MEETING START TIME: 3:58

ATTENDANCE:

Committee: Chairman Garcia, Vice-Chair Temple, Senator Russo, Senator Curtis, Senator Porter

Absent: N/A

Non-Committee: Paul/ Natalie (Bookstore representatives)

COMMITTEE DISCUSSION:

• Book Store
  • Used URI bookstore survey to make a comparison to national data. Survey didn’t pinpoint course materials, but focused on customers’ perceptions of bookstore
    • 1000+ responses to survey
    • expected responses to most focus points:
      • sales have been dropping in previous years
      • Fall 2016 similar to previous years: 20%ish
    • many old editions were adopted by Natalie’s suggestion in order to save students’ money
  • What was started last year was a discussion that we hope to continue every year with the book store in order to work together on shared interests, which is affordability for students. This affordability relies on the adoption time for professors to choose their textbooks
    • University lacks a specific policy that has to do with the timeliness of adoption. URI’s is nowhere near the national practice regarding textbook adoption promptness
    • Many adoptions come in only a month before classes meet, which is also the bookstore’s busiest time of year
    • Math department does a really good job at being prompt. Otherwise across the board there lacks a pattern between colleges
    • Bookstore is forced to chase 40-50% of needed adoptions in August
    • Adoptions consist of 1-page adoption form, some come in person, others use the phone
    • Some adoptions still coming in today
    • Bookstore aims to buy in March-April to minimize costs of materials because that’s when they are the cheapest
    • Talking to faculty senate about what makes the difference in information, timeliness, accuracy,
    • URI Online bookstore can be incorrect due to late data
      • Textbooks are a nonrefundable stock- based on a 1-9 scale of worth. Books lower on the scale that cant be returned (old editions/custom books) can be bought for cheap if bought promptly
    • Try to contact faculty senate this fall. Paul feels it is possible if a timeline is made
      • Vanessa wants to find helpful case studies from other schools with defined adoption policies
    • Speaker on affordable course materials held by RI Governors. Push on open educational resources- September 27 @ RIC
    • Plan is to read through the university’s academic strategic plan in order to find proper authority or reasoning for our arguments and bring them to faculty senate and PROVOS

 

• Campus employment
  • Enrollment services is in charge of student employment
    • Trying to set a meeting for next week
    • Also wants to contact grad student senate to see how they handles student employment
      • All Ta’s are basically student employees
      • Brown students have a student employee union
    • The Student employment policy includes section on the student pay scale
      • Goal is to start looking at student employees as part of a union so that we can
    • Library hours
      • A Library committee liaison is needed-we hope to deliver our request by the end of the semester to extend hours
    • Extra
      • Next week open faculty senate Thursday at 3PM New Chem building
      • Academic committee will hold a working meeting at some point in order to put together a professional memo
      • Catie Collins is trying to put rhody outpost here on campus
      • Wednesday Oct 5^th new faculty orientation

 

MEETING ADJOURNMENT TIME:  4:47