Deans Urge Faculty To Ease Book Costs

Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71 and Interim Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles urged faculty members on Tuesday to help make course readings more affordable for students.

In a letter, the deans urged professors to consider other alternatives to costly books, textbooks and coursepacks.

High book costs mean that “students either skimp on daily expenses to purchase course materials, or skimp on their books to make ends meet,” the letter said.

The annual cost of readings for the average student has reached $1,300, which amounts to $8.5 million collectively spent each year on course readings, according to the two-page letter.

Gross and Knowles suggested two ways that faculty members can help “contain and even reduce students’ book expenses.” The first is to make reading selections known earlier in the year so that students can have the opportunity to shop for books early and to sell their books back to the Coop.

The second suggestion called on professors to utilize Harvard’s abundant online resources, which often include digital versions of the same readings for which students pay copyright fees when buying printed coursepacks.

The letter comes just over two weeks after the Undergraduate Council unanimously passed legislation allocating $1,000 to an effort that aims to make books more affordable for students. UC President Ryan A. Petersen ’08 and Student Affairs Committee Chair Michael R. Ragalie ’09 led the charge to create a system in which faculty members will be able to submit book information to the Coop, University libraries, and discount Web sites such as CrimsonReading.org in one step, according to Petersen.

This plan is a continuation of existing initiatives such as the Course Cost Assistance Program and the Hidden Cost Campaign—led by former UC President John S. Haddock ’07—aimed in part at bringing attention to the effects of the escalating price of textbooks, particularly for lower income students.

“This is a promising step that they are taking,” Haddock said in an interview yesterday. “I hope that Gross is willing to put money behind this kind of thing.”

The recently enacted UC proposal also seeks to implement a system in which students would help to create a centralized list of course readings.

“The Faculty wants to save students money on books already,” Petersen said. “But they are burdened by this complicated system and deserve to be empowered with a College-wide book information system.”

On his way to a dinner with seniors, Gross declined to comment further on the letter.