The Student Government Book Adoption Program was not as successful as the LSU Bookstore and SG officials hoped.
Joe Bender, LSU Bookstore manager, said lack of following and starting the program late in the semester contributed to the results.
“It wasn’t as successful as we liked it to have been,” Bender said.
The SG Book Adoption program, which was started in Nov. 2003, was meant to help students keep money in their pockets by giving them the chance to sell their textbooks back in a greater quantity and at a greater price.
In mid-November Student Government President Allan Richey sent letters to the heads of different departments requesting that professors and instructors turn in their syllabi to the LSU Bookstore.
The bookstore was to use the syllabi to determine which textbooks should be bought back from students and sold for the spring semester.
Richey said 91 percent of section syllabi so far have been turned in to the bookstore. However, many were turned in after the buyback period ended.
He said the faculty was not as receptive to the Book Adoption program as he had aimed for.
“We didn’t have as much cooperation as we had hoped for,” Richey said.
Roughly 70 percent of section syllabi were turned into the bookstore at final exam time, he said.
“It’s a little disappointing,” Richey said.
Bender said the purpose of the Book Adoption Program was to have all the information the bookstore needs to determine which textbooks they would buy before the buyback period began.
If the information had been obtained before the buyback period, then the bookstore could have determined how many and which books they needed to buy from students, Bender said. They also could have notified professors of new textbook editions being released by publishers.
He said the LSU bookstore is willing to try the Book Adoption program for the 2004 summer and fall semesters.
Despite not having the cooperation of all departments, Richey also said SG will move forward with the program for the spring semester.
Bender said weekly follow-ups should have been done during the fall semester, and he hopes that follow-up reports will take place every Monday throughout this semester.
Richey said although weekly follow-ups could be strenuous, SG will try to do them.
Bender said he is not surprised the bookstore has not received syllabi from all professors and departments due to the late start of the program.
“I have been doing this for 16 years,” Bender said. “Nothing surprises me.”
Bender said his bookstore has reached an agreement with Richey and SG vice-president Jason Wesley to give out course request information to departments by March 15, 2004. The information packages would explain the benefits of turning in course information early.
However, even if the information is requested by March 15, it is possible not all University professors will deliver the requested information.
“If you are teaching a course that starts Aug. 25, March 15 might seem a little early for them,” he said.