Leslie has said the “textbook is dead” and is “being replaced very aggressively and very quickly by electronic forms.”
The strategy will start with evaluating materials for high-enrollment courses, some of which could move by fall 2015 to a single set of instructional materials, Jo-Carol Fabianke, the vice chancellor for academic success, has said.
But some students are still clinging to their hard copies.
“I don’t think (the change) is a good idea because all they’re doing is switching to online eBooks because they feel it’s better,” said Northwest Vista sophomore Patrick Stewart, 20, who is also gathering signatures. “Students don’t know what they’re going to be paying for.”
Stewart said he was able to find a $100 difference on a math book by looking in two bookstores, “and that saves a lot of money, as you know, in this economy.”
Morrow said buying an eReader isn’t in the budget for many students.
“We are college kids,” she said. “Most of us are working not the best jobs at the moment.”
Many students rely on computer labs or home computers, which means they may not be able to access the virtual textbooks during class, Morrow said.
Asked if those circulating the petition were verifying that only current Alamo Colleges students were signing it, she said most signatures were collected in a classroom setting and that students were asked to include their status, whether full- or part-time, and their eMail addresses.
Morrow suggested some alternatives at the board meeting, “whether it’s just reconsidering the wording of the proposal … or scrapping the idea altogether and finding a new way.” She said she would like to see collaboration among students, administrators and faculty to solve the problems that students have with the proposal.
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