Debra Sheldon, Specialist

1
CCC Strategies and Requirements to Improve
Textbook Affordability

• Debra Sheldon, Specialist
• Student Services and Special Programs
• California Community Colleges Chancellors Office

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System Strategic Plan Goal A College Awareness
and Access

• Increase awareness of college as a viable option
  and enhance access to higher education for
  growing populations.
• Strategy A2 Removing Barriers to Access and
  Student Success

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Textbooks are a significant barrier

• According to the Student PIRGs
• Textbooks cost about 900 per year
• Prices are rising at a rate four times that of
  inflation
• For CCC students, textbooks can easily exceed the
  cost of fees by 150

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Reasons for rising costs

• Unique market where those who choose product
  (faculty) are different from those who buy it
  (students)
• Similar to pharmaceutical industry
• Gives publishers and suppliers an unusual degree
  of control over the marketplace
• The rate of increase has mirrored tuition
  increases at 4-year colleges and universities

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Reasons for rising costs (continued)

• Studies suggest cost increases are related to
  supplemental multimedia materials bundled with
  texts
• Former publisher said sales have been declining
  publishers have raised prices to maintain returns
  to shareholders
• Supplemental materials are used to justify price
  increases

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BOG Textbook Recommendations

• CEO and Trustee must lead
• Establish Textbook Adoption Guidelines that
  address
• Timely book orders to increase the of used
  books
• Length of adoption
• Lower costs options
• Efficient course scheduling - late scheduling
  means late textbook adoptions and fewer used books

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BOG Textbook Recommendations

• Establish College Textbook Affordability Task
  Forces
• Clarify articulation policies related to digital
  textbooks and learning materials
• Educate college stakeholders on the options for
  reducing textbooks costs.

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BOG Textbook Recommendations

• Develop step-by-step guidelines for establishing
  Textbook Rental Programs
• Promote Library Textbook Reserves
• Provide student financial aid for textbooks in
  time for the first day of class
• Explore systemwide volume discounts on custom
  cover editions of widely used textbooks.

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BOG Textbook Recommendations

• Promote awareness, development and adoption of
  free, open educational resources (OER)
• Support the participation of the California
  Community Colleges in the development of the CSU
  sponsored Digital Marketplace.

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(No Transcript)
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CCCOER Membership
89 colleges from AZ, CA, FL, IA, MD, NV, NY, OH,
TX, WA, Canada
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Legislative efforts

• AB 2447 (Liu) enacted in 2005
• SB 832 (Corbett) vetoed in 2007
• AB 1548 (Solario) enacted in 2007
• AB 2261 (Ruskin) enacted in 2008
• HR 4137 - Federal College Opportunity and
  Affordability Act of 2007 enacted in August 2008

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Legislative Requirements

• Colleges must
• Work with Academic Senates on Processes and
  Timelines and with Faculty and Publishers on
  Affordable Bundles (AB 2477 Liu)
• Post Bookstore Pricing Policy (AB 1548 Solario) 
• Encourage Faculty to Submit Textbook Orders On
  Time (AB 1548 Solario)
• Prohibit the Receipt of Inducements to Adopt a
  Textbook (AB 1548 Solario)
• Prohibiting the Sale of Complimentary Textbook
  Copies (AB 1548 Solario) 
• Post Textbook ISBN and Retail Prices on Internet
  Course Catalog when practical (HR 4137) .

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Bureau of State Audits on Textbooks

• Affordability of College Textbooks Textbook
  Prices Have Risen Significantly in the Last Four
  Years, but Some Strategies May Help to Control
  These Cost for Students
• https//www.bsa.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2007-116.pdf

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Bureau of State Audits on Textbooks

•   To increase awareness and transparency about
  the reasons campus bookstores add markups to
  publishers invoice prices for textbooks, UC,
  CSU, and the community colleges should consider
  requiring campuses to do the following
• Reevaluate bookstores pricing policies to ensure
  that markups are not higher than necessary to
  support bookstore operations. If the campuses
  determine that bookstore profits are needed to
  fund other campus activities, the campuses should
  seek input from students as necessary to
  determine whether such purposes are warranted and
  supported by the student body, particularly when
  higher textbook prices result.
•  
• Direct bookstores to publicly disclose on an
  annual basis any amounts they use for purposes
  that do not relate to bookstore operations, such
  as contributions they make to campus
  organizations and activities.

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CCC Response to BSA

• The Chancellors Office will
•  
• Initiate consultation to encourage them to
  implement this recommendation. The College
  Finance and Facilities Planning Division will
  initiate a conversation with the Association of
  College Business Officers (ACBO) Fiscal Standards
  and Accountability Committee on the contents of
  this recommendation and the best way for it to be
  implemented.
•  
• Recommend to colleges that transparency in
  bookstore pricing policies be addressed by local
  textbook taskforces that are already in existence
  or that are created in response to
  recommendations adopted by the BOG.

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Affordability Needs Alliances
All are essential in the mission to educate
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CCC Strategies and Requirements to Improve
Textbook Affordability

• Questions?