Providing Timely Textbook Information to Students as Required by Federal Law

Colleagues,

The Higher Education Opportunity Act took effect July 1, 2010, and requires the university to inform students at the time of enrollment what textbooks and supplemental materials are required and/or recommended for a course. Before submitting your request, please:

• Check the price: Either through independent research, by inquiring with KU Bookstore staff, or from publisher representatives involved in the process. It is worth noting that publisher representatives often reference the “net” price to faculty, which references the new book cost to the KU Bookstore, which is different from the retail price. Additionally, textbook costs can be lowered through negotiations with publisher representatives.
• Check the edition: If a new edition has become available, ask yourself if updates to the content are significant enough to necessitate such an update to your request.
• Review Open Educational Resources (OER) options: There may be freely accessible and open licensed content available that fits within your instructional framework. The Open Textbook Library is a good place to start and KU Libraries offers grants to support the adoption of these and other OER.
• Unbundle the textbook: While reviewing your content submission, especially content that is bundled with additional items (traditionally recommended from publisher representation as a means of cost reduction), consider how necessary each component is for the students and your course. Unbundling will allow students the freedom to buy used books from the campus bookstore, to use the online marketplace, to rent the book, and even to sell the book back, passing along cost savings to future students. 
•  Consider Library-licensed resources:  E-books, articles, and streaming video may be accessible via KU Libraries. The Libraries are also able to place print items and DVDs on reserve to provide access to students.

Course Material adoptions must be provided to the KU Bookstores, even if you do not intend to order course materials through them, or when the materials are free and openly available, so that the information about required textbooks and supplemental materials will appear in the official online requirement listings on KU Bookstore’s website, which also has a direct link from Enroll & Pay, as required by this law.

Please also list any additional supplies that you will require the student to purchase for each class including clickers, goggles, lab coats, or supplies and reference packs. If you are not using such materials for your class, the form must still be submitted, indicating there are no required readings or supplies for the course.

The KU Bookstore offers three ways for you to submit your course materials needs. You may complete the online requisition form, email requests to textbook@ku.edu, or use the customized course link included in the automated reminder emails from the KU Bookstores.

The following are submission dates for textbook information:

Spring Semester: November 1^st

Summer Semester: April 1^st

Fall Semester: May 1^st

If you have any questions, please reach out to the following individuals:

• Cait Bieker, Course Materials Requisition Specialist, KU Bookstore
• Kyle Whitley, Book Division Manager, KU Bookstore
• Rachel Barnes, Print Production Manager,  Jayhawk Ink
• Josh Bolick, Scholarly Communication Librarian, David Shulenburger Office of Scholarly Communication & Copyright

Sincerely,

Carl Lejuez

Interim Provost & Executive Vice Chancellor