I Don’t Hate America!

The United States House of Representatives today is debating H.R. 4137, the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007.

One part of the bill, which addresses the problems concerning textbook prices, was pushed by Rep. Tim Walz of Minnesota. Two issues specifically addressed by the legislation include the frequent release of new editions of books and bundling of additional course materials, both which have been shown to increase the cost of textbooks.

During debate, Walz took to the floor today and evoked the name of our late colleague and friend, Jared Stene, who we here at IDHA had the privilege of serving beside in the Winona State Student Senate and working with to bring about awareness to the issues of textbook costs.

“Jared worked for years tirelessly on this issue to bring some transparency in how textbooks are marketed,” Walz said on the floor.

This legislation appears to do just that. Here is the section of the bill addressing textbook costs:

`SEC. 134. TEXTBOOK INFORMATION.

`(a) Purpose and Intent- The purpose of this section is to ensure that every student in higher education is offered better and more timely access to affordable course materials by educating and informing faculty, students, administrators, institutions of higher education, bookstores, distributors, and publishers on all aspects of the selection, purchase, sale, and use of course materials. It is the intent of this section–

`(1) to have all involved parties work together to identify ways to decrease the cost of college textbooks and supplemental materials for students while protecting the academic freedom of faculty members to select high quality course materials for students; and

`(2) to encourage–

`(A) college textbook publishers and distributors to work with faculty to promote understanding of the cost to students of purchasing faculty selected textbooks, including the disclosure of prices and bundling practices;

`(B) college bookstores to work with faculty to review timelines and processes for ordering and stocking course materials, and to disclose costs to faculty and students in a timely manner;

`(C) institutions of higher education to implement numerous options to address college textbook affordability;

`(D) institutions of higher education to work with student organizations to help students understand the factors driving textbook costs and available methods and resources to mitigate the effects of those costs; and

`(E) innovation in the development and use of course materials (including course materials utilizing the principles of universal design) and technologies that can help students receive the full value of their educational investment.

`(b) Definitions- In this section:

`(1) BUNDLE- The term `bundle’ means one or more college textbooks or other supplemental learning materials that may be packaged together to be sold as course materials for one price.

`(2) COLLEGE TEXTBOOK- The term `college textbook’ means a textbook or a set of textbooks, used for, or in conjunction with, a course in postsecondary education at an institution of higher education.

`(3) COURSE SCHEDULE- The term `course schedule’ means a listing of the courses or classes offered by an institution of higher education for an academic period, as defined by the institution.

`(4) CUSTOM TEXTBOOK- The term `custom textbook’–

`(A) means a college textbook that is compiled at the direction of a faculty member or other person or adopting entity in charge of selecting course materials at an institution of higher education; and

`(B) may include, alone or in combination, items such as selections from original instructor materials, previously copyrighted publisher materials, copyrighted third-party works, and elements unique to a specific institution, such as commemorative editions.

`(5) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION- The term `institution of higher education’ has the meaning given the term in section 102.

`(6) INTEGRATED TEXTBOOK- The term `integrated textbook’ means a college textbook that is combined with materials developed by a third party and that, by third-party contractual agreement, may not be offered by publishers separately from the college textbook with which the materials are combined.

`(7) PUBLISHER- The term `publisher’ means a publisher of college textbooks or supplemental materials involved in or affecting interstate commerce.

`(8) SUBSTANTIAL CONTENT- The term `substantial content’ means parts of a college textbook, such as new chapters, additional eras of time, new themes, or new subject matter.

`(9) SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL- The term `supplemental material’ means educational material developed to accompany a college textbook, which–

`(A) may include printed materials, computer disks, website access, and electronically distributed materials; and

`(B) is not bound by third-party contractual agreements to be sold in an integrated textbook.

`(c) Publisher Requirements-

`(1) COLLEGE TEXTBOOK PRICING INFORMATION- When a publisher provides a faculty member or other person or adopting entity in charge of selecting course materials at an institution of higher education with information regarding a college textbook or supplemental material, the publisher shall include, with any such information and in writing, the following:

`(A) The price at which the publisher would make the college textbook or supplemental material available to the bookstore on the campus of, or otherwise associated with, such institution of higher education.

`(B) The copyright dates of all previous editions of such college textbook, if any.

`(C) The substantial content revisions made between the current edition of the college textbook or supplemental material and the previous edition, if any.

`(D) Whether the college textbook or supplemental material is available in any other format, including paperback and unbound, and the price at which the publisher would make the college textbook or supplemental material in the other format available to the bookstore on the campus of, or otherwise associated with, such institution of higher education.

`(2) UNBUNDLING OF COLLEGE TEXTBOOKS FROM SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS- A publisher that sells a college textbook and any supplemental material accompanying such college textbook as a single bundle shall also make available the college textbook and each supplemental material as separate and unbundled items, each separately priced.

`(3) CUSTOM TEXTBOOKS- To the maximum extent practicable, publishers shall provide the information required under this subsection with respect to the development and provision of custom textbooks.

`(d) Provision of ISBN College Textbook Information in Course Schedules-

`(1) INTERNET COURSE SCHEDULES- Each institution of higher education, to the maximum extent practicable, shall–

`(A) disclose the International Standard Book Number and retail price information of required and recommended textbooks, related materials, and supplies for each course listed in the institution’s course schedule used for pre-registration and registration purposes;

`(B) if the International Standard Book Number is not available for the items listed in subparagraph (A), use the author, title, publisher, and copyright date; and

`(C) if the institution determines that the disclosure of the information described in the preceding subparagraphs for a course is not practicable for a textbook, related material, or supply, then it should so indicate by placing the designation `To Be Determined’ in lieu of the information required under such subparagraphs.

`(2) WRITTEN COURSE SCHEDULES- In the case of an institution of higher education that does not publish the institution’s course schedule for the subsequent academic period on the Internet, the institution of higher education shall include the information required under paragraph (1) in any printed version of the institution’s course schedule as it is available at the time of the course schedule’s printing.

`(e) Availability of Information for College Bookstores- An institution of higher education shall make available, as soon as is practicable, upon the request of any college bookstore, the most accurate information available regarding–

`(1) the institution’s course schedule for the subsequent academic period; and

`(2) for each course or class offered by the institution for the subsequent academic period–

`(A) the information required by subsection (d)(1) for each college textbook or supplemental material required or recommended for such course or class;

`(B) the number of students enrolled in such course or class; and

`(C) the maximum student enrollment for such course or class.

`(f) Rule of Construction- Nothing in this section shall be construed to supercede the institutional autonomy or academic freedom of instructors involved in the selection of college textbooks and classroom materials.

`(g) Effective Date- This section shall be effective on and after July 1, 2008.’.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 7th, 2008 at 3:00 pm and is filed under Jared Stene, Textbooks, Higher Education, Tim Walz. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.