Ideas, information and industry news for collegiate retailers

Given the careening cost of higher education, it might be tempting to cut required texts from your syllabus in order to help students save money. If you’ve been teaching a while, you likely have ample resources for giving lectures, assigning homework and conducting assessments. However, if you eliminate the opportunity for students to engage with a text, you eliminate more than an expense. You deprive students of the ability to develop one of our most fundamental skills — reading — in your class.

Administrators and academics differ on a host of topics, but, politics aside, you know there are a lot of non-faculty on campus you appreciate. Without the department office manager, you would be stuck laboring over a copy machine more hours than you’d like. Without a well-staffed counseling center, you would have nowhere to send students in need of emotional support. Without advisors, your students would be even more confused about their path to graduation, especially at a large university where the bureaucracy is complex. An official school bookstore textbook manager is an oft-overlooked member of the administration who deserves your appreciation.

Looking back, the things I told students about the value of books were way too abstract. When I was a teacher, I didn’t realize that the cost of course materials had soared in recent years. I didn’t know many students opted out of buying required books altogether. I thought they simply believed they could do well in an English class without reading — and I had all kinds of theories about why they dismissed reading assigned literature as unimportant. In some ways, I might have been right, but, in others, I was flat-out wrong.

Welcome to our fourth installment of Textbook Wisdom, the Foreword Online series devoted to speaking directly to faculty about how the course material industry affects the classroom. This week's article discusses the advantages of encouraging students to use the official school bookstore. Share it on social media; send the link to faculty. Bridge the gap between educators and collegiate retailers. 

Welcome to our fourth edition of Textbook Wisdom, the Foreword Online series dedicated to speaking directly to faculty about how the course material industry affects the classroom. This article explains the advantages of alternative content. Email the link to faculty — and share it on social media. Bridge the gap between educators and collegiate retailers.

Welcome to our third installment of Textbook Wisdom, a Foreword Online series that speaks directly to faculty about course material issues. This week’s article deals with a perennial bookstore concern: Early adoptions. Post it on social media — and email the link to faculty. Bridge the gap between bookstores and educators.

Welcome to Textbook Wisdom, a new Foreword Online series that speaks directly to faculty about issues in the course material industry that affect the classroom. This is our second article. It explains the how inclusive access ensures students have their books Day One. Share it with faculty — and on social media. Bridge the gap between bookstores and educators.

Introducing “Textbook Wisdom,” a Foreword Online series that speaks directly to faculty about the course materials industry and its impact in the classroom. Share it with faculty — and on social media. Bridge the communication gap between bookstores and educators.