1. Student Affairs Committee
Academic Policy and
Student Affairs Committee

2. Textbook & Instructional Materials Affordability
Authorization
Education Access & Affordability (HB 7019)
Each BOT to adopt policies and develop institutional initiatives for innovative pricing techniques and payment options to reduce the cost of course materials.
Reporting Requirement
Textbook & Instructional Materials Affordability Report (BOG Reg )
Reporting University practices designed to reduce costs of course materials (due to the BOG by September 30 of each year).
You will recall that at the last meeting of the Academic Policy & Student Affairs Committee on June 2, 2017 you approved the Amendments to FIU Regulation 1103, Textbook Affordability, which states in detail our institutional practices in compliance with state law.
Let me briefly highlight how these institutional practices have had an impact:

3. Textbook & Instructional Materials Affordability
University Practices for the Adoption of Course Materials
Textbook & Instructional Materials Adoptions
Semester
Deadline
(45 days out)
Adoption Rate
(95% required)
Total Number of Course Sections
Courses Sections Missing Adoptions
Course Sections Compliant
Fall 2016
7/8/2016
79.3%
7,098
1,468
5,631
Spring 2017
11/23/2016
95.3%
7,776
367
7,409
Summer 2017
3/24/2017
96.2%
3,696
140
3,556
Faculty enter required and recommended course materials (adoptions) via the Barnes & Noble FacultyEnlight platform 45 days prior to semester start.
House Bill 7019 became effective on July 1, 2016 so that our new policies and practices had not been established by the time of the Fall 2016 adoption deadline, which was July 8, 2016.
Since implementing the new practices, we have met the state-mandated adoption deadline each semester and are in full compliance (although we do not have to report summer adoptions, there too are we in compliance). I can already report that for Fall 2017, we are also in full compliance with timely adoptions.
This gives students ample time to determine required or recommended course materials and find the best pricing (taking advantage of multiple pricing options offered by Barnes & Noble, or shop around elsewhere)

4. Textbook & Instructional Materials Affordability
Course Materials Pricing and Selection Process
Pricing Variance of $200 or more
In Academic Year , out of 167 General Education/High Enrollment courses, the following had a pricing variance of $200 or more:
Macroeconomics (ECO2013) and Microeconomics (ECO2023) (Fall & Spring)
the instructor requires the same textbook for both courses, which reduces the cost to students who take both courses offered by him
World Regional Geography (GEA2000) (only Fall)
recommends one extra textbook, which is optional
Sections not requiring
course materials:
1,745 (25%) in Fall 2016
1,488 (19%) in Spring 2017
Fall 2017:
For 66% of high enrollment courses (44,235 instances of enrollment) instructors individually selected course materials
For 34% of courses (31,060 instances of enrollment) instructors collectively selected course materials
The Board of Governors requires that we conduct some analysis of pricing and selection processes.
In the 3 instances where we identified a pricing variance of $200 or more between course sections of the same course,
this pricing difference is justified as follows: (see slide).
About a quarter of our courses do not require any course materials for purchase at all. These are courses where our instructors
Opt to use Open Educational Resources and other materials that do not have a cost for our students.
In general, we know that our faculty are very conscientious when selecting their course materials for optimal learning outcomes.
We know that faculty, individually or collectively, often go through a very thorough process of reviewing available texts and
Selecting those that best meet our students’ needs. On page 4 of our detailed report included in your committee materials, we
Described the collective selection process for a high-enrollment multi-section statistics course where multiple criteria, including
Affordability, are being considered.

5. Textbook & Instructional Materials Affordability
Special Initiatives Spearheaded by FIU Online
OpenStax Institutional Partner Program
Affordability Counts Initiative
Special Initiatives by Barnes & FIU
The faculty and the institution have many different ways of reducing the cost of course materials for our students, such as
working directly with a publisher to provide only certain chapters out of an entire book;
course reserves in the FIU libraries;
or book advances for students with financial aid.
In addition, let me highlight some newer initiatives in particular that are spearheaded by FIU Online and the FIU Barnes & Noble Bookstore.
OpenStax Institutional Partner Program
FIU is one of 11 institutions across the nation selected to be part of the OpenStax Institutional Partnership cohort. OpenStax provides consulting services to assess and improve our open educational resources efforts, technical support for adoption of OpenStax content, webinars, and more.
The previous year’s OpenStax’s partner schools are expected to generate $8.2 million in textbook savings for students.
Affordability Counts Initiative
Launched in June 2016, the Affordability Counts lowers the cost of course materials to $60 or less for 3 credit courses by using Open Educational Resources or other low-cost instructional materials.
Over 100 faculty are participating in this program with over 150 courses designated as “affordable courses”. This initiative is being piloted by FIU and will be shared with members of the Florida Virtual Campus Council state-wide.
Throughout the years Barnes & Noble has been a valued partner in providing high quality services to our campus community and working with us to identify cost savings for our students.
Because of our faculty’s timely adoptions of textbooks and other course materials, the bookstore has been able to source the required and recommended materials with ample time to meet the demand of our students in store (70%) as well as for online orders (30%).
Discount Options
By taking advantage of used, new rental, used rental, or digital discount options, students saved $1,738,954 in Fall 2016 and $1,626,745 in Spring 2017.
Price Match
For the past year, savings of $20,747 in Fall 2016 and $17,846 in Spring 2017 were passed on to students, bringing the program total to $59,856 matched since inception in Spring 2016.
EB: Just fyi – average prices reported by B&N:
New Book sold  $83.95
Used Book sold  $63.37
New Book Rental  $62.28
Used Book Rented  $41.08
Digital  $64.89
Discount Options
Price Match

6. Student Affairs Committee
Academic Policy and
Student Affairs Committee