Both Vanderbilt Student Government and the bookstore took part in a joint effort to encourage professors to submit textbook lists Wednesday. At press time, 25 percent of textbook lists had been submitted, according to Textbook Manager Alyssa Spencer. This is a 7 percent increase from last year, and as a result, the bookstore expects to give students more money for their books during buyback.

Although a similar date is enacted each year, VSG and the bookstore actively worked to urge professors to adhere to this deadline, as professors currently face no repercussions for missing it.

According to sophomore and Speaker of the Senate Aysha Malik, if professors abide by this deadline, the bookstore can buyback more books from students, and students can get more money back for their books. If the bookstore staff is unsure of whether a book will be used, they buy it back from the student at the wholesale price, according to Ryan Freeman, textbook manager of the bookstore. The wholesale price on average ends up being less than 50 percent of the book's price, which the bookstore can often pay students if they are certain the book will be used at Vanderbilt again.

"We're going through it as a grassroots campaign," Malik said, who explained that VSG students contacted undergraduate departments and asked them to submit their book lists by April 15, as part of their textbook initiative.

In light of the economic recession, Malik explained the importance of the initiative, which ultimately lowers textbook prices.

"We realize students are looking for ways to cutback," she said.

Because professors are bogged down with planning for final exams and grading during this time, Malik said that often the deadline is not followed. In addition, professors may be "still debating" which textbooks they are going to use next semester.

Director of Business Services at the bookstore Laura Nairon said that there was also an expanded effort by the bookstore this semester to make professors aware of the beneficial impact of submitting their textbook lists early. Spencer said that most instructors are not aware of the costs they can save students by doing this.

Freeman said that the bookstore contacted faculty by e-mail explaining how to submit their textbook lists and the impact it could have on students. The bookstore's internal initiative was inspired by another university and advice provided by student focus groups.

Spencer emphasized that the bookstore does not expect 100 percent of booklists to be submitted at this time, and their effort was intended to target professors who know which books they would like to use and are perhaps using the same books as last semester.

"The most important thing to us is to get the books that have been used by students and are going to be used again," Spencer said.

Nairon also explained that professors are not required to submit all their textbook lists at once. They can always add additional books later.

Director of Undergraduate Studies and Associate Professor of English Mark Schoenfield said that with certain classes it is quite feasible for professors to be able to submit their booklists; however, he also recognized that if the professor wants to re-examine the course, it can be difficult to conduct the necessary research and revise the course by this time.

"We also learn about new books that might be useful throughout the year," Schoenfield said. "Of course, some courses get added later, for example, if there is additional student demand that a department realizes it can meet, and then more and sometimes different books would need to be ordered."

Although he said the bookstore does a good job of reminding the faculty, Schoenfield recognized that sometimes that is not enough.

"If a professor is caught between getting a book order in on time without having the course worked out, or working the course out and having the book order late, I suspect most faculty lean toward the latter," he said.

Sometimes faculty members do not turn in their booklists until mid-summer, which prevents the bookstore from being able to buy back as many books as they could have if they were given the textbook lists in April.

Schoenfield said he speculated this was because professors were able to think through their course and incorporate student responses from the spring when given more time.