The $2 million CUNY textbook initiative has helped thousands of undergraduate students to have access to expensive textbooks this school year, and the University’s print and electronic offerings will keep growing.
A year’s worth of textbooks typically costs $700 to $1,000 – about 22 percent of tuition at senior colleges at The City University of New York and about 32 percent of tuition at CUNY’s community colleges, according to University Librarian Curtis L. Kendrick. He notes that the price of books is particularly burdensome to CUNY students, 38 percent of whom come from families with household income of less than $20,000.
Students have praised the program:
“If these books were not here, I would fail my class,” one student at Hostos Community College wrote, referring to books including a $191 anatomy text. “I cannot afford to buy the textbooks this year.”
John Jay senior Genevieve Castillo wrote that the addition of 800 new textbooks last semester, including a $150 psychotherapy textbook that she was assigned, “was a great help to the students, not only because it saved them money, but because there were more books available for loan … and they were the newest editions required by professors. While working at the circulation desk, I noticed a sharp increase in the number of students who registered as patrons of the library for the purpose of borrowing books.”
“College textbooks have become unaffordable,” wrote Dennis Kim of Lehman College. “The recession has only exacerbated the difficulty of students’ access to their course textbooks and some even go without to their detriment. Going without one’s required text is at the price of being left behind in class, struggling to comprehend class lectures, and this ultimately undermines the quality of the students’ education.”
As part of CUNY’s $10 million Student Financial Aid Initiative prepared by Chancellor Matthew Goldstein and approved by the CUNY Board of Trustees, the University targeted $2 million for campuses to buy textbooks. Much of the coordination was initiated by the late Vice Chancellor for Budget and Finance Ernesto Malave. The goal was to help offset the modest rise in tuition voted by the Legislature. By the end of November 2009, the almost 5,300 books that were purchased under this initiative had circulated 87,741 times. The funds came with guidelines, encouraging college libraries to:
- Put titles on reserves or make them available as “reference materials.”
- Purchase multiple copies as warranted.
- Consider “rental” options.
- Consider “e-textbooks.”
- Select books appropriate for undergraduates at the campus.
- Choose books that support current students and the current curriculum.
- Work collaboratively to investigate systemwide licensing opportunities.
Campuses generally used the funds to order books to place on reserve, Kendrick said. These represent high-use items that are most in demand and that most directly support the curriculum. Campuses also bought reference materials to support students writing papers and conducting research. He said the books span the full range of disciplines and tend to be multiple copies of high-demand textbooks, copies of all readings required for general education classes and readings required for selected upper-division courses.
Looking to the future, Kendrick said that in addition to purchasing print textbooks, CUNY is exploring electronic book options. That could make tens of thousands of electronic books available to students and faculty on campus, as well as from their homes and office. He added that CUNY had established a committee to evaluate e-book proposals and had invited in a group of vendors for detailed discussions.
He noted that the New York State Textbook Access Act, which took effect on July 1, 2009, requires colleges to adopt policies that encourage faculty members to place their book orders early enough to enable bookstores to obtain the requested materials in used or digital formats, if available. At the federal level, a provision of the Higher Education Opportunity Act taking effect on July 1, 2010, requires that colleges disclose online ISBN and retail price information; CUNY is moving toward compliance.
The City University of New York is the nation’s leading urban public university. Founded in New York City in 1847 as The Free Academy, the University’s 23 institutions include 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E. Macaulay Honors College at CUNY, the Graduate School and University Center, the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, the CUNY School of Law, the CUNY School of Professional Studies and the CUNY School of Public Health. The University serves 260,000 credit students and 269,808 adult, continuing and professional education students. College Now, the University’s academic enrichment program for 32,500 high school students, is offered at CUNY campuses and more than 300 high schools throughout the five boroughs of New York City. The University offers online baccalaureate degrees through the School of Professional Studies and an individualized baccalaureate through the CUNY Baccalaureate Degree. More than 1 million visitors and 2 million page views are served each month by www.cuny.edu, the University’s website.