Textbook Cost Reduction Strategy / Potential Benefits / Impediments or Essential Factors Needed to Implement Strategy / Group(s) Responsible for Implementation / Potential Savings to Students / Potential to Improve Student Learning / Timeframe/Feasibility
High, Med, Low / High, Med, Low / Short, Med, Long/
High, Med, Low
Explore Systemwide volume discounts on custom cover, custom content and customized bundles oftextbooks /
  • Reduces costs
  • Negotiated timeframe for new editions
  • Immediate results
  • Elicits faculty collaboration
/
  • Only works for textbooks in wide use
  • Requires faculty agreement
  • Works better for some disciplines than others
  • If done on large scale publishers may not offer great discounts
  • Uncertain impact on used book market
  • Limits variability of content
  • Possibly more suitable for books students tend to keep
/
  • Bookstore Managers
  • Foundation for CCCs
  • Publishers
  • Faculty
/ Roughly 40% cost savings –
Medium / Low to Medium / Short-term
Medium Feasibility
Promote college or district textbook adoption policies /
  • Reduces costs by increasing resale value
  • Increases used books available to students
  • Timely book adoptions enable bookstores to find lowest-cost source
  • Promotes on campus awareness, dialogue and collaboration related to textbooks
  • Academic Senate has stated interest and support
  • Student Senate supports it
  • Bookstore Managers support it
/
  • Faculty must agree to policy
  • Faculty must follow policy
/
  • Academic Senate/Faculty
  • Bookstore Managers
  • CEOs
  • Trustees
/ Medium / Low to Medium / Short-Term
High Feasibility
Promote textbook rental programs involving associated student organizations and bookstores /
  • High cost savings on selected books for some students
  • Popular with students
  • Students use savings to enroll in more courses
  • For rental programs housed in bookstore, increased bookstore traffic and sales on non-textbook items
  • Creates good will towards bookstores
  • Recruitment tool for outreach
  • Immediate fix
/
  • High initial start-up cost, but can be self-sustaining
  • Takes time and $$ to set up
  • Space to house books
  • Requires continuity of support from student government
  • Requires faculty support and agreement on common texts for at least some courses
  • Only reaches limited number of students
  • Can only be used for commonly used books
  • Requires follow-up/penalty to get books returned
  • Potential use of Basic Skills funds to buy books
  • Additional workload for bookstore if housed there
  • Would require “how –to” information for interested colleges
/
  • Associated Student Organizations
  • Student Senate
  • Bookstore Managers
  • CEOs
  • Chief Business Officers
  • Librarians?
  • Faculty
/ Medium / Medium – if students use money saved to enroll in more classes / Short-to Mid-term
Medium Feasibility
Promote free or low-cost open source digital textbooks andlearning resources (OER)
(continued) /
  • High savings to students
  • Accommodates diverse learning styles and disabilities
  • Can be delivered in a variety of formats, either digitally or in print
  • Drives publishers to work with us
  • Market driven solution
  • Gives faculty maximum flexibility in choosing materials
/
  • Very broad and hard to define
  • Needs incentives for faculty to participate
  • A wide variety of materials are currently available, but not all reusable in a variety of settings
  • If only digital materials are provided, students may miss having textbook
  • Currently burden is on instructor to find or develop materials
  • Requires substantial effort to educate faculty and administrators on their existence, development and uses
  • Currently CSU and UC may not articulate or accept courses using OER
/
  • Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources
  • Chief Executive Officers
  • Chief Instructional Officers
  • Academic Senates and individual faculty
  • Local Trustees
  • Alternative publishers
/ Very High / Very High / Mid – to Long-Term
High Feasibility in the future
Support CCC participation inthe CSU Digital Market Place /
  • Course material available digitally and in print
  • Variety of learning materials and formats accommodates diverse learning styles and disabilities
  • Funding in place
  • Scope is huge
  • Accommodates both commercial and free open resource content
  • Content tied to learning by objectives
  • Rolled out in phases
/
  • Students and faculty like books. Structure of book is comfortable; they know how to use it.
  • Student and faculty readiness for technology
  • How to use the technology should be taught in classes
  • 1 year away from pilot
/
  • System Office
  • Digital Market Advisory Committee
  • CSU Chancellor’s Office
  • Publishers
  • OER content repositories
/ High / High / Mid- to Long-Term
High Feasibility in the future
Promote print-on-demand publishing
(continued) /
  • Low cost
  • Students get books in timely manner, if print-on-demand housed on campus
  • Emphasis on content rather than delivery method
  • Potentially smart investment by bookstores
  • Trend toward this delivery method in entire publishing industry
  • Potentially unlimited options for content
  • Accommodates diverse learning styles and disabilities
  • Can be used with either free Open Resource or commercially produced content
/
  • Currently limited capacity
  • Maintenance will be an issue (think of current copy machine maintenance)
  • High equipment cost for quality machines may favor regional print centers
/
  • Publishers
  • Bookstore Managers
  • Chief Business Officers
  • Consortiums of colleges
/ High / High / Mid- to Long-Term
High Feasibility in the future
Promote legislation to lower textbook costs /
  • Authority to mandate solutions
  • High interest on the part of legislators to address the issue
  • Legislation supporting Open Educational Resources or supporting collaboration among all stakeholders may be useful
/
  • Most solutions can be more effectively addressed by local collaboration
  • Legislative efforts to date have been of limited benefit or contrary to interests of colleges and may actually increase costs
  • Publisher lobbying groups are often opposed to legislation supported by colleges and students
  • Difficult to obtain agreement among all stakeholders on content of legislation that would be helpful
/
  • All Stakeholders
  • System Office
  • Legislature
  • Governor
/ Low or unknown / Low or unknown / Mid to Long Term
Low to Medium Feasibility
Amend problematic textbooks requirements in the curriculum approval, transfer and articulation processes /
  • Adding clarifying language in curriculum approval guidelines stating that a textbook can be in an alternative, digital or open source format would clarify misperceptions on the part of local curriculum committees
/
  • Textbook requirements related to transfer and articulation are controlled by CSU and UC.
  • Requires UC and CSU to accept digital textbooks not only at the system level, but at the individual campus and department level.
/
  • Academic Senate/Faculty
  • System Office
  • UC and CSU
/ unknown / unknown / Curriculum Approval:
Short to Medium Term
High Feasibility
Transfer and Articulation:
Long-term
Low Feasibility
Eliminate State sales tax on textbooks /
  • Would potentially save all students some money
/
  • Opposition from a variety of stakeholders
  • Difficult to generate support in current budget environment
  • Does not address underlying causes of increasing costs
/
  • Student Senate
/ Low / Low / Long-term
Low Feasibility
Promote expansion of library reserves /
  • Save a limited number of students money
  • Huge potential if materials available in digital format
/
  • Currently very limited scope
  • Needs further exploration, especially for relation of libraries to digital delivery of content
/
  • Librarians
  • Faculty
/ Low / Low (limited scope) / Short-term
Educate CCC stake-holders on textbook cost reduction strategies /
  • Huge savings for students if substantial proportion of faculty, students and others are aware of how they can influence costs.
  • Increased communication and collaboration among faculty and with bookstores
/
  • Essential element for all of the proposed solutions
/
  • Academic Senate
  • Student Senate
  • System Office
  • Bookstore Managers
  • Consultation constituencies
  • Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources
  • CSU Digital Market Place
/ High / High / Short, Mid andLong-Term
Highly Feasible

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