University students have been increasingly using Notehall.com as a class resource and means to earn extra money.
Notehall, owned by the textbook rental company Chegg, allows students across the country to buy and sell lecture notes and study guides for specific classes at their universities. Notehall reaches more than 200 schools, including LSU.
Chegg communications manager Angela Pontarolo said in an e-mail that all students are welcome to apply to be note-takers and are hired after an interview process with a Notehall representative.
Note-takers earn a base payment of $50 to $200 plus commission for selling their notes, Pontarolo said.
Students can purchase notes by buying credits from Notehall. Pontarolo said 100 credits cost $5 to $6.95, depending on the location of the buyer. Study guides cost 100 credits, while individual lecture notes cost 25 credits.
Samantha Clement, mass communication sophomore, began working as a Notehall note-taker in the middle of the fall 2011 semester, and she said she earned about $200.
In order to receive the base payment, at least 30 percent of the class must purchase a study guide, Clement said.
Clement said about 20 to 30 students bought study guides for the two exams she offered to her 150-person class. She reached her classmates to advertise her notes using Moodle e-mail.
“The goal is to help other students out,” Clement said.
Getting hired as a note-taker was a relatively easy process, Clement said. She submitted her class schedule and class sizes online and was called for a phone interview shortly after.
“They mainly want to know if you’re reliable and you’re a hard worker and you take good notes,” she said.
While Notehall is marketed as a tool for students to help other students, some have questioned the ethics of using the site.
Notehall is banned on the campus of California State University, Chico, because it is illegal to sell notes in California, according to The Orion, the school’s student newspaper.
The Orion reported selling notes is illegal because the material is the intellectual property of professors, and selling that material breaches copyright laws.
“We strive to fulfill our mission of bringing classmates together in a virtual setting in hopes of enhancing the overall academic success of college students nationwide,” reads Notehall’s website.
Matt Gregory, associate dean of students and director of Student Advocacy and Accountability, said determining ownership of intellectual property is an important dialogue that needs to happen at the University.
“We need to determine if the notes out there on Notehall and Noteswap are intellectual property, and if they are, of whom?” Gregory said.
Pontarolo said Notehall seeks to respect the wishes of academic authority figures, and students may only post their interpretations of class materials.
“If the professor is not comfortable with this, the notes can be removed and/or the note-taker can choose another class with a more receptive professor,” Pontarolo said.
Gregory said the University does not have a policy against posting or selling notes online, but PS-107 of the Student Code of Conduct states that students may not use University resources for monetary gain.
This includes using Moodle and University e-mail addresses, Gregory said.
The consequences of a particular incident would vary from case to case, but Gregory said a first offense would not incur severe penalties — it would just be an opportunity to educate students on the policy and help them make better choices in the future.
 
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Contact Emily Herrington at [email protected]