Over the past four months, we have worked closely with Director of Student Stores John Jones to formulate a feasible method of savings for both students and professors. With faculty cooperation, we have the potential to save students more than $20,000 in the next buyback period.
Each semester, Student Stores requests all professors at the University to submit a Textbook Request Form if they want to reuse the same text, purchase a new text or not use a text in the subsequent semester. Based on professor responses to this notification, Student Stores can guarantee the resale of specific textbooks for the upcoming semester. In turn, this means that it will have the ability to purchase more of those books from students and pay students significantly more for their books during the December buyback period.
However, Jones said only 65 percent of professors return the Textbook Request Form each semester.
The Textbook Pricing Committee's goal for fall 2002 is to increase the percentage of professors who return the order form in order to increase the amount of money that students will receive for their resold textbooks. If Student Stores can determine which books will be used in a forthcoming semester, it will be able to pay students as much as 50 percent of the retail price and keep the books on campus for future use. For every 1 percent increase of the adoption rate, Student Stores will increase money paid out by 0.5 percent, equaling to the possibility of an additional $20,000 or more to students in one semester alone.
In order to make the increased money for students' textbooks possible during the December buyback period, UNC faculty need to respond by Friday. Professors are fervently urged to make use of this opportunity to save their students money while increasing the efficiency of textbook ordering.
Furthermore, students are encouraged to hold their professors accountable by asking if they have submitted the form. The order may be sent by fax (962-3334), phone (962-2432 or 962-2429), e-mail (textbooks@store.unc.edu), or Web (http://www.store.unc.edu/textbooks/forms/
req.html for new text requests or http://www.store.unc.edu/textbooks/forms/ez.html to reorder previously used texts).
Jennifer Orr is chairwoman of the Student Congress Select Committee on Textbook Pricing. Reach her at orr@email.unc.edu.
