03:03:00
SELECTION OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
I.
Faculty members
of a department and the program coordinator/academic dean share the
responsibility for choosing textbooks and other required instructional
materials such as study guides, laboratory manuals, computer software, videos,
and computer assisted instruction modules.
The department may elect to use different or additional materials to
meet the needs of distance education students.
Factors such as reading level, content and presentation consistent with
departmental and program goals, delivery mode, writing quality, accessibility
and price will be considered when reaching a consensus.
To minimize changes, texts and other
instructional materials should be used at least two years. Advances in technology, new editions by the
publisher, or other unforeseen circumstances may necessitate more frequent
changes. When changing textbooks,
academic deans will follow procedures and observe dates detailed in Pellissippi
State Policy No. 05:02:00, Bookstore.
Faculty members
shall consider practices that reduce the cost of course materials, such as
adopting the least expensive option from the available products that meet the
requirements of the course. Bundled
materials should only be considered if they deliver cost savings to the
students. (Note: “bundled”
means a group of objects joined together by packaging or required to be
purchased as an indivisible unit.) If
possible, the Campus Bookstore will provide students the option of purchasing
the textbooks and other study products separately from each other. Copies of textbooks should be available for
student use at no cost through the library; provided that such textbooks have
been furnished at no charge by the publisher for this purpose. The Campus Bookstore will actively promote
and publicize book buy-back programs.
II. Faculty members will submit
lists of required textbooks and course materials to the Campus Bookstore in a
timely manner so that the bookstore can ensure that textbooks and other course
materials are available when courses begin.
Orders for fall semester classes are due the preceding April 15; orders
for spring semester are due October 15 of the preceding calendar year; orders for
summer terms are due the preceding April 1.
Within 30 days
of receiving the textbook order, the Campus Bookstore will disclose to faculty members
the costs to students of purchasing the required textbooks and course materials
for the course. The order will not be
complete until faculty members affirmatively acknowledge the price of the
textbooks and materials.
When the order
is complete, students shall have access to information regarding required and supplementary
course materials through viable channels, including the institution’s
website, before courses begin. This
information must include, but is not limited to, the International Standard
Book Number (ISBN).
III. Texts and other
instructional materials authored by
Instructional materials authored by
If the
department determines that the materials meet departmental standards, the
academic dean will make a recommendation to the Vice President of Learning
regarding (1) the duration of the pilot period, (2) the process followed to
ensure equity in all course sections with respect to instructional quality, and
(3) the number of sections in which the materials will be used. The Vice President of Learning will make a
recommendation to the president who will make the final decision on whether the
pilot will be allowed. Requests to pilot
instructional materials should be made to the Vice President of Learning by
fifth week of the semester preceding the proposed pilot, not including summer
semester.
Approved:
Executive Council, March 4, 1991
Editorial
Changes, October 27, 1992
Reviewed/Recommended:
President's Council, November 20, 1995
Approved:
President Allen G. Edwards, November 20, 1995
Approved:
President Allen G. Edwards, August 6, 2001
Approved:
President Allen G. Edwards, June 2, 2003
Approved:
President Allen G. Edwards, January 15, 2004
Reviewed/Recommended:
President’s Staff, April 28, 2008
Approved:
President Allen G. Edwards, April 28, 2008
Editorial
Changes, July 2008