Submitted on behalf of Dr. La Jerne Terry Cornish and William Guerrero
Dear Faculty,
As we mentioned via Intercom in May, this fall brings exciting changes to our campus bookstore.
Beginning Fall 2020, Ithaca College has transitioned our textbook services to a new bookstore model. Faculty members will use a convenient web portal (ithaca.textbookx.com) to submit their course materials.
Via the portal, faculty will be able to view the courses they will be teaching, select the course materials they want to use, and see what costs will be for their students. The portal also has an option for creating copyright-compliant course packs.
Our goal is to help reduce the costs of our students’ textbooks while also responding to the growing trend of students purchasing books from online booksellers.
All materials faculty already submitted for Fall 2020 course adoptions via the IC Campus Store have been pre-loaded into the new virtual bookstore on your behalf. For information about course packs, specifically, please see the FAQ toward the end of this message.
The virtual bookstore (serviced by Akademos) will allow students to quickly and easily purchase textbooks and other course materials. When a student visits the site, Ithaca.textbookx.com, they will be able to log in with their Netpass username and password to see a personalized page with all of their registered courses and assigned course materials. Students will be able to select from new, used, eBook, and rental options, and will also have the choice to buy their books from third-party marketplace merchants and students around the country.
Our hope is that faculty and students alike will find the materials to be more affordable and the process to be simple and efficient. IC will continue to host a physical store on campus, which will sell branded merchandise like clothing and other non-textbook items.
Next Steps for Faculty
Please Review and Confirm Your Fall 2020 Course Materials Selections. The web portal is ready to launch this week, and students will soon be able to view the materials adopted for their courses. Using this portal, faculty may
(1) confirm that your already-submitted fall 2020 textbook information (transferred from our current IC Campus Store records) is accurate,
(2) submit—if you have not already done so—the Fall 2020 course materials you want to use, and
(3) see what the costs will be for students.
The portal also has an option for creating course packs, and Akademos will handle the necessary copyright clearance responsibilities.
View a Quick Tutorial. You can view quick tutorials of adoption related-tasks at the bookstore’s online playlist of on-your-own-time video demonstrations. Just visit: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLin49yrR5WIoIEtp2O0hT-_KbFh_Gn9Nd
Join a Training. If you would like to see, in advance, what you might expect of the site and would appreciate the opportunity to ask questions in real time, please sign up for one of the live training sessions. Our Faculty Council Executive Committee members were able to see demonstrations in early July, and they asked excellent questions on your behalf.
Faculty can register for live trainings here: https://calendly.com/akademosbookstore/ic-bookstoretraining
The link will display a calendar with all the available training days in blue, and when faculty click the date, the available times for training will show. Our partners at Akademos are hosting two live sessions per week with approximately 15 seats per session to enable questions/answers.
If you have any questions as you double-check your Fall 2020 course materials or as you place new adoptions, please reach out to Esther Go (ego@akademos.com).
We look forward to learning from you how this process improves the experiences of our faculty and students.
Sincerely,
La Jerne Terry Cornish, Provost and Sr. VP for Academic Affairs
William Guerrero, VP for Finance and Administration
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: If I already submitted my course materials for Fall 2020, do I need to submit them again?
A: No, our IC Campus Store has collaborated with Akademos to transfer all existing fall book orders. However, you might want to check your courses just to confirm nothing was lost in the transition.
Q: I place orders for course materials besides textbooks—clickers, subscriptions, etc. Can the new bookstore vendor provide my students the same materials the IC Campus Store did?
A: Yes, Akademos has experience securing most of the same non-textbook materials we have always offered our students via the IC Campus Store adoption process. If you have trouble finding what you need as you make an adoption, please reach out to Esther Go (ego@akademos.com) for support. We are confident about the availability of the materials you use with students.
Q: The site enables us to choose open-access materials or “low cost” materials. Are faculty members required to use these options?
A: No, these features are simply available to expand the information available to faculty who might find these options useful. Faculty should select the course materials they find most appropriate for their classes.
Q: I heard that administrators, such as department chairs, “approve” the course materials selections for faculty. Is this accurate?
A: No, such a feature exists within Akademos’ options, but we have not enabled that option and have no interest in doing so.
Q: I’ve recently been assigned to teach a different class than I had anticipated. Will the new bookstore recognize that this class has been added to my schedule?
A: The virtual bookstore will be updating from our IC systems regularly, so your assigned courses should be accurate and visible in the system in real-time.
Q: My course does not require traditional textbooks or other pre-purchased course materials. Do I still need to visit the portal?
A: Yes, please visit the portal to click the box that shows textbooks are not required for your course section. For example, Independent Studies might not require pre-purchased course materials. The system will give you a link to indicate that your course does not require traditional textbooks or pre-adopted course materials. You can also add a “note” to any of your courses, to offer your students context about what they might need to know.
Q: What’s happening with course packs during the transition?
A: The Akademos online bookstore team will be working with faculty to transition their existing course packs into the new system. To this end, please note the following process regarding transition.
If you have ALREADY submitted a Fall 2020 course pack to the old campus bookstore (through Rod or Rick):
Please confirm with the online bookstore account manager (Esther Go- ego@akademos.com) if any changes have been made to the Fall 2020 course pack(s) from previous term files (Fall ’19, Spring ’20, etc.).
When confirming please provide the following information
o Instructor name/email
o Course code and section
o Title of course pack
o ISBN associated with course pack (if available)
o Prior order numbers associated with course pack (if available)
If no changes have been made from previous terms, we may be able to retrieve the files from the copy center and submit to the new course pack creator.
If changes have been made in the Fall 2020 course pack from prior terms, you will need to resubmit your course pack files through the online bookstore portal. Please see below for additional details and guidance on how to do so.
If you have NOT submitted a course pack to the old bookstore but are planning to use a course pack or would like one created:
· Login to the online bookstore portal at Ithaca.textbookx.com using your Netpass credentials. Follow the instructions from this short how-to video to submit your course pack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQLpMgpRqW8&feature=youtu.be
· Note it typically takes about 3 weeks to receive a response on copyright clearance, but depending on publisher response rate it can take up to 4-6 weeks.
· Once the course pack is submitted you will be contacted by the online bookstore manager or the Coursepack Etc. team with confirmation on pricing and to review and approve the course pack before it is sent to production.
We understand how busy our faculty colleagues are as they prepare for Fall 2020 courses, so we appreciate your time ensuring students have access to the right course materials. The Akademos team will do everything they can to minimize the work and effort necessary from faculty.
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20200730165353563