Jennea Ross’s December 28, 2008 report in the Minneapolis Star Tribune caught my eye:
Campuses across the state try new techniques and technology to fight soaring book prices.
One quote from the story follows:
Until this year, University of Minnesota students taking BioC-3021, a biochemistry class, paid $148 for a single, one-semester textbook.
Then professors got smart.
The faculty agreed on five biochemistry books that would work and, for the first time, asked publishers for bids. They’d take the book that came in the lowest, they said.
As a result, students now have a different textbook — for $86.
Another:
At the U, the Minnesota Student Association endorsed a textbook affordability campaign this month that asks professors to sign a pledge.
The campaign — designed by the student-led Minnesota Public Interest Research Group — asks professors to consider cost when choosing texts, to publish materials online and to tell students if older editions are acceptable.
“The goal … is to start affecting departments’ actual purchasing policy,” said Ryan Kennedy, chair of the University of Minnesota’s Student Senate and an MPIRG leader. “That’s the long-lasting, systemic change we’re looking for.”
So far though, the U faculty who took bids on that biochemistry book are in the minority, said Paul Siliciano, associate professor of biology. Professors often choose textbooks or switch to new editions without ever asking the price.
When his department requested a bid from the publisher of the old book, which it had used for some time, its reps were “stunned,” Siliciano said.
“We had been telling them for a couple of years that, ‘We really need to do something about the price,’ ” he said. “But all they ever did about the price was raise it.”
Although it’s a lot of work to switch texts — and professors might not agree that the cheapest one is the best — the department is using the same technique for other high-enrollment classes.
“Especially at Minnesota, where we’re so big, even a small course might be a huge account,” Siliciano said. “We haven’t flexed our muscle.”