Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 57.85
Liaison Chad Carwein
Submission Date Jan. 17, 2023

STARS v2.2

East Carolina University
IN-41: Textbook Affordability

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.50 / 0.50 Chad Carwein
University Sustainability Manager
HSC Facilities Services
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution host a peer-to-peer textbook exchange program, textbook lending library, or alternate textbook project?:
Yes

A brief description of the textbook exchange program, textbook lending library, or alternate textbook project:
Since 2015, the Library’s textbook affordability programs have saved ECU students more than $1.4 million.

Through the Course-Adopted Textbook Program, the Library acquires e-book versions of selected textbooks that can be made available to an unlimited number of simultaneous users.

Because many textbooks are not available this way, the third prong of our program is our Print Reserve Textbook Collection. Each semester, we purchase copies of the texts used in the highest-enrollment courses and place them on Reserve. In some cases, we scan chapters and place them on electronic reserve or in Canvas, ECU’s course management system. The Library also pays for hundreds of streaming media, so that students do not need to pay to watch the films required for their courses.

Students stand and cheer when their instructors tell them that their course materials are free! We are thankful to donors who have supported these programs since they began. But we need your help to expand them. Be part of the program that is Number One in its impact on students – textbook affordability!

Does the institution provide incentives for academic staff that explicitly encourage the authorship, peer review, and/or adoption of open access textbooks?:
Yes

A brief description of the incentives to encourage the authorship, peer review, and/or adoption of open access textbooks:
Our Faculty Program provides monetary and librarian support to instructors who want to replace commercial textbooks with options that are free to their students. These could be open textbooks, online articles from the Library’s subscription databases, or primary source materials from our collections.

If yes to either of the above, provide:

Website URL where information about the textbook affordability incentives is available:

Optional Fields

Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
SOURCE: Jeanne Hoover, Joyner Library Scholarly Communication Head

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