Paying for college:
Hamersly Library Faculty
Sue: WOU Textbook Affordability Initiative* Budget Proposal 2018 This proposal provides financial incentives and promotion and tenure credit for faculty to adopt open textbooks or other open educational resources (OER), with the intent of moving Western Oregon University (WOU) to a zero-cost textbook campus. In February 2016, the Student Public Interest Research Groups, released their now seminal report on textbook prices, “Covering Costs” (https://studentpirgs.org/reports/sp/covering-cost). The report claims that between 2006 and 2016, “...the cost of a college textbook increased by 73% - over four times the rate of inflation. ...Individual textbooks often cost over $200, sometimes as high as $400.” As textbook prices rose, various groups reported additional troubling statistics: According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, 7 in 10 students didn’t purchase a textbook because it was too expensive (https://www.chronicle.com/article/7-in-10-Students-Have-Skipped/128785/). One in five college students has skipped or deferred a class due to the price of the required learning resources (http://assets.cengage.com/pdf/wp_oer-evolving-higher-ed-landscape.pdf). 60% of students have delayed purchasing textbooks until they’ve received their financial aid. More than a quarter of all students report they never purchase course materials (https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/views/2018/02/07/open-educational-resources-offer-exciting-possibilities-though). This disheartening news indicates many students are being forced to make choices that are in direct opposition to their success in the classroom. Switching from an expensive, traditional textbook to an open textbook or other OER would save WOU students hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. Moving the University to a zero-cost textbook campus meets two of WOU’s institutional priorities: growing enrollment and making WOU the most affordable public university in Oregon. In addition, according to a recent large scale study from the University of Georgia, (http://www.isetl.org/ijtlhe/pdf/IJTLHE3386.pdf) students who use open textbooks instead of more expensive commercial products “get significantly better academic results”. Courses using open textbooks also saw the number of students who withdrew or were awarded D or F grades (DFW) decreased. A zero-cost textbook campus would meet another of the University’s institutional priorities, improving retention. *This proposal would work in tandem with the Textbook for Course Reserves Budget Proposal. As more courses adopt open textbooks or other OER, we would need to purchase fewer textbooks for course reserves. Robert: In a recent survey—Today’s Learner: Student Views 2018 (Cengage/Morning Consult): “Students Sacrifice Food for Textbooks: Nearly half of current and former college students (43 percent) say they’ve saved money by skipping meals to afford course materials. Minority Students Are Disproportionately Impacted: Minority students are more likely to report taking fewer classes to save on textbook costs. Textbook purchases Increase student stress: Eighty-five percent of current and former students say that their textbook and course material expenses are financially stressful, more so than meals and food (63 percent), healthcare (69 percent), housing (73 percent) and barely less stressful than tuition (88 percent). Students Divert Time from Studying Looking for Cheaper Options: Eighty-six percent of students spend a few hours a week searching for affordable course materials options.” TEXTBOOKS FOR COURSE RESERVES In order to address the problem of high cost of textbooks for students, this proposal would make available all textbooks for course available to be checked out from the library for a limited two hour period. To support this program the library would need: One copy of every text book for each class Two copies for classes over 30 students One copy for each section of a course with multiple offerings a term. E-books with multiple-user licenses would be purchased where possible. Textbooks would be purchased through the University bookstore. The initial funding for the program would be higher for the first term books are purchased but would be lessor in future terms as required textbooks are often in use for several years at a time and new copies wouldn’t need to be bought for every class / every term. Instead, future terms would need to be purchases for books that term not already in the reserve collection. The initial funding budget is based on required textbooks listed on WOU bookstore website (130 books listed are required out of 325 classes).
Sue: This initiative addresses several of the University’s institutional priorities, but its primary priority is Student Success. Action 1.2 under Student Success states, “Strengthen and centralize programs and practices that support academic achievement for all students.” The practice of using OER, rather than traditional textbooks, does this in several ways: OER allow all students to access course materials from the first day of class. Students are no longer dependent on the disbursement of financial aid funds, which can be delayed until several weeks into the quarter, nor do students have to choose between purchasing textbooks and paying for things like food, rent, gas, etc. Studies indicate students who use OER perform just as well or better than their counterparts in courses that use traditional textbooks. (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12528-015-9101-x) (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02680513.2012.716657) (https://er.educause.edu/articles/2013/11/adopting-oer-a-case-study-of-crossinstitutional-collaboration-and-innovation) The University of Georgia study (http://www.isetl.org/ijtlhe/pdf/IJTLHE3386.pdf) went even further and tried to pinpoint the impact OER might have on Pell Grant recipients, non-White students, and part-time students. The results are encouraging. While overall course grades improved for all students, the study found that the three aforementioned groups’ grades improved at a higher rate than their counterparts, and DFW rates “decreased dramatically for the student populations we hypothesized would benefit the most from free textbooks.” Robert: Students, regardless of their financial situation, would have access to all course readings and materials on day one of classes ensuring they won’t get behind in coursework because they don’t have access to materials. Reduced financial burden on students.
Sue: As discussed above, this proposal would benefit all WOU students. Other campus populations and units will also be impacted in the following ways: Faculty Faculty would receive stipends for converting courses from commercial textbooks to open textbooks or other OER. Faculty would receive credit toward promotion and tenure for developing open textbooks and/or other OER. Faculty, not commercial publishers, control the content of their course materials. Faculty can combine, edit, remix and reuse content, tailoring it to their unique classroom needs. Faculty can openly distribute content they create, showcasing innovation, talent and research interests. A larger audience may learn of faculty research interests and expertise. Students would have access to materials from the first day of class, presumably making them better prepared and more engaged. University Western would be one of the first universities in the nation to be a zero-cost textbook campus, bringing the University national recognition. A zero-cost textbook campus would attract new students, improve retention, and make WOU the most affordable public university in Oregon. Robert: Students -- Would not have to make financial choices about buying textbooks if they can’t afford them. It would allow them to read class materials and keep up with coursework even if they can’t afford the textbook. Faculty--Would be able to direct their students to the library if they can’t afford the textbooks and wouldn’t have to be concerned about access to important course materials. Library--As textbooks are updated or changed, the course reserve books would be rotated into the general collection for standard checkout periods. It would also introduce the library to students as a place to study and use services available to them beyond course reserves. Bookstore--Textbooks would be purchased from the bookstore. While this has the potential to reduce individual purchases, the bookstore would benefit from the per term purchases for the reserves program and from those students who can afford and want their own copy of the textbook. Students who can’t afford textbooks are also unlikely to currently be purchasing textbooks from the bookstore. The cost of this program could be mitigated in the future as faculty develop Open Educational Resources (OERs) by creating their own freely accessible textbooks or adopting existing OER textbooks as proposed in the WOU Textbook Affordability Initiative.
Textbook Course Reserves Outcome--Provide access to textbooks to students who can’t afford them Assessment—We will track the number of checkouts by term for each textbook. We can base success of the program and evaluate it by the number of checkouts per term. In future years we can compare by term and by year. Textbook Affordability Initiative The first assessment piece for this initiative is the assessment of the actual redesign of the course. Faculty are required to attend an online training before the course redesign; progress can be monitored throughout the training program. After redesigning the course, the faculty will supply a copy of their syllabus, which will include a list of course materials. The course and materials will also be listed on the OpenOregon website. Lastly, faculty will need to use the materials in class. Assessing student savings should be fairly straightforward. The cost of material(s) used before the course redesign and class enrollment would be compared with the costs after the redesign.
Textbook Course Reserves We would need to make minor remodeling to our copy center to make space for the extra textbooks on reserve (to be completed over Spring/Summer). If remodeling work complete, we could begin implementation for Fall 2019 and maintain the textbook collection adding materials as needed for each term following. Textbook Affordability Initiative The implementation plan and timeline depends considerably on the coordination of various units on campus, as well as faculty, librarian and staff schedules. The following is a general outline of the anticipated tasks that need to be completed and an estimated time frame for each: Infrastructure (2 months) Name a manager. Administrator? Organizer? What do we want to call this person? Set up budgetary procedures for initiative. Manager meets with Budget Office to review policies and procedures of administering stipends. Create web-based reporting system. Establish Review Committee and Application Process (2 months) Recruit committee members. Develop application guidelines and evaluation criteria. Review documents with Provost. Post to website. In collaboration with marketing department, deliver a call for applications. Application Period (1 month) Faculty submit applications online. Stipends Awarded by Review Committee (1 month) Review applications. Ask follow-up questions of applicants, if necessary. Score applications. Assign stipend amounts to applications. Announce awardees. Follow awardees’ progress. Communicate with awardees. Course Redesign (3 months) Complete online redesign training. Meet with librarian/instructional designer. Work on redesign. Create syllabus. Upload to website. Add information to OpenOregon website. Teach course. Budget Office releases stipend after first day of class.
Textbook Course Reserves We would continue our current practice of providing course reserves from our existing collection and copies of textbooks provided by professors. Textbook Affordability Initiative If this initiative is not funded, I will continue to advocate for the use of -- and help faculty find -- no-cost/low-cost materials for their courses. I will also continue to leverage the resources available to us through OpenOregon to fund OER work as much as possible, but there is a chance that these resources may not be funded in the next biennium.
Textbooks Course Reserves University of Oklahoma – purchases one copy of textbooks that are over $50.00 Unnamed (in the literature) mid-size Atlantic university (with 5000 students) -- purchases textbooks in 35 core classes. This proposal differs in that it proposes a copy of regardless of cost for all classes that require a textbook. This is to account for classes that may have multiple required books that even though are under $50.00 each could have a combined higher total. This proposal also goes beyond core classes to ensure all students have access to a required textbook. Textbook Affordability Initiative Many universities and outside funding sources provide faculty stipends to encourage the use of OER. Most of those organizations use a tiered stipend model, consisting of three “tiers”. Redesign with little revision to existing resource (most often, a textbook) Redesign with adaptation and remixing of existing resources to create a custom set of materials Redesign with originally-authored materials Each tier comes with a dollar amount, which increases as the amount of work Increases. This proposal, as imagined during Phase 1, advocates for the following dollar amounts for Tiers A-C: $750.00 $2500.00 $4000.00 Note about zero cost pathways: While both community colleges and universities are developing and adopting OER on a course-by-course basis, attention seems to be shifting to zero degree pathways, which provide students with planned pathways to complete their entire degree with zero textbook costs. Currently, community colleges are at the forefront of zero degree pathways for a number of reasons. A more detailed explanation is beyond the scope of this proposal, but certainly one of the most compelling factors has to be the Open Educational Resource Degree Initiative, overseen by Achieving the Dream (AdT). In 2016, AdT, a non-governmental organization dedicated to community college student success, launched the Open Educational Resource Degree Initiative. The initiative provided funding, through a competitive grant process, to 38 community colleges throughout the United States to redesign courses and degree programs by replacing commercial textbooks with OER. Tidewater Community College was one of the first programs to create a textbook-free degree. Here in the Northwest, Pierce Open Pathways, is Pierce College’s grant-funded initiative. The University of Maryland University College (UMUC) , an online-only state university, is the only university I’m aware of that has systematically embraced the use of OER for their academic programs.
Textbooks Course Reserves 1) The bookstore may see a decreased sales of textbooks. However, this is hard to determine because students who want textbooks may look for cheaper online options and those who can’t afford them aren’t likely to buy from them from the bookstore. Library Technical Services – increased processing for textbooks. 2) ASWOU free book exchange. 3) We are currently reaching out to the bookstore. Library Technical services sees no problems with handling the workload as they have processes large collections like this in the past. Textbook Affordability Initiative A primary unit that could be unfavorably impacted by a textbook affordability initiative is the campus bookstore. Unlike larger universities that might be able to offset dwindling textbook revenues through sales of collegiate wear and/or other merchandising, the sale of course materials provides a significant revenue stream for WOU’s bookstore. That’s why it’s imperative the bookstore should be represented on any textbook affordability initiative committee. I’ve had general conversations with the bookstore manager regarding textbook affordability, we both attended a one-day workshop devoted to OER in the fall, and he provided me with textbook sales information last spring so I could calculate an initial quarterly savings for students. I have not spoken directly with him regarding this particular initiative, but I believe his voice is an important one for these efforts. It’s possible the bookstore could recoup lost earnings by providing print versions of open textbooks, but again, the bookstore manager can speak best to that reality. Secondary units that would be adversely affected by a textbook affordability initiative include the budget office and library. Both units would see their workloads increase. I have not spoken to the budget office, but I have informed my colleagues in the library. As of this writing, however, we have not determined how we would mitigate the effects on our workloads.
Textbooks for Course Reserves This would provide students access to required textbooks when they don’t have the funds to purchase them allowing them to participate fully in courses from day one. There is no additional ongoing staff or labor costs. $5000 to remodel the copy center. $1000 dollar labor from Facility Services + $4000 dollars for glass cabinet bookshelves. $20,000 initial textbook purchase. This might be lower. The textbook cost listed for purchasing one textbook for each course that was listed on the bookstore website for WOU Winter 2019 was $13,500. $2000-$3000 per term to purchase and update additional textbooks Initial Costs 1st year: $35,000. Additional years costs $6,000-$9,000. Textbook Affordability Initiative This budget proposal requires the following resources: Faculty Stipends ($48,000). Stipends are at the heart of this proposal and are used to encourage faculty to redesign their courses to include OER rather than more expensive, commercially-published textbooks. Although there is no way to determine beforehand exactly how many stipends, and at which tiers, will be requested by faculty -- and awarded by the review committee -- the $48,000 requested for this proposal was calculated using these numbers: $750 (20 awards) = $15,000 $2500 (10 awards) = $25,000 $4000 (2 awards) = $8,000 OPE Costs ($14,736). Other payroll expenses are required by the university.
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