THERE are two types of students at the University. Science and math students who spend lots of money each semester on a few thick textbooks and humanities students, like myself, who fork over the big bucks on a more numerous set of cheaper books. Though I would selfishly argue that the latter suffers more in total than the former (thanks to a higher page count), both groups face the same challenges in dealing with the cost of textbooks. While there are ways to help reduce this periodic monetary burden, all of them rely on one thing: the willingness of professors to announce in advance which books students will need.
My brilliant plan this semester to fight The Man and save money by trying to purchase my books online worked only partially. I still had to pick up some books from the usual Charlottesville locations because, for many of my classes, there had been no prior information available regarding course reading lists. By the time a student receives a syllabus on the first day of class, it is too late to wait for books ordered online to ship if those books are needed within the first couple weeks of class. In addition, sifting through the listings of online vendors or auctions is time consuming and can be difficult to do in the midst of the flurry of activity that begins each semester. The key to being thrifty is knowing early what books you have to buy.
The most convenient method of finding next semester's book list appears as a link from the "Semester Schedule" screen on ISIS. Theoretically, students are able to obtain a list of books for the classes in which they're enrolled prior to book-buying time. The reality is often far less than the ideal. According to Jon Kates, Executive Director of the University Bookstore, book lists are posted on ISIS once the bookstore receives the majority of its orders and is confident that professors have settled on their final selections. This means that when professors neglect to place their orders early, the result is the type of incomplete ISIS book lists that many students end up seeing on their computer screens in the weeks before classes.
Another reliable source for early information about textbooks is the syllabi posted on course Toolkit web sites. Of course, only the most vigilant professors have theirs online earlier than a few days before class begins. Obviously, professors could improve this situation by posting syllabi earlier, but even those who don't formally write a syllabus until late in the game could utilize Toolkit to post book lists online as soon as the readings are chosen. Another option would be to e-mail students registered for the course a few weeks in advance of the start of the semester.
Despite the benefits of making course reading lists available early, it is difficult to enforce a deadline or particular system on the entire University faculty. Not only is the body of course instructors large and decentralized into many departments, but it is hard to imagine the University ever issuing a credible disciplinary action as a consequence of a professor committing no crime greater than turning in his or her book list late.
Previous efforts to expedite professors' book selection process have generally relied upon voluntary compliance on the part of the faculty. In order to reduce costs associated with last minute ordering, the Bookstore encourages professors each semester to meet certain deadlines for ordering textbooks. Statistics provided by Jon Kates indicate that, last semester, over half of professors' orders were placed by the December 15 deadline, though a sizable number came after that date. The current system set up between the Bookstore and faculty generally leads to professors' cooperation, though its success relies entirely on the faculty's willingness to do so. The same would likely apply to efforts calling for a similar notification of reading lists for students.
All professors could enable their students to prepare for the semester more economically by following the examples of those who already make their reading list available far in advance. The initiative for such an action lies in the hands of each individual member of the faculty. While Student Council could adopt a resolution to encourage such behavior, or the University administration could issue a mandate from above, neither remedy would realistically generate results. Only when professors themselves come to realize the role they could play in making college more affordable will the potential for textbook costs go down.
(Chris Kiser's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at ckiser@cavalierdaily.com.)
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