Tuesday Teaching Tip: Practical Tips for Textbook Orders 

Teaching involves many everyday administrative tasks that require our time and attention. Looking ahead, The Center for Engaged Teaching and Learning will host a session focused on building sustainable teaching practices. We hope you will join us in February to share and learn strategies that support your goals and balance your various responsibilities. In the immediate term, we offer a few practical tips to help streamline textbook ordering while expanding students’ access to affordable, accessible materials.

Five practical tips for adopting course materials:

1. Know who to contact!
1. For textbook orders, questions, or concerns, email Stephanie Blakely at textbookhelp@scu.edu, including your course, section, and contact information.
2. For exploring Open Educational Resources (OER) go to SCU Library's OER guide. Lev Rickards (lrickards@scu.edu) or your subject area librarian can support your course through OER and other existing library resources.
3. To further reduce costs for students, and ensure course material accessibility for all students, faculty can request that books be placed on reserve or recommend materials for library purchase, if the library does not already have the materials available. Questions? Contact libraryreserve@scu.edu.
4. Have broader questions about ensuring course materials are accessible to all students? Draw on Universal Design for Learning principles and reach out to the Office of Accessible Education.
2. Check for missing courses. If your course doesn't appear in the bookstore system, ask your chair or department manager to follow up with the Registrar. The bookstore receives automatic course updates but cannot add courses directly.
3. Identify which books students need first. If your course requires multiple texts, indicate which are needed at the beginning of the quarter to help the bookstore prioritize orders.
4. Specify how many books you need. In your textbook adoption notes, indicate the number of copies you expect students to purchase (e.g., 25 copies), rather than relying on historical bookstore estimates.
5. Ordering for new colleagues? Department chairs can submit textbook orders for newly hired quarterly lecturers who are not yet in the system, including course and section numbers, book details, and contact information.

Thanks to Katherine Aoki for a first draft of these tips!

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