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Selecting materials for your students can be one of the most difficult challenges when planning a class. University Bookstore is here to help you by providing resources and being available to answer your questions. We have tried to present a wide range of information here to help you as you make your decisions. Learn more about textbook pricing and how to make life easier for yourself and your students. Please contact us anytime with questions or comments. |
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Course Material Information for Faculty
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Together, We Can Help Our Students
Save Money on Textbooks
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With the cost of higher education continuing to rise unabated, students and their parents need to find ways to reduce out-of-pocket expenses. One of the easiest solutions to this problem exists in the area of textbook purchasing and buyback.
Faculty members play a crucial role in keeping down the costs that students incur.
Help students reduce their out-of-pocket expenses:
• Get Textbook Adoption Orders in On Time: This helps the bookstore better plan our buyback quantities, saves freight cost and allows for other efficiencies, all of which ultimately return more money to our students. In addition, this helps us ensure we have sufficient quantities of books available and gives us time to search for as many used textbooks as possible, saving students 25% over the cost of new books.
• Carefully consider Customized Textbooks: Often, these texts can’t be bought back and are rarely recycled. For example, a community college recently required a text that was customized only with a page informing students that the edition had been customized for the school – all other pages were identical to the standard edition. Due to this customization, the bookstore was unable to secure used copies of the text. Customizing can be a cost-saving measure when only a small percentage of the text is required, or when small portions of several texts can be combined into one, but eliminating a few chapters usually does not reduce the price of the book enough to offset the savings students get on the standard used textbook and buyback
• Consider reusing the same edition if the new edition contains only minimal content changes: If previous editions are still usable, they can be purchased as used texts, which saves students 25%. According to a recent national survey, 40% of faculty report that new editions are “rarely” to “never” justified. In addition, the average time between editions is now only 3.8 years.
• Order Textbook Bundles (with additional materials, such as CD-ROMs, study guides, etc.) only when the additional materials are required. The other optional items can still be made available for separate purchase: Bundles with non-required materials force students to purchase new texts at premium prices, even though bundled materials often go unused. In fact, wholesale textbook prices have risen almost 33% since 1998 (as opposed to 18% for trade books). According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, some of this increase is attributed to bundling, which now affects almost half of all new textbooks sold.
• Avoid Requiring Textbooks when only one or a few chapters are needed: Consider using Mizzou Media’s custom publishing options. Mizzou Media will secure all the copyright permissions necessary, and provide the required materials often at a fraction of the cost of the entire book.
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Course Material Information for Faculty
When should I submit my textbook order?
We know that you spend a great deal of time selecting the right course materials. Our due dates ensure that your students get the right material in the appropriate quantities at the best possible price. The mission of the University Bookstore Textbook Department is: Right Book, Right Price, Right Here, Right Now!
Why do I need to submit my textbook adoption so early?
On-time textbook adoptions have several advantages for you and your students:
- Eliminate problems ahead of time by verifying the availability of the book(s), and determing if a new edition has been released.
- If a book is out of print or out of stock, we have a longer period of time to secure used copies of the book or you have time to select a replacement title.
- On-time adoptions of out-of-print books may also be Custom Published by Mizzou Media
- Identifies publishers such as overseas presses that have unique situations that require additional time to receive.
- Provides students with a greater selection of used books which save students 25% off the publisher’s new price.
- Often increase the amount of money students receive in buyback at the end of the term if the same books are used again.
- To prepare for the coming semester, University Bookstore must return any unsold books to the publisher that are not being reused. If we know a book is being reused, we can reduce the costs associated with returning and then reordering books. This means more dollars returned to campus.
- Packaged or bundled books can take up to eight weeks longer than a traditional book to arrive.
What if I have to submit an order after the deadlines?
We will always do our best to accommodate late orders for textbooks and custom publishing, and we will still do everything we can to have the books in the store ready for students before classes begin.
How do I submit a textbook order?
In most departments, you will submit your book order to your department secretary, who will collect the information and forward it along to University Bookstore’s textbook department. Please confirm with your department secretary how best to submit orders for your department.
What information do I need to include when I order books for my courses?
When submitting your textbook order, the information listed below would be of tremendous help to ensure that the correct book(s) are ordered for your class.
- Department
- Course #
- Instructor Name, phone number and email address
- Semester the order is for (if the start date for the class is later than the main semester start date, please note the course start date on the order.)
- Author and Title (if the book is a package, please include information about the components, and if those components are required or recommended.)
- ISBN number
- Indicate whether the book is Required or Recommended. .
- Estimated Enrollment (enrollment cap) for the course.
What is Mizzou Media and how does Custom Publishing work?
Mizzou Media provides a Custom Publishing service for instructors to have selected non-copyrighted material or copyrighted material compiled into a packet to supplement the textbook or to use as a stand-alone textbook. Securing the reproduction rights can take any where from 4-6 weeks. For more information, visit Mizzou Media.
What if I require non-text items such as supplies or software?
Simply include the information with your order. The easiest method may be to attach a copy of your syllabus so we have the same information your students will receive. We can provide just about any item here at University Bookstore, on campus, for your students’ convenience.
Why should I use the campus bookstore?
Because University Bookstore is owned and operated by MU, our profits are reinvested in facilities and programs that benefit students. We also work with students requiring special assistance with vocational rehabilitation, scholarships and other third-party payment options. University Bookstore continually monitors the college store industry and participates in buying cooperatives to ensure fair pricing to our customers. |
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In the News
Bundling drives up textbook costs
In January 2004, the State Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) released Ripoff 101, a report documenting the high price of college textbooks. Click here to see the full report:
- In order to both confirm their initial findings and to follow up on a number of anecdotal reports of additional problems with textbook pricing, the State PIRGs conducted an expanded survey of the most widely purchased textbooks at 59 colleges and universities across the country. University Bookstore at MU participated in this study
- 50% of the textbooks in the survey were sold “bundled,” or shrinkwrapped with additional instructional materials such as CD-ROMs and workbooks.
- When a bundled book is available for purchase unbundled (without the add-on materials), the bundled book is, on average, 10 percent more expensive than its unbundled counterpart. Some bundled textbooks are substantially more expensive. For example, a Thomson Learning chemistry textbook was 47 percent more expensive bundled ($223.75) than when sold as a separate textbook ($152.00).
- More than half of the bundled textbooks surveyed (55 percent) were not available for students to purchase a la carte, in which the textbook is available without the add-on materials.
- Two-thirds (65 percent) of the faculty surveyed in our 2004 report said that they used bundled items “rarely” or “never”.
Buyback and Used Books Mean Big Savings for Students
This Fall semester, buyback and used books saved MU students nearly $1.9 million. Professors’ decisions to order standard textbooks instead of customized or bundled books allow University Bookstore to pay students half of the new retail price of the book at buyback. It also means more used books available for students to purchase the following semester.
In just one large MU class, students who sold their textbooks at buyback in May received $54,950 in cash. Subsequently, those students needing those books for Fall ‘06 saved $35,953 when purchasing used copies. The book for this course is a standard stand-alone textbook, making it eligible for buyback. Additionally, the department submitted the book order on time, giving the Bookstore staff the necessary time to research course data and provide students with the maximum savings possible.
Every course, every book, every decision, makes a difference to students. If you have questions about your book order and want to keep the cost of books as low as possible, contact the textbook staff for assistance.
University Bookstore offers First Day of Class Guarantee
for all On-Time Textbook Orders
University Bookstore guarantees that textbook orders submitted by our due dates will be on the shelf on the first day of class. If we do not have a book on the first day of class, we will give the instructor a $25 Bookstore Gift Certificate!*
*Guarantee applies to on-time orders only and does not apply to continuation classes, non-text items or non-required materials. Publisher delays, such as backorders or late printings do not apply.
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