expensive lab manual?
Departments that create their own lab manuals can develop them at a fraction of the cost.

Would a class website work?
This is a great way to make supplemental materials available to students. Consider putting as much material online as possible, whether directly on SMUport or Blackboard, or through links and references.

Have I reserved the course material in the library?
Let students know that there are reserved copies in the library and that they can use these instead of purchasing their own.

Have I contacted the Bookstore early?
Early orders, besides meaning that the books should arrive on time, allows the Bookstore to combine orders and save a lot on shipping costs. Also, when orders are received early, the Bookstore can outsource used book suppliers & offer more used books (at 25% savings) to students. Once a book is adopted, it can be put on the buyback, so students who used the book previously can get half of their money back.

Resources

Canadian Roundtable on Academic Materials (CRAM)
CRAM was established in early 2008 to find solutions to escalating textbook costs. Post-secondary institutes from across Canada have joined this exchange of ideas, and many have also begun to combat rising prices. For more information, please visit theCRAM.ca

Frequently Asked Questions:

Why do textbooks cost so much right now?
The textbook market is not a normal market because the people who pick the books (the instructors) are not the ones paying for them (the students). Instructors focus on content and merit when selecting a textbook, and rightly so, but this means that publishers may be under little pressure to keep prices low.

Of course, many publishers understand this dynamic and exploit it. Questionable gimmicks and aggressive marketing campaigns add further to the overall price of books. Currently, in the textbook market, competition actually increases the price for consumers!

To make matters worse, many publishers change editions very frequently, even in stable subjects like introductory calculus. These unnecessary changes effectively disrupt the used-books market and force students and instructors to buy new texts.

The price of everything goes up over time; why should textbooks be any different?
Yes, the price of many commodities goes up over time, and textbooks are no exception. However, due to the unique nature of the textbook market, the price of textbooks has been increasing at a rate that greatly outpaces inflation (at an average of 280%), even when little to no new content is added.

What can we realistically expect in terms of reduced textbook prices?
This is a relatively new movement, and it may take years to change the culture of the textbook market. But even in the short term, a little change can go a long way: if one single instructor switches from a $150 textbook to a $100 textbook in a 200-student class, the student population will have saved $10,000. The more we work together on this, the more quickly we’ll start seeing results.

If it really is possible to pressure publishers to lower prices, why is action only being taken now? Why was this not done before?
Your Students’ Association has been working together with your Bookstore for years to lower the costs of academic materials. But to see more drastic change, the national textbook market needs to be addressed, and this movement is still relatively new.

Over the last year, your Students’ Association and Bookstore have been working to reduce the cost of materials by initiating a national collaboration effort.
The Canadian Roundtable on Academic Materials (CRAM) was established in early 2008 to find solutions to escalating textbook costs. Post-secondary institutes from across Canada have joined in this exchange of ideas to combat rising prices.

Are there any alternatives to expensive textbooks?
Online resources are increasingly popular, and there is a growing movement for alternative sources. Check our Resources section for more info.

As a student, I can’t wait for prices do go down. How can I save money now?
There are a few things you can do to help yourself save money on textbooks right now. Try purchasing used books instead of new, and check with your instructor to see if older editions of the textbook are close enough to the new edition for you to get the same information. You can also try sharing books with friends who are taking the same course and using the reserve textbooks from the library.

This is a great idea! What can I do to help?
Spread the word! Pass on your brochure or bookmark to another student, and tell others about our website. If you’re willing to do more, email vpacademic@smusa.ca to volunteer with our campaign.

SMUSA would like to acknowledge Jon Braga and the University of Alberta Student’s Union for use of their generous contribution in creating this information. We would also like to acknowledge permission to use materials from the UASU Be Booksmart campaign.