Lowering costs with timely
"textbook adoptions"
What is a "textbook adoption"?
Put simply, a textbook adoption is a list of details about the textbooks a member of the UA faculty (or sometimes appointed staff personnel) want to list as “required” or “recommended” for specific courses on the student's "Booklist". This information includes the textbook title, author(s), ISBN number (a number unique to each textbook title), and could also include required or recommended supplemental material, study aids, lab equipment, technology, etc.
The costs of these materials is usually the LARGEST UNKNOWN VARIABLE in a student’s academic experience because course materials costs are going to vary largely depending on which (and how many) classes the students are taking and which (and how many) textbooks or other resources are required for each class. The Federal Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) requires that the University provides information regarding the costs of course materials in a timely fashion that will allow students to budget and plan for the costs of course materials prior to enrolling in the class.
The timely submission of textbook adoptions by faculty and appointed staff is KEY in the effort to reduce textbooks costs and accomplishes the following:
- Provides the information we need in order to communicate textbook costs to
students (via their Booklist in UAccess) for the purpose of budgeting and
comparison shopping
- Increases our thresholds in the sell-back process, meaning MORE
STUDENTS GET MORE MONEY for textbooks that we know are being
re-used the following semester
- Increases our used textbook inventory, so more students can enjoy
LOWER PRICES for their textbooks the following semester
- Reduces unnecessary shipping costs incurred from re-ordering books that
we COULD have had in inventory (if only we’d known we needed them)
ALL of these variables help to drive down textbook costs for our students, and ALL of them require the timely submission of textbook adoption information. Conversely, it’s easy to see how UN-timely submission of textbook adoptions could then INCREASE textbook prices.
What does it mean to submit a textbook adoption “early”?
Do you have a deadline?
Yes, the deadlines for early textbook adoption submissions are the same every year (to make it easy to remember). If faculty/staff submit their adoptions on or before this deadline, they are CONTRIBUTING TO THE SOLUTION and helping to reduce textbook prices.
- Fall Semester—April 20 of every year
- Winter Session—October 10 of every year
- Spring Semester—November 9 of every year
- Summer Session(s)—February 14 of every year
How do faculty or appointed staff submit their adoptions?
Faculty or staff responsible for submitting adoptions can access their Textbook Adoption account easily online with the link below, or they can contact one of our Faculty Relations team members for assistance.
