On Friday, March 22 California Lutheran University Faculty received an email announcing the upcoming launch of a textbook accessibility program known as BookPass.
The program does not launch until the fall 2024 semester, however, there is now information available for both faculty and students of Cal Lutheran located online.
In the email, the program’s aim is said to increase textbook affordability and convenience factors for students. Instead of students trying to find access to their textbooks and navigate financial preparation for purchasing or renting, they will pay a flat $210 fee and automatically receive access to the books they need. The BookPass webpage on Cal Lutheran’s website claims this will save students upwards of thirty to fifty percent on textbook costs.
“It should be a huge savings for students, in the cost of textbooks,” Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Leanne Neilson said.
Neilson said that it was Cal Lutheran students who originally heard about the program being implemented at other universities, and approached campus with the concept before the bookstore did.
“Fast forward to more recently, our bookstore came to us saying, ‘Hey we’ve got this program, would Cal Lutheran like to be involved in it,’ and we said absolutely,” Neilson said.
Given that textbook prices range vastly from major to major, Neilson said Cal Lutheran will be offering students an option to opt-out of the fee. The BookPass webpage states this as a possibility during add/drop periods of the early semester. However, some students still expressed more interest in the program if it was inverted, and consisted of an opt-in feature rather than an opt-out.
“I think it should be reversed because I think a lot of people aren’t going to know,” junior and business major Zach Creighton said.
Creighton said that adding a fee such as this to tuition is going to create risk for students who might not see an email reminder of when to opt out before getting charged.
“I think the pros outweigh the cons, bottom line to me,” senior and communication major Tayla Valencia said. “It’s a good program and they shouldn’t do away with it, but maybe introduce it in a different way.”
However, Neilson said the school will proceed carefully with how reminders are communicated to students to ensure that there is an opportunity and time for students to opt-out before getting a surprise charge.
“Especially this fall, since it’s the first time it’s happened, I think we can make an effort on our side to really communicate a lot in those first two weeks and make sure students remember,” Neilson said. “Students will know if their textbooks are less than $210 if they want to opt-out and just get the textbooks themselves, and they’ll know that before the semester starts.”
Neither Creighton nor Valencia said they spent more than a total of $210 on textbooks per semester, but both saw the benefits in the program for students in majors in which textbooks can be far more expensive than their own, such as science or math.
Professor and Senior Lecturer of Mathematics Ryan DeMoss said that his textbooks per individual course can cost between $70 to $130. DeMoss also said he sees merit in the concept, but expressed concerns regarding possible limitations to a program like BookPass.
“I’m wondering if there are limitations,” DeMoss said. “The concern is where is the pool of books coming from? Have we partnered with certain publishing companies, and that’s who the library is for?”
Neilson said that this is of no concern currently, as BookPass will not function through exclusivity.
“The bookstore has guaranteed us that they will find everything,” Neilson said.
Neilson also said they will not be working with any exclusive publishers, or work within contracts that could prevent accessibility to specialty textbooks for students and faculty.
On Cal Lutheran’s BookPass webpage, it is stated that there will be academic freedom for faculty to pick and choose textbooks of their own choice. It also clarifies that BookPass will apply to any reading material that faculty lists as required, not recommended or supplemental reading materials.
The BookPass webpage also states that students will not have to be concerned with finding out their textbooks and be able to have access to them as soon as the semester begins. Once students register for courses, Cal Lutheran’s campus store will take care of the remaining process and send a confirmation email to students to gain access to digital materials. A similar process occurs for printed materials, with the campus store communicating to students when their material is available and ready for pick-up.
BookPass will be fully implemented by Cal Lutheran for both students and faculty starting in the coming fall 2024 semester. Students can reach out to the Cal Lutheran bookstore at [email protected] for any further questions.
