Academic Impressions Presentation Updated 3 01 09

Cutting Textbook Prices with a Textbook Rental ProgramPresented by:

Tom Bauer, Director of Auxiliary ServicesSan Mateo County Community College District

Academic Impressions Web Conference

March 15, 2007

Updated: March 1, 2009

Tom Bauer

Director of Auxiliary Services

San Mateo County

Community College District

2006 Innovation Achievement Award

WINNER:

2006 National Association of College Stores (NACS) Innovation Achievement Award.

The program was recognized for its innovation and adaptability to other campuses nationwide. The District will receive a plaque plus a $5,000.00 prize for its’ effort. The prize money will go toward providing additional rental books for students in our District.

AGENDA

Textbook Affordability and AccessInnovative Ways to Fund a Textbook

Rental ProgramDefining the Program: Criteria for

Textbook RentabilityImplementing the ProgramPromoting the Program

Equity and Access

“If you want to close the gap between first generation students in America and the white middle class, we must focus on equity and access in higher education for everyone”.

President Tom Mohr

Cañada College

Textbook Affordability and Access

Course Material Affordability Policy Landscape

Noticeable increases in college costs in tuition, fees, and college textbooks.

State budget cuts for higher education.Federal student aid funding not keeping

up with need.Students more dependent on federal

loans.

College Board Textbook and Supply Costs 2004-2005 to 2005-2006

2004-2005$ Change from previous year

% Change from previous year 2005-2006

$ Change from previous year

% Change from previous year

National2-yr public 773$ 28$ 3.76% 801$ 28$ 3.50%4-yr public 853$ 36$ 4.41% 894$ 41$ 4.59%4-yr private 870$ 27$ 3.20% 904$ 34$ 3.76%West2-yr public 846$ 39$ 4.83% 874$ 28$ 3.20%4-yr public 1,094$ 55$ 5.29% 1,123$ 29$ 2.58%4-yr private 985$ 22$ 2.28% 1,042$ 57$ 5.47%

College Board Textbook and Supply Costs 2003-2004 to 2005-2006

Average Student Expenses by College Board Region (Enrollment-Weighted)

Source College Board Trends in College Pricing 2004 , and Trends in College Pricing 2005

Average College Tuition and Fees

•At two-year public, tuition and fees average $112 more than last year, a 5.4 percent increase.

•At four-year public, tuition and fees average $365 more than last year, a 7.1 percent increase.

•At four-year private nonprofits, tuition and fees average $1,190 more than last year, a 5.9 percent increase.

Annual Percentage Increase in College Textbook Prices, College Tuition and Fees, and Overall Price Inflation, December 1986 to December 2004

Used Textbooks

• Used textbooks still represent the greatest savings for students.

• Book buyback makes the used book an even better investment if the textbook is readopted in the coming term.

New Price: $100.00Used Price:$75.00Buyback Price: $50.00Total Investment: $25.00

Used Textbooks

• The key to a successful used textbook program are early faculty adoptions and a commitment to using the same title in coming semesters.

• Adoptions by due date allow store to source used books from all wholesale companies and buy back books from students at end of term.

WHAT MORE CAN THE BOOKSTORES DO TO PROVIDE ANOTHER LOW COST TEXTBOOK OPTION TO STUDENTS?

Excerpt from CALPIRG’s “Ripoff 101”

Colleges and universities should consider implementing rental programs similar to those at several universities in Wisconsin and Illinois. Students would rent books similar to the way they are shared in K-12 but the students would pay a fee that covers the cost of the books.*

*CALPIRG (CALIFORNIA PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP) RIPOFF 101 January 29, 2004

San Mateo County Community College District Textbook Rental Program

Textbook Rental Program

• In 2001, the textbook rental program was set up in the District; a hybrid program, it provides rental titles for specific disciplines and titles meeting specified criteria.

• Initial acquisition of textbooks for the program are funded by state, federal, and private resources.

• To date, over $1million dollars has been raised for the program using these sources.


• Rental textbooks provide another great value opportunity for students.

• Textbooks are rented to students at 75% off the new price.

New Book Price: $100.00

Used Book Price: $75.00

Textbook Rental Price: $25.00


• Textbooks are rented to students for the entire term.

• Financial Aid students have three days access to rental titles before store is opened to public.

• Textbooks must be returned at the end of the semester.

• Students can choose to purchase rental book by paying the difference between new price and rental fee.


Decisions:

• Will you rent new and used books OR will you only rent new books?

• If you rent only new books, what tolerance will you have for writing in the book?

• If you rent only new books, what policy will you have for books that come back with too much cribbing?

Benefits of a Rental Program

Savings to students---significantly reduced initial investment.

Saving in freight---Bookstores do not have to continually reorder books semester after semester.

Campus community sees the bookstore as actively seeking solutions regarding textbook prices.

Innovative Means of Funding a Textbook Rental Program

State and Federal Efforts

California State Efforts

First Five California is a state funded grant through cigarette tax dollars.

Program provides a system of supports and services so Early Childhood Education/Development (ECE) students can continue higher education goals.

All ECE titles are purchased once and funded by the grant dollars

Subsequent rental fees paid for by grant dollars.

Additional State Efforts

• Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS)-We are actively urging the State to allow unused, leftover EOPS money to be used for the acquisition of textbooks for a textbook rental program.

• Senator Chuck Schumer has reintroduced a bill providing for states to allocate a sum of money to be used for acquiring textbook titles for the purpose of a rental program

Federal Efforts

Working through the Vice President of Instruction, $40K was allocated from a Title V grant designed to give first generation students in a federally designated Hispanic serving institution access to textbooks. This $40K was spent on acquiring additional textbooks for the program. Other opportunities like this exist; we only need to find them.

Fundraising for Textbooks

• Identify programs and grants that would be interested in working on such a program.

• Work with Foundation Office, Student Services, Student Government, Chancellor or President's Office. Everyone needs to be involved.

• Illustrate the benefits of such a program with facts, figures and student testimony.

• Impact of donation dollars-helping many rather than just a few.

Other Types of Donations Received

• Payroll Deductions from District-wide staff.

• Donations from Foundation fundraising campaign---both individual and corporate.

• Donations from large bookstore/District vendors---directly solicited.

• Donations from local organizations-Rotary.

• In lieu of flowers donations.

• Faculty buybacks-proceeds to program.

SMCCCD Rental Program

January 2006

• 1,700 students • 35 titles• $106,373 at full retail• $26,593 rental fees

• $79,780 savings to students

January 2009

• 13,000+ students• 500+ titles• $1,631,580 full retail• $407,895 rental fees

• $1,223,685 savings to students

Defining the Program

Criteria for

Textbook Rentability

What Determines Textbook “Rentability”

Two-Year AdoptionNew edition One-term books only Course Frequency (every semester)Transferable Classes PreferredNon-Bundled

Two Year Adoption

In order to recoup the expense of this program, we require at least a two-year commitment to a particular textbook.

New Edition

The book must be a new edition so we can ensure availability and maximum savings over the lifetime of the edition.

One-Term Book

Books that are used by students for two consecutive terms (i.e. 361A and 361B) are not eligible for rental, because they would have to be rented twice which would negate some of the savings to the student.

Course Frequency

Courses must be ones that are taught every semester (both Fall and Spring).

Core Classes

We’d prefer courses to be either general education or core classes for a certain major. There must at least be multiple sections using the same textbook. This will allow us to provide maximum benefits to the largest number of students. The courses must also be transferable.

Non-Bundled

Unfortunately, supplementary components will not be eligible for rental although we may be able to sell them separately.

Cloth Cover

Due to the constant handling and normal wear, it is recommended that you choose Cloth Bound (Hardback) textbooks.

Implementing the Program

Bookstore Requirements to Operate Rental Program

Administrative Buy-In is Essential!• Meet with key stakeholders; Chancellor,

Presidents, Deans, Student Government.• Present all the facts and figures; beware

the “academic freedom trap”. You are not there to jeopardize academic freedom.

• Once all stakeholders are on board, start promoting to faculty and ramp up fundraising efforts.


Allocate separate class and department.Having the right POS system.Creating POS and GL codes.Document paper trail and follow-thru.Determine means of retrieving outstanding

books.Taking markdowns for unreturned books.Storage space needed for textbooks.

Allocate Separate Class/Dept.

• There is a difference in set up of a donation funded rental program and a self funded rental program.

• Donation funded-no impact on inventory levels and stock ledger; no depreciation of asset.

• Self funded-The asset is yours; depreciate over the rental period until you reach break even or better.

Having the right Point of Sale (POS) System

• MBS Systems, Nebraska Book and Budgetext all have textbook rental modules.

• Evaluate each system to determine what is right for you.

• It is especially important to examine the modules interaction with the financial modules of the system.

Creating POS and GL Codes

• This is a new class; it must have its’ own class and POS code for processing at the register.

• Regardless of how you fund it, there must be a GL account set up. If self funded, GL account must be stock ledger driven; if donation funded, GL account must be non merchandise driven.

Document Paper Trail & Follow Through

• Create a contract-essential for return enforcement.

• Contracts to be signed at POS and validated with transaction.

• Follow up on all non returned items with letter and copy of contract.

Retrieving Outstanding Rentals

• Policy Required: Holding records, registration, grades; collection agency.

• Policy in place to deal with replacement copies; if student purchases book or does not return book, it needs to be replaced.

• Campus wide outreach policy for unreturned rentals.

Markdowns for Unreturned Books

• If self funded, markdowns on the inventory stock ledger necessary.

• If donation funded, no impact on stock ledger or inventory. Replacements come from donor money. This should not lessen your resolve to retrieve unreturned copies. This can impact future donations.

Storage Space

• Important to observe guidelines for rental eligibility. If book is used for two years, semester after semester, storage should not be a major issue.

• For textbooks outside the guidelines, storage space must be allocated for the textbooks.

• Summer storage required for books used in fall and spring only.


Create a department agreement– Include multiple signatures

Create a customer agreement form– Include serial number– Include identification number

Create a customer return form– Include serial number


Cashiers– Train data sequence for rental– Train proper completion of forms

Receiving procedures change– Additional steps – Apply serial labels, sku labels, rental labels,

mark each book with serial

Promoting the Program

Promoting to Faculty

The program must be promoted to key stakeholders;

Chancellor, President, Academic Senate and faculty members.

• Write a letter explaining the program.

• Send a mass e-mail to all faculty.

• Target specific classes for rental.

• Prepare department presentations.

Promoting to Students

Students are very effective at promoting the program to faculty…the program directly impacts them. They want to see it succeed.

• Attend student meeting; explain the program.

• Charge students with promoting the program directly to their faculty.

• Give interviews and show specifics; students get it!

Alumni and Community Support

• Highlight the program in the alumni newsletter; student testimonials are very important.

• Present program at college fundraising events; again, student testimonials are essential.

• Be active in the community; Rotary, Kiwanis and other community groups love programs like this one.

Media Promotions

• Write to the editor of the local paper to have a story written about the program; this generates great interest and support.

• Call the local television station to see if they are interested in a community story; we did and were highlighted on Eyewitness News on the first day of fall classes.

Signage

Advertising Fliers

Display

Next Steps

• Meet with key campus stakeholders-define program scope and your needs.

• Evaluate POS/system capabilities.• Identify funding sources on your campus-

foundation office can be very helpful to identify avenues.

• Send letter to faculty explaining program and asking for title commitments (sample e-mail attached).

Next Steps

• Solicit strong student support; urge students to rally faculty.

• Purchase textbooks with funds raised/identified.

• Identify storage needs and capabilities

• Prepare rental titles and put out the “FOR RENT” sign in front of your building.

Additional Questions

Tom Bauer

Director of Auxiliary Services

San Mateo Community College District

3401 CSM Drive

San Mateo, CA 94402

Phone: 1-650-358-6782

E-Mail: [email protected]

Resources

National Association of College Stores

Textbook Rental Compendium

NACS Product Center

1-800-622-7498

Store Resources

Cañada College Bookstore-Jai Kumar

Phone 1-650-306-3199

Cal State Fullerton Bookstore-Chuck Kissel & Omar Iftikhar

Phone: 1-714-278-3418

Central Missouri State University-Charlie Rutt

Phone: 1-660-543-4470

POS Resources

MBS Textbook, Inc.1-800-325-0530

Nebraska Book Company1-800-869-0366

Budgetext1-800-800.8227

Academic Impressions Presentation Updated 3 01 09

Education

Transcript of Academic Impressions Presentation Updated 3 01 09