Textbook Policy
TBR Policy Reference: 02.07.00.00
Approved by: President's Cabinet
Original Date Effective: 2021-07-12
Last Modified: 2023-10-16
Purpose:
Tennessee Code Annotated (T.C.A.), Title 49, Chapter 7, Part 1 specifies that the Tennessee Board of Regents develops policies for minimizing the cost of textbooks and ancillary course materials at its higher education institutions while maintaining quality of education and academic freedom.
Definitions:
An E-textbook, or electronic textbook, is an educational or instructional book in digital form.
Open Educational Resources (OER) are freely accessible, openly licensed text, media, and other digital assets that are useful for teaching, learning, and assessing and for research purposes.
Inclusive Access (IA) is a subscription-based model whereby students can gain immediate and complete access to digital course materials at a substantially reduced cost. This usually includes direct billing to students’ accounts for the cost of the digital materials.
Bundled materials comprise a group of objects joined together by packaging or required to be purchased as an indivisible unit.
Policy/Guideline:
Jackson State Community College seeks to address the student success barrier and equity issues caused by continuously increasing textbook costs. The purpose of this policy is to minimize the cost of textbooks and ancillary course material
Materials Selection and Submission of Adoptions:
Faculty members and the leadership in each academic department share the responsibility for choosing textbooks, and other required instructional materials such as study guides, laboratory manuals, computer software, videos, and computer-assisted instruction modules. Factors such as reading level, content, and presentation consistent with academic goals, writing quality, accessibility, and competitive pricing will be considered when reaching a consensus. It is expected that a textbook/instructional material will be used for a minimum period of three years when possible and that all course sections have a common text(s) except in special circumstances approved by the dean and Vice President of Academic Affairs.
Faculty members or textbook selection committees will research cost-effective alternative delivery formats for selected materials as part of the review process. They shall give weight to practices that reduce the cost of course materials, such as utilizing Open Educational Resources (OER) or lower-cost electronic formats (e-texts). Bundled materials (e.g.-those with access cards or codes) should only be considered if they deliver cost savings to the students or if no other suitable option is available. If possible, the campus bookstore will provide students the option of purchasing the textbooks and other study products separately from each other.
Copies of textbooks should be available for student use at no cost through the library via course reserves at the appropriate campus(es). Textbooks provided by the publisher for the purpose of library reserve will be available to students on a first-come, first-served basis, library and learning resource center grounds only, and for a maximum period of time "per sitting" as determined by appropriate library staff.
Textbook selection faculty and/or department chairs/program directors shall be responsible for ensuring that the campus library's reserves inventory remains current upon transition to a new title or edition.
The campus bookstore offers students the option of renting most or all of their required textbooks. Students will continue to be allowed to purchase texts at new or used prices if the textbook rental does not satisfy their needs.
If the institution implements an inclusive access model, students must be able to opt out of such program.
Campus policies should not restrict the options for students to rent or purchase new or used textbooks from the vendor of their choice.
Information about accessibility and cost of textbooks and other materials should be obtained for the publisher and/or bookstore by the dean and/or department chairs/program directors and shared with teaching faculty or the appointed selection committee. Deans and/or department chairs/program directors should be alert to significant cost increases over the cost at the time of first adoption and notify faculty members teaching the course so a new selection review process can be initiated.