Two schools reconsider book rentals

The high cost of textbooks led three UNC-system schools to use campuswide book rental systems, but two of those universities are considering an end to the policy.

Appalachian State, Elizabeth City State and Western Carolina universities all offer rental systems as alternatives to purchasing expensive books, but ASU and ECSU officials are thinking about moving toward a book-purchasing requirement.

Many students are wary of the change. Don Morring, ECSU student body president, touted the savings students enjoy under the program.

“Under our rental policy, students pay between $150 and $200 for books per semester, where others generally pay between $500 and $1,000,” he said.

But rental programs have met fierce opposition from professors and some administrators.

Administrators said the programs are expensive for the schools to run, and instructors complain that a constantly changing curriculum requires a more flexible textbook policy. Under a rental system, whole departments must decide on one textbook for each course.

Last June, ECSU’s Board of Trustees approved a plan that would have ended the rental system and moved to a regular purchasing requirement by the 2005-06 school year.

But the proposal drew significant opposition from students, and the plan was rescinded March 9. It will be considered again next year, pending more research.

UNC-system officials agree that rental systems can make it difficult to include necessary updates to maintain academic rigor.

Gretchen Bataille, senior vice president of academic affairs for the UNC system, said that though campuses have the option of rental systems, there are drawbacks.

“(Rental systems) can be cost-defective,” she said. “In certain fields, knowledge is constantly changing, and old materials do not have the changes.”

But students appear more concerned about getting their books at the lowest possible price.

On the western side of the state, ASU’s and WCU’s programs allow students to pay a set semester fee and assign books according to class schedule. Students return the books after final exams, unless they decide to purchase them.

“The best thing about the rental policy is that it guarantees that every student can get textbooks at a decent price,” said Pam Degraffenreid, director of the Western Carolina University Bookstore. “We conduct a study on it every three to four years, and for right now, it works.”

But, as at ECSU, the rental policy at Appalachian State has come under fire.

The school has used a book rental system since 1938, but the school’s Faculty Senate voted in December to abolish the program for the 2005-06 academic year, calling it an “inherently flawed mechanism.”

Megan Hughes, a freshman at ASU, said that although the rental program might lead the school to add to the cost of tuition, she and her twin sister, Erin, still save hundreds of dollars through the program.

“It’s so easy for us, and there are no downsides, no problems or difficulties," she said.

Still, Bataille said UNC-system officials are focusing less on the bookstore policies and more on working with suppliers to reduce costs. “We are giving more attention to textbook industries and publishers,” she said. “We want to make sure our students get the best possible education at the best price.”

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.