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SOURCE: Daily Tar Heel
01.16.07
ASG pushes textbook options
By: Amy Eagleburger, Senior Writer
In a speech to the UNC-system Board of Governors on Friday, Derek Pantiel unveiled the Association of Student Governments' proposal to combat high textbook prices.
While Pantiel, ASG president and a nonvoting member of the board, took only a few minutes in the two-hour-long meeting to make his remarks, the proposal addresses a problem faced by all system students - how to avoid spending a fortune on textbooks.
The plan comes in two parts: a partial rental plan that would include only large, introductory- level texts and a system of incentives for faculty to file book adoptions in a timely manner.
"We thought about a full rental system � but it is the large capital investment that we worry about," Pantiel said.
The proposed system still would allow professors to provide supplemental materials if necessary.
Adopting textbooks on time also would help students get more book for their buck, Pantiel said.
"The used textbook industry is so small," he said. "By allowing us to adopt textbooks in a short period of time and on time, then that would allow us to have control and maybe to bring in more used textbooks to serve to students at a lower cost."
While the proposal has received praise from some board members, no policy will be adopted until after the February meeting.
At that time the board will see the levels of success achieved by each of the 16 campuses in implementing the textbook recommendations passed in early 2006.
"ASG's done a really good job of researching the issue and putting a lot of thought into their proposal," said Peter Hans, chairman of the subcommittee reviewing textbook costs, noting that providing incentives for on-time book adoption is something the board also supports.
But Hans did express some reservations about the proposal's signature recommendation.
"A partial rental system is something that we would definitely consider, but our initial finding is that a rental system will work fine on some campuses but not nearly as well on others," he said.
Until the next meeting, the ASG will be working to publicize its proposal and to get chancellors' and board members' feedback, said Jake Parton, vice president of academic and student affairs for the ASG.
"Our concern isn't necessarily with getting our proposal passed but getting the best proposal," he said, noting that on this issue, unlike tuition, the board and the ASG are on the same side.
"(Board members) realize that this is something that they can't ignore. It's just become too big of an issue."
Appalachian State, Elizabeth City State and Western Carolina universities already have full textbook rental programs in place that would not be affected by this new proposal.
The program at ASU has existed from the university's start but is undergoing revisions to address faculty concerns over textbook selection, said Forrest Gilliam, ASU student body president.
One of the proposed changes would allow faculty to choose from four or five books for class instead of a single, departmental text.
"There should be, in five, a choice that will come very close to what they need," Gilliam said.
The level of planning put into this proposal is something Parton expects to be a hallmark of the 2006 ASG.
"We have the competency and the expertise to be the students' voice on the Board of Governors."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
