Responsible Executive: Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
I. PURPOSE
This policy is enacted at Motlow State Community College (Motlow State) to assign responsibility for the selection of textbooks and supplementary course materials and develop procedures for minimizing the cost of textbooks and ancillary course materials, while maintaining quality of education and academic freedom.
II. SELECTION OF TEXTBOOKS
- The selection of textbooks is made by instructors in conjunction with the appropriate department lead.
- When an initial textbook adoption or a change in textbook and/or adopted materials is anticipated, the faculty member(s) responsible for the course should submit the change(s) to the department lead for approval. If a textbook is used, collaboration, consistency, and peer review are important, especially with course sequences (or sequence courses). Only one (1) required textbook will be approved for each course, with the exception of Honors courses covering specialized topics, high school memoranda of understanding (MOUs), or when departmental faculty approve an exception. All instructors, full-time and adjunct, will use the same textbook.
- The department lead forwards the information to the campus bookstore.
- The request for textbook change must be submitted before the beginning of the semester during which the current textbook will last be used. This timing allows the bookstore personnel to adjust purchasing routines.
III. REQUISITION OF TEXTBOOKS
- Faculty members are responsible for notifying the department lead to requisition the textbooks for courses scheduled for the next semester.
- Any faculty member who would like to adopt supplementary materials that students must purchase should make the request to the department lead. The departmental faculty will determine if the supplementary materials are appropriate and necessary.
- Faculty members should consider practices that reduce the cost of course materials, such as adopting the least expensive option from the available products that meet the requirements of the course. Open Educational Resources (OER) are typically free. Materials purchased via the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) Digital Engagement Initiative (DEI) are typically the least expensive if publisher resource access is required.
- Department leads should also project the number of textbooks which will be needed for the total number of sections being offered and forwarding to the campus bookstore.
IV. DESK COPIES OF TEXTBOOKS
- The Department is responsible for purchasing textbooks or securing free desk copies of the textbooks from the publishers.
- If a textbook is purchased from the Bookstore using a department account, the instructor should replace the purchased textbook with one requested from the publisher prior to the end of the semester or reimburse the department account.
- When a textbook is replaced, the bookstore will credit the discipline account from which the original purchase was made.
SOURCES
HISTORY
- January 12, 2009; Approved by the Leadership Council on November 4, 2016
- Revised: December 13, 2022
- Institutional Oversight Committee Approved: TBD
- Faculty Council Approved: February 24, 2023
- President’s Cabinet Approved: May 23, 2023
- Effective Date: November 4, 2016; May 23, 2023