The rising price of textbooks tends to be a frequent motif in the great melange of student complaints. In many cases, the books will increase by over 20 percent between editions, over triple the rate of inflation. Unsurprisingly, everyone from high school kids to veteran politicians demand for change in the pricing structure. Of course, Vanderbilt has its own share of textbook woes, including superfluous Vanderbilt editions of calculus books leading one to wonder who thought of that lackluster if not egotistical idea. As per usual, Vanderbilt Student Government has gotten in on the action as the year comes to a close.
If professors submit the books lists for their courses earlier, the bookstore can guarantee higher prices for some buybacks. In the long term, this of course can save students money — increasingly important in the current economic climate. Furthermore, if the bookstore has forewarning, they can arrange to have a greater number of used books, which serves as a great boon to many. By simply writing up a list sooner rather than later, professors have the ability to save large swaths of campus money that is in no way insignificant.
Unfortunately, at the moment, only 25 percent of expected textbook lists have been submitted, and while this is a significant increase over previous years, it certainly falls short of reasonable expectations. It is true professors are busy planning future courses as well as arranging for finals, but this hardly a legitimate excuse.
Professors are under little pressure to submit a full list; they are free to add additional selections at a later date. It does not help their case that the bookstore does send reminders, though Director of Undergraduate Studies and Associate Professor of English Mark Schoenfield admits these reminders are not always enough. Since submitting lists during the spring is for the most part optional, professors feel little pressure to get things done early. This reflects poorly on them, considering the costs that are incurred by the delays, though many may not be aware of the benefits of earlier submission.
Speaker of the Senate Aysha Malik explained that VSG students contacted undergraduate departments and asked them to submit their book lists by April 15 as part of their textbook initiative. The question here is: Why no one did this earlier? Surely someone must have thought this action was required even a decade ago. In all probability, there has been some kind of similar, less expansive equivalent at some point, but considering the costs students are forced to pay, the VSG initiative seems too little and too late.
In this case, it seems fair for students to be outraged. The people who are supposed to be looking out for their interests — the administration, faculty and VSG — seem to be lackadaisical in their efforts to lower prices. It is not enough to have some used textbooks on sale, it’s absolutely absurd for publishing companies to foist such unreasonable prices onto student and at some point universities should react, and maybe, at some point, I’m sure they will — if they feel like it.
