Textbook Provisions | Higher Education Opportunity Act

Higher Education Opportunity Act| Textbook Provisions

• Memorandum from the Associate Dean
• Textbook Adoption Form
• FAQs
• Contact Information
• Useful Links

Memorandum from the Associate Dean

To:                   All SAIS Faculty and Program Coordinators

From:               John M. Harrington, Jr., Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

Date:               March 3, 2010

New legislation has passed at both the Federal (Higher Education Opportunity Act/HEOA) and State (MD College Textbook Competition and Affordability Act of 2009) levels that requires a change in the way SAIS must manage its textbook adoption procedures.  Institutions across the country are changing their processes and creating best practices.  These laws support the academic freedom of faculty to select high quality textbooks for their students while imposing several new provisions to ensure that students have timely access to the cost of all course materials.

SAIS will now be requiring all faculty to submit and sign off on a Textbook Adoption Form for each course being taught for both required and recommended texts.  Note, some recommended texts/chapters are available through the SAIS library's electronic reserves (ERes) and usually all are available through print reserves and may not need to be included on the form.  If there are no textbooks required or recommended, faculty will still need to acknowledge this and sign off on the form.  All forms need to be submitted to the Office of Academic Affairs and will then be distributed to the appropriate program coordinators who will upload the orders to our online bookstore's Web site, MBS Direct.  Faculty members can request support from their program coordinators when searching for textbook information.  Forms will be distributed electronically in late spring or early summer for the fall term and again in late fall for the spring term.  The Office of Summer Programs will support all faculty during the summer term.

The law states that institutions are required to develop a process where faculty members acknowledge having received textbook information from publishers.  This information includes the following: title, author, publisher, edition, ISBN and price of the textbooks and supplemental materials; substantial content revisions between current and previous editions of the textbooks; whether materials are available bundled or unbundled; other available formats, such as paperback or unbound; and a list of textbooks that are classified as integrated textbooks.

Based on the information you provide, SAIS will utilize MBS Direct's services to provide students with access to this information.  The MBS Web site will include the following information: title, author, publisher, edition, copyright and publication dates and ISBNs, and whether a previous edition will suffice (the ISIS course search will note the anticipated enrollment for the course).  In addition, it must be posted whether or not the selection of course materials has been finalized by the faculty member and the potential consequences of purchasing course materials prior to being finalized, and the return policy.  This information must be posted by the earlier of three weeks after selection of course materials by a faculty member, or when the selection by a faculty member is finalized.

SAIS also offers the opportunity for faculty to create a course pack.  Please realize ERes have by and large supplanted course packs.  Faculty should be aware that the law and University policy forbids the creation of course packs without copyright clearance.  Should you choose to create a course pack, you will need to contact Julie Micek and arrange for its creation six to eight weeks prior to the start of the semester.  Note that the cost of a course pack can average 35 cents a page due to copyright royalties; you will need to send your complete reading list to MBS Direct; and you may need to provide hard copies of selected readings.  

We thank you for your continued cooperation as we work to implement these changes.  If you have any questions on the issues discussed in this memo, please do not hesitate to contact me or Julie Micek at julie.micek@jhu.edu (202.663.5713).

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Textbook Adoption Form

Download the Textbook Adoption Form

All faculty are required to submit a signed Textbook Adoption Form for each course taught.  The form should list both required and recommended texts.

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FAQs

What is the purpose of the Textbook Provisions Act?

• The purpose of this section is to ensure that students have access to affordable course materials by decreasing costs to students and enhancing transparency and disclosure with respect to the selection, purchase, sale, and use of course materials. It is the intent of this section to encourage all of the involved parties, including faculty, students, administrators, institutions of higher education, bookstores, distributors, and publishers, to work together to identify ways to decrease the cost of college textbooks and supplemental materials for students while supporting the academic freedom of faculty members to select high quality course materials for students.

What information are universities required to publish?

• The HEOA will require institutions to have course schedules and required materials for the courses available for purchase electronically, including course material information such as ISBNs and retail prices, so the student can understand the initial cost of textbooks and course materials.

What is SAIS doing to comply with the new laws?

• We are working with an online book vendor, MBS Direct, to educate our students about the available cost savings at SAIS.  Benefits of working with MBS Direct include:
  
  • Guaranteed Buyback program that will show students the exact amount they will receive at the end of the term (up to 45% off the purchase price of a new textbook)
  • The largest library of eBooks available in education, including more than 10,000 eTextbooks and more than 20,000 academically-relevant titles, including eContent, trade books, study aids, and ancillary materials
  • The nation's largest selection of used textbooks
  • A Customer Loyalty program to provide more money at buyback when they purchase and sell back textbooks through MBS Direct

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Contact Information

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Useful Links

HEOA Textbook Act

MBS Direct Online Bookstore

SAIS Library's Electronic Reserves (ERes)

Faculty Center Network (Textbook research tools)

E-textbook Resource

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