On-schedule faculty adoptions can have a big impact on your campus. Whether the adoptions are early, on-time, late or change at the last minute, they affect everything from students and store staff to retention rates. That’s why it is important to develop a good, reliable process for communicating with faculty about adoptions.
Bookstores know how valuable it is to develop strong relationships with faculty members. Even though both the bookstore and faculty want to do what’s best for students, there are challenges: faculty and bookstore staff are busy, each face their own deadlines and the store’s timeline for faculty adoptions may not always match with faculty’s preferred timeline. That’s why communication is key.
With the increase in online learning, getting faculty adoptions has become an even bigger challenge for college stores. It’s also a critical part of the process for getting more low-cost course materials and providing students with cost-saving options. Many stores have had success by reaching out to campus administrators for help.
Every college store knows how important on-time faculty adoptions are. On-time adoptions can help lower costs for the store and the students. Adoptions also ensure the store has adequate time to source the materials it will need for the upcoming term and improve student buyback rates. However, there can be a disconnect between the campus store and faculty when it comes to faculty adoptions. In 2010, Utah State University changed how it handles faculty adoptions and it now averages a 94% on-time faculty adoptions rate.
This year college stores might have a hard time getting on-time adoptions from faculty members. If adoptions come in late, how can your store get low-cost books you need in time for rush and minimize the amount of work required?
Improving student affordability is a team effort. That’s why it’s important to increase faculty engagement with the campus store. Some instructors may not be aware that the timing of their adoptions can affect the cost of materials for students. Download this checklist to show faculty how they can contribute to student affordability and how the bookstore also works toward the same goal.
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