TOWSON – The Board of Regents voted Friday to implement a policy aiming to decrease the cost of textbooks, hoping to head off state legislation with similar goals.
The regents touted the policy’s provisions as far more appealing than a similar bill currently in the General Assembly, which they view as overly regulatory and see little need for. They also said the policy would cut the cost of student education throughout the University System of Maryland by $10 million.
“Hopefully, the legislature will see there is no need for them to act,” said Regent David Nevins. “We think what they should do is see if our policy works. If it doesn’t, we can make changes.”
Like the state bill, the regents’ measure promotes faculty awareness of book prices and bundled materials, encourages used textbooks and older editions and requires institutions to post textbook information, such as ISBNs, by May 1 for fall courses and by Dec. 1 for spring courses.
The state bill mandates more information on textbooks, especially older editions, which must be made available to all booksellers within a shorter timeframe than under the regents’ policy. It also requires faculty to justify why they chose a new edition over an older one.
The regents, a group of gubernatorial appointees who oversee the university system, view the bill as an infringment on faculty freedom and bemoan the unfunded administrative burdens of researching textbook information back several editions and notifying stakeholders sooner.
System lobbyist P.J. Hogan, who also serves as a policy advisor to the regents, said the state bill would have a fiscal impact in terms of bookstore revenue losses.
“If the state really wanted to do something, they should exempt textbooks from the sales tax,” he said at the board’s meeting.
The regents will lobby against the bill during the legislative session, although administrators say they would support the measure if an amendment were added to extend the timeframe for researching and posting the information. Ideally, institutions would have the same amount of time as in the regents’ policy.
The Student Government Association is in favor of the state bill, which university President Dan Mote said certainly doesn’t help lobbying efforts. Mote, along with the regents, said he believes the system is moving in the right direction. He said students are benefiting already from the university’s efforts to post ISBNs, helping students purchase books online or elsewhere. Students don’t understand the minute details of what the law would require of the institution, he said.
“You’re only aware of [the rules] if you have to do them,” he said. “I think it’s going to be very difficult to execute.”
Critics of the state bill have also raised concerns that its implementation would result in higher student fees to cover the cost of complying with the law.
SGA President Jonathan Sachs said the policy was a good step but made the argument that legislation would create a more robust used-book market, even in state schools outside of the system.
“We’re still going full force on the textbook legislation,” Sachs said. “It’s got more to it to ensure that costs actually go down for students.”
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