Every semester, it seems to be the same situation. Unless you make it to the University Store early, you run the risk of not getting the book needed for your class.
But even if you plan on arriving early in order to beat the rush, the books you need still may not be there.
Whose fault is that?
Bookstore issues have been prevalent at the U of M for as long as many faculty members can remember. The 2002 Faculty Senate has made it one of its priorities to look into practices of the bookstore and try to remedy the problems that faculty members have with it.
Kevin Smith, the senate member heading up the small bookstore committee, said there are two major complaints regarding the University Store and its services. The first is that books are not on the shelf when they are needed. In addition to that problem, Smith said there is an insufficient number of books stocked.
Journalism chair Jim Redmond said he had major problems in the past with the bookstore for these reasons.
Many professors and faculty members in his department were so frustrated that they were considering seeking out alternate ways of getting text materials to their students. Redmond said the problem finally was resolved, and he thinks that it was mostly due to his persistence in communicating with bookstore personnel. Redmond said his problems with the bookstore, which were once prevalent, are now nonexistent.
There have been some problems this semester, however. Mel Beck, a professor in the biology department, said his biggest problem with the bookstore has been dealing with documents prepared for specific uses, such as in house lab manuals. Faculty expects the bookstore to have such documents compiled with sufficient numbers of copies ready to be purchased. When the University Store does not have the materials faculty expects them to have, Beck said the entire course is impacted because students do not have what is necessary of them to succeed.
Beck also said that his problems also are with the Barnes and Noble personnel that work for the University Store.
“Barnes and Noble has such high turnover that you never talk to the same people twice,” Beck said.
Assistant vice president of business and finance administration John Cothern said that his office works closely with Barnes and Noble as well as departments and deans offices in order to ensure that orders are placed in a timely fashion in order to avoid any problems.
“There were some complaints that sufficient textbook supply was not available. That was not necessarily the fault of Barnes and Noble in every case,” Cothern said. “Departments do not always provide the correct or even any information on some textbooks. Once a shortage is known, however, they immediately order more books and even have them shipped overnight.”
Cothern said the total number of titles ordered for fall rush was 2,618. A total of 182 titles were reordered, representing 7 percent of all titles ordered and 3 percent of the total number of books ordered.
“Although it is desired to not have to reorder any books, a reorder of less than 10 percent is realistic and below the industry standard,” Cothern said.
Cothern said many factors affect textbook reorders. These factors include, but are not limited to, if and when the adoption information is received, the timeliness and accuracy of that information, enrollment estimates, the availability of both new and used books and inconsistent sales estimates.
Although Barnes and Noble is expected to have a sufficient supply of books, Cothern said that fewer books are ordered than the number of students enrolled in the courses, because not every student is going to purchase a book, and some may get theirs from other sources. One request for a change in the ordering process is for 100 percent of the estimated enrollment for graduate and professional level courses to be ordered in the future. For all other classes, Cothern said the order decision is based on department information, actual enrollment and past sales history, along with other factors.
More than $2 million worth of books ordered based on department information and estimated sales had to be returned because they were not purchased.
Rodney Merriwether, assistant manager of the University Store, said communication is the key to improving the relationship between faculty and the bookstore.
“We try to have more follow-up with secretaries of departments and uphold continuous communication,” Merriwether said. “We update professors with e-mail to make sure they know what’s going on.”
Merriwether said that there are always going to be some problems with the bookstore, such as over enrolled courses or insufficient sales.
“We can’t predict every problem,” Merriwether said.
Cothern said the University Store, as with any vendor, makes it its goal to have as much business as they can, so they have no reason not to have books available.
“Barnes and Noble has done a good job but is constantly working to improve,” Cothern said. “They regularly work with department textbook coordinators to improve on receiving information, including follow-ups, and work on improving reconciliation of orders.”
