Associated Students of the University of Washington
Student Senate
Session 12
 

Resolution in Support of Affordable Textbooks

WHEREAS, according the investigation by the Government Accountability Office of Congress and a survey by the Student Public Interest Research Group (Student PIRGs), students spend an average of $898 per year on textbooks, or 26 percent of the cost of tuition at an average four year university and 16 percent of the cost of tuition at the University of Washington, and;

WHEREAS, textbook prices have increased at four times the rate of inflation between 1994 and 2004, and;

WHEREAS, textbook publishers add extra items to textbooks - such as CD-ROMs and workbooks - that drive up average prices by 10-40% and that over 65% of faculty nationally surveyed say they "rarely" or "never" use, and;

WHEREAS, textbook publishers frequently put new editions on the market - often with few content changes - making the less expensive used editions obsolete and difficult to find, even though 76% of faculty nationally surveyed said they thought new editions were justified "half the time" or less, and;

WHEREAS, over 700 math and physics professors from 150 universities have called on Thomson Learning to stop issuing unnecessary new editions of it's introductory math and physics books, and;

WHEREAS, access to education is so important to society that the education market must be held to a higher standard, especially public institutions,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE ASSOCIATED STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON:

THAT, the ASUW declares that any commercial practices that serve to drive up educational costs while providing little to no additional educational value are unacceptable, and;

THAT, the ASUW calls upon college textbook publishers to adopt the following practices:

Keep the cost of producing textbooks as low as possible and keep textbook editions on the market for as long as possible without sacrificing educational content;

Give faculty and students the option of buying textbooks "unbundled";

Give preference to paper or on-line supplements to current editions over producing entirely new editions;

Disclose to faculty members all of the different products they sell - including both bundled and unbundled options, list how much each of those products cost, and the length of time they intend to produce the current edition;

THAT, the ASUW encourages individual faculty and departments to give preference to publishers and textbooks that incorporate the above practices when the educational value is comparable, and;

THAT, the ASUW also encourages individual faculty and departments to submit textbook orders in as early as possible so that students and the bookstore have as much time as possible to search for low-cost books, and;

THAT, the ASUW calls upon the University to encourage as many forums for students to purchase many used books as possible, such as ASUW Book Exchange, campusbookswap.com, Amazon, etc., and;

THAT, the ASUW will forward a copy of this resolution to the following parties: the Association of American Publishers, Governor Gregoire, President Emmert, The Daily, The Seattle Times, The Seattle PI, and the Student Campaign For Affordable Textbooks.

History of Legislation

10/28/2005: Submitted for consideration
11/03/2005: Referred to the Academic Affairs Committee
11/10/2005: Reported Favorably by the Academic Affairs Committee
11/10/2005: Placed on First Reading
01/10/2005: Placed on Second Reading
01/17/2006: Passed by the Senate

Resolved by the Associated Students of the University of Washington

Legislation ID:
R-12-4

Date Submitted:
10/28/2005

Sponsor:
Tyler Dockins, Legislative Coordinator

Cosponsor(s):
Ben Golden, Office of Government Relations Director
Melissa Aar, WashPIRG