The Student Union Building bookstore has been holding individual meetings with faculty to advise them on the way their textbook selections affect students' pocketbooks.
Barnes & Noble, which runs the Student Union bookstore, is in the midst of a nationwide public relations campaign designed to educate faculty and students on the ways to help keep textbook costs lower.
The solution, according to Colleen Strayer, a UT alum and general manager of the bookstore, is more used textbooks on the shelves and fewer new, CD- and special feature-supplemented textbooks.
"We have seen a steady erosion in our used books sales and our supply of used books over the last few years," Strayer said. "We decided we have to take a very strong stand. There's nothing new. There's nothing about buyback that's new. There's nothing about the way it works that's new. I think what's new is that we have to bring everyone into the picture."
Students receive 50 percent of the initial purchase cost of a textbook during buyback if their book is being reused and the professor has his or her order in before finals week. Additionally, used textbooks cost 25 percent less than the same book purchased new.
During one-on-one meetings with faculty, Strayer said bookstore staff lay out the effects the timing and selection of textbooks have on students.
"We show [faculty] what the student will receive if they bought their textbooks new or used," Strayer said. "We show them what the student would receive if they turned in their order before buyback and then we'll tell them what the current wholesale value is on that title and what the student is going to receive if they don't get their book order in on time.
Faculty are also advised about the costs of particular textbook formats.
"We have seen a steady increase in the amount of textbook packages we have on our shelves. And one directly ties into the other. The more packages that are adopted, the less used books you're going to see out there," Strayer said.
Some faculty might think they are doing students a favor by augmenting their textbooks with CDs or other one-time - use supplements, she said. But because the packaged books often cost more, the bookstore works with faculty to try to provide just the textbook in addition to the packaged book.
"The longer a faculty member will stay with a title, the more used books are available," Strayer said.
According to Strayer, it's textbook publishers who are pushing to get more new textbooks into the system.
"A publisher is totally against the used books market," she said. "The bookstore is totally for a used book market. We make a higher profit on used books."
Part of the problem with the used-textbook market is that publishers are constantly coming out with new editions.
"We want textbooks to be used for at least two years," said Dr. Bernard Bopp, director of the astronomy department. "Whether it's time for a new edition every two years, I don't know; one year, definitely not."
Bopp said astronomy is a little different than a subject such as calculus because astronomy is constantly evolving. Something like the two new rovers currently exploring Mars would understandably necessitate a rewriting of a chapter on Mars even in a textbook only one year old, he said.
However, Bopp also added that it is possible, at least temporarily, to teach these new topics by way of news releases or information from the Internet.
"There are ways to teach this and give the updated information without buying the newest edition," he said.
Strayer agreed that new editions are needed at times.
"In pharmacy, editions legitimately do have to change a lot because there are legal implications," Strayer said. "And so those editions make sense. Other times, a new edition means the publisher put a new cover on the book."
Bopp said that for introductory classes with a lot of sections, the astronomy department tries to wait a few years and get a series of updates all in one book.
Students can go to the bookstore Web site - www.bkstore.com/utoledo - to see a list of book orders already given to the bookstore.
Strayer said faculty book orders are up 3 percent over last years' totals for this time period, and she encouraged students to talk to their professors to try to get their book orders in before finals week.
Faculty are in the drivers' seats when it comes to textbooks, she said. They can negotiate prices and demand to use the same edition. While she acknowledged faculty won't always win, "it's that ability to negotiate that some [faculty] are not aware they have."
The reaction of students to the buyback campaign has been a surprised "thank you," she said.
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