To:                   DEOs, Departmental Administrators, and Instructors         

From:               Helena Dettmer, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and Curriculum

Subject:           New Textbook Ordering Deadlines

The University of Iowa must comply with the federal legislation that requires textbook information for a course to be available through the institution’s online course schedule before student’s register for the semester that the books will be used.

The purpose of this legislation is “to ensure that students have access to affordable course materials by decreasing costs to students and enhancing transparency and disclosure with respect to the selection, purchase, sale, and use of course materials.”*

• Starting with Fall 2017, all instructors will be asked to order books each semester before the start of Early Registration for the following semester so that UI complies with the federal legislation.

In other words, textbook orders this semester would be due before April 10 since Early Registration for Fall 2017 begins on that date.

Why is it important to order books so early?

• One of the best ways to save students money is to order books for a future semester during the current semester.
• This allows bookstores to buy back used books and to resell them at a steep discount.
• Booksellers will not buy back books unless they know instructors are using them again, in part because there is very little space in which to store used texts.
• Ordering books early also allows the bookstores to find used texts outside of Iowa City through distributors and other sources.
• Both of these can save students more than 50-75% of the cost of a new book.

The book-buying business is aggressive, and the earliest buyers are able to procure used textbooks; those who start looking later, often find few used books to buy. If instructors order their textbooks during the summer, for example, it is too late for the bookstores to find the best deals for students. Instead, they must buy and sell the books at full price.

Please help our students by ordering your Fall 2017 textbooks now. We appreciate your thoughtfulness.

*Visit section the HEO Act for more details concerning the legislation (scroll to down to this tag [Page 122 STAT. 3107]).