The Associated Students of Madison’s Academic Affairs Committee has worked hard the past couple years, trying to make textbooks more affordable to students, especially in an ailing economy.

However, new federal legislation will go into effect this summer implementing policies similar to most of the initiatives Academic Affairs has worked on the past few years mandatory for all schools and their past work almost for naught.

Past ASM textbook initiatives

One of the main goals of the Academic Affairs Committee is to help reduce the cost of textbooks for students, which it mainly does through the ASM Book Swap held every semester. However, through its Affordable Textbook Campaign, Academic Affairs has also explored additional avenues to lower the costs of textbooks.

One of the major steps it took last semester was meeting with the University of Wisconsin’s Faculty Senate and Academic Staff Assembly to propose resolutions for each committee in order to lower textbook costs for students, said Academic Affairs Chair Jonah Zinn.

In the proposals, Academic Affairs asked that faculty put out their book lists a month prior to classes beginning, use older editions unless absolutely necessary so that more used copies are available, increase communication and concerns with bookstores and explore other options for textbooks including open source textbooks and expanded use of the online system Learn@UW.

While neither proposal has yet to come before the committees, Heather Daniels, chair of the Academic Staff Executive Committee, said her committee is currently considering the resolution and whether or not it should be presented to the Academic Staff Assembly.

“The earliest it would come before the Assembly is March,” Daniels said. “It is currently before ASEC and we have had some preliminary discussions, but haven’t come to any conclusions at this point.”

Joe Farrenkopf, spokesperson for the Office of the Secretary of the Faculty, was unavailable for comment as of press time.

Higher Education Opportunity Act

The Higher Education Opportunity Act, signed by former President George W. Bush in 2008, will go into effect July 2010. While focusing on many aspects of higher education, a major part of the bill focuses on making textbooks more affordable for students.

The goal of the legislation is to inform students of their textbook expenses before each semester, ensure colleges and bookstores provide information to students needed to find the most cost-effective books, and provide students with more choices when buying books, according to a release from the Committee on Education and Labor.

The bill first stipulates that colleges provide students with information on textbooks and their prices before each semester, giving them detailed information on the textbooks required for each course so that students can better anticipate textbook expenses and shop around for the best deal.

HEOA also requires colleges to provide the bookstore with information for each course, including the textbook list and number of students enrolled.

Finally, it also requires textbook publishers to provide full pricing information to students about bundled and unbundled books, while also providing unbundled versions for every bundled textbook they sell.

“Textbooks shouldn’t be a blind financial burden but for too many college students, buying books each semester is a daunting task,” said Melissa Salmanowitz, spokesperson for the Committee on Education and Labor. “The Higher Education Opportunity Act makes textbook costs more manageable by providing students with, comprehensive advance information to help them make informed decisions and anticipate their expenses before each semester.”

UW complies with new law

Even before HEOA has gone into effect, UW is already in compliance with its new rules and regulations as they have been preparing well before the bill was signed into law.

“Prior to August 2008, we knew it was coming,” Associate Registrar Karen Hanson said. “So, in fall 2008, we initiated a textbook project where faculty members can go to the Faculty Center and import textbook material and information…and then they can publish it so students enrolled in courses will get the information through the Student Center.”

Hanson added textbook information was also included in the June 2009 course guide, which includes a new search feature that was employed last week where students can now search for classes through the course guide online and see what textbooks are required before enrolling in the class.

UW is also working with the University Book Store and other independent bookstores, who can download all of the textbook information from the registrar’s website to ensure they have all the necessary textbooks for next semester.

As for HEOA’s stipulation to provide retail information, UW has put two links at the bottom of the Student Center to Googlebooks.com and Worldcat.com, where students can go to compare prices with other book stores around Madison.

“Because we don’t know where we’re going to get books from, we put two links at the bottom of the Student Center…. We didn’t leave it up to instructors because it would take too much time,” Hanson said.

While Hanson said UW is already in line with HEOA, months before the bill goes into effect, there is still more work that needs to be done.

“We would like to see more faculty participate,” Hanson said. “Right now, we have about one-third of the faculty putting in textbook information.”

Academic Affairs — what’s next?

While many of the university policies suggested in the Academic Affairs’ proposals are already in effect due to HEOA, Zinn said there is still more to do.

“[HEOA] is a step in the right direction but it’s not going to solve the problem…. We’re still not sure how it’s going to be followed or if it’s going to be enforced,” Zinn said. “A lot of it is a wait and see thing.”

This year, Academic Affairs is looking to start an initiative which will educate UW faculty and staff on textbook costs and how to use alternative, cheaper forms of print for their classes.

“We’re not assuming all faculty are so ignorant they don’t know what’s going on… but it’s really helpful for students to come in and give their perspective directly to faculty,” Zinn said.

According to Zinn, Academic Affairs took a poll of around 1,800 students, 90 percent of which said textbooks are too costly and 80 percent of which supported the education program.

“I think this is not only a student problem and a big opportunity for shared governance to prove it can work,” Zinn said.

The News Explainer column will run every Wednesday, answering the questions and concerns of the student body. If you have any questions regarding a story you would like to see further explained in this column, e-mail [email protected].