[Faculty] Revisions to UA Textbook Policy

Thu May 3 19:12:04 MST 2018

Dear CALS Colleagues,

By now, you should have received the enclosed email (below) regarding proposed changes to the UA Printed Materials Policy from our colleagues on the Student Affairs Policy Committee. This topic caused quite a stir at the last Senate meeting, with many "pro" and "con" opinions voiced. Please read the proposed changes, and take a few minutes to weigh in prior to Monday's Senate meeting. If you haven't had the opportunity to attend faculty forums or are not a member of Faculty Senate, you can still weigh in on this using the link below. The Senate's decision will impact ALL faculty who teach. If this matters to you, please make your voice heard.

Regards

Melanie Hingle

Faculty Senator Representing CALS

hinglem at email.arizona.edu

________________________________
From: faculty-request at list.arizona.edu <faculty-request at list.arizona.edu> on behalf of OAA-FacSen <FacultyCenter at email.arizona.edu>
Sent: Thursday, May 3, 2018 9:03 AM
To: faculty at list.arizona.edu
Subject: [faculty] Revisions to Textbook Policy

Dear Faculty Colleagues,

As you know from this Lo Que Pasa article<https://uaatwork.arizona.edu/lqp/proposed-policy-changes-address-professional-conduct-textbooks-clinical-track-faculty> today, we will be continuing our discussion of the proposed revision of our policy for assessing the potential conflicts of interest that arise when faculty profit from assigning their own textbooks. We have had two Senate discussions and two faculty forums on this topic, and we have received input from the policy review site where all the proposed revisions have been posted<http://policy.arizona.edu/under-consideration>. You can find just the textbook policy at this link: http://policy.arizona.edu/employmenthuman-resources/proposed-revision-uhap-21101-printed-materials.

We look forward to discussing the revised policy with the Faculty Senate at the meeting on May 7. To prepare for our discussions, we have made several substantive revisions to the proposal in response to the feedback we have received. We also have included some background information on the proposal and justification for the revisions. Here is a quick list of what we have done with the feedback we received to help you consider the revised policy:

·         We emphasize that instructors are encouraged and welcome to use their authored materials and that requiring students to buy instructor-authored textbooks is a potential conflict of interest.

·         In response to faculty who have reported that they make little or nothing by assigning their own books, we have set a baseline of $500 per course per semester before faculty members have to report to their dean that they are using their own textbooks.

·         We provide guidance on estimating profits. We have reframed the policy to focus on profits rather than royalties to acknowledge that production costs, used books, and other factors limit what instructors earn from a course.

Please take a minute to offer feedback: http://policy.arizona.edu/under-consideration

Sincerely,

Jeff Stone, Diane Ohala, Cheryl Cuillier, and the Faculty Senate Student Affairs Policy Committee

***********************
Jeff Stone, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
Psychology Department Rm 454
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ  85721
(520) 626-2438 office
(520) 621-9306 fax

Personal Website:  http://jeffs.faculty.arizona.edu/

Social Program Website: http://psychology.arizona.edu/Social

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