2008-2009 FACULTY SENATE
California State University, Sacramento
AGENDA
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Library 11
OPEN FORUM
REGULAR AGENDA
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FS 08-60/Flr. |
APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 13, 2008 |
SECOND READING
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FS 08-57/FPC/Ex. |
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE COLLEGE TEXTBOOKS TRANSPARENCY ACT (CALIFORNIA EDUCATION CODE SECTION 66406.71 (RECOMMENDATIONS ON) |
The Faculty Senate endorses these recommendations and specifically requests that the Provost communicate to all faculty the following provisions contained in the College Textbooks Transparency Act, which
1. Encourage faculty with course material selection responsibilities
· To place their orders by the specified due date to enable the bookstore to confirm the availability and subsequent purchase of the requested materials.
· To submit their textbook adoption information to the bookstores as early as possible to enable the bookstores to obtain as many used books as possible and to purchase books back from students at higher prices.
· To consider price in the textbook adoption process without compromising the academic freedom of faculty in the selection of course materials.
· To consider adopting textbooks that are not bundled with supplementary products, unless all the components are required for the course.
2. Inform faculty that they must not demand or receive anything of value, including the donation of equipment or goods, any payment, loan, advance, or deposit of money, present or promised, for adopting specific course materials.
3. Inform faculty that they may, however, receive any of the following:
1) Complimentary copies, review course materials, or instructor copies. The adopters shall not sell instructor copies.
2) Royalties or other compensation from sales of course materials that include the instructor's writing or other work. Receipt of these royalties or compensation is subject to the employer's standing policies or collective bargaining agreements relating to employee conflicts of interest.
3) Honoraria for academic peer review of course materials. Receipt of honoraria is subject to the employer's standing policies relating to employee conflicts of interest.
4) Training in the use of course materials and course technologies. Payment for travel and lodging and or meals shall be subject to the employer's standing polices relating to employee conflicts of interest and compensation.
Background. In August, 2008 the California State Auditor
released Report 2007-116 entitled Affordability of College Textbooks.2
The Auditor found, among other things, that
·
Textbook
costs have risen at higher rates than have the median household income, and at
higher rates than student fees (between academic years 2004-05 and 2007-08,
student fees charged by CSU rose by approximately 18%, but retail prices for
textbooks increased by 28%)
·
CSU
students spent an average of $812 on textbooks in academic year 2007-08, which
was roughly 23 percent of the total for both mandatory fees and textbooks.
In an effort to
address this issue, recent state laws have encouraged faculty and others on
campus to help to reduce textbook costs.
·
Assembly
Bill 2477, which took effect on January 1, 2005, requires CSU leaders to work
with their academic senates to encourage faculty to consider the least costly
practices in assigning textbooks.
·
Assembly
Bill 1548, effective January 1, 2008, encourages faculty to consider cost in
the adoption of textbooks.
The Executive Vice
Chancellor/Chief Academic Officer of the California State University has
requested campus Presidents send a message to all faculty, making these points
and to do so at appropriate times each term as a reminder of the need to take
actions, as appropriate, that may result in lower costs to students for
textbooks and learning materials.
2The Report
may be reviewed online at: http://bsa.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2007-116_pdf
Attachment A is a copy of the most recent legislation,
the College Textbooks Transparency Act, California Education Code Section
66406.7
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FS 08-59/Flr. |
BY-LAWS OF THE FACULTY SENATE, REVISED – EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP |
The Faculty Senate recommends amending the By-Laws of the Faculty Senate of California State University, Sacramento, as follows:
Section IV.A.1:
The eleven (11) nine (9)
voting members of the Executive Committee shall be the Chair and Vice Chair of
the Faculty Senate, the Chairs of the Academic Policies Committee, the
Curriculum Policies Committee, the Faculty Policies Committee, the General
Education Policies/Graduation Requirements Policies Committee and the Graduate
Studies Policies Committee Standing Committees and the four (4)
three (3) at-large members of the Executive Committee elected by and
from the members of the Faculty Senate.
Section II.B.2:
In addition to the Chair and Vice
Chair of the Senate and the Chairs of the Academic Policies
Committee, the Curriculum Policies Committee, the Faculty Policies Committee,
the General Education Policies/Graduation Requirements Policies Committee and
the Graduate Studies Policies Committee Standing
Committees, additional at-large voting
members of the Executive Committee shall be elected annually by and from the voting
membership of the Faculty Senate to maintain the Executive Committee membership
at eleven (11) nine (9). The at-large elected members of the
Executive Committee shall serve for a term of one year, beginning at noon on
the last day of the spring semester in which they are elected to the Executive
Committee and ending at noon on the last day of the spring semester of the
following year. At-large Executive Committee members may be re-elected.
INFORMATION
NEXT TENTATIVE FACULTY SENATE
MEETING: DECEMBER 4, 2008
1. Access to Electronic and Information Technology for Persons with Disabilities – David Lang, Chair, Curriculum Policies Committee
2. Faculty Senate's home page: www.csus.edu/acse, or, from the CSUS home page, click on Administration and Policy, then Administration, then Faculty Senate.
3. The Structure of Senate Meetings
4. Actions of the 2008-2009 Senate