HIGHER EDUCATION OPPORTUNITY ACT
The Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) textbook regulations became
mandatory July 2010.Approximately every 6 years, the United States Congress
renews the Higher Education Act (HEA) exploring ways to improve the law. On
August 14, 2008 the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 was signed into
law and the textbook portion took effect July 2010. The National Association
of College Stores (NACS) has put together a brief overview of the new HEOA
law in regards to textbooks. The core theme of the new law is to empower
consumers (students) with college cost information—including course
materials. The intention of the textbook section of the new law is to give
students access to affordable course materials by decreasing costs and
enhancing transparency with respect to the selection, purchase, sale and use
of course materials, as well as to encourage all parties (bookstores,
faculty and publishers) to work together to identify ways to decrease the
cost of college textbooks while supporting the academic freedom of faculty.
The university has named the SpiderShop as the official repository for this
information, to keep us in line with the laws; we have to share with
students what course materials necessary as soon as we are notified.
What is your responsibility as a UR faculty member?
Continue supplying the
SpiderShop with your textbook requirements for your class. To comply with
the HEOA laws, we need to be notified of your required course materials even
if you prefer students to purchase them elsewhere. Student athletes depend
on the SpiderShop for their textbooks, if we do not know what you require;
we are unable to fulfill their academic requirements. We will do our very
best to have your course requirements available for your students at the
best price possible and here on time. If you make a change PLEASE let us
know so that change will be reflected on the website. Those that adopt on
time will be eligible for a discount on select merchandise or book
purchases. For policy reasons, adoptions must be done with your
UR(xxxx@richmond.edu) email only.
Important Information
For Faculty about out of print editions of books. There is always a risk
when ordering out of print editions. At times there can be plenty of copies,
other times there can be a very limited amount available. The SpiderShop
will always work hard to make sure our students are supplied with these
books. However, it will never come as a guarantee that we will have enough
for all the Students.
Why do I need to submit my textbook adoption so early?
On-time textbook adoptions
have several advantages for you and your students:
1. Eliminates problems ahead of time by verifying the availability of the
book(s) and determines if a new edition has been released.
2. If a book is out-of-print or out-of-stock, we have a longer period of
time to secure used copies of the book. If we cannot locate enough copies we
will inform you in advance so you have time to consider a replacement title
3. Identifies publishers, such as overseas presses, that have unique
situations that require importing which will take additional time to
receive.
4. Provides students with a greater selection of
used books, which
saves students up to 25% off the publisher's new price.
5. Increases the amount of money students receive in buyback at the end of
the term, if the same books are used again. If we know in advance, we will
add the titles to our buyback list.
6. To prepare for the coming semester, the SpiderShop must return any unsold
books to the publishers that are not being used. If we know a book is being
reused, we can reduce the costs associated with returning and then
reordering books. This means more dollars returned to the campus.
7. Packaged, bundled, custom publications and print-on-demand books can take
up to eight weeks longer than a traditional book to arrive and will also
limit the amount of money a student can receive at buyback.
What if I submit a late order?
We will always do our best to
accommodate late orders for course materials. There is no late fee applied
to your department for orders made after the set deadline. However, we
cannot guarantee that late ordered materials will be in the store on time
for the start of classes.
QUESTIONS?
Email us at Bookstore@richmond.edu