Authorizes the trustees of the state university of New York and the city university of New York to create a joint advisory board on textbooks' cost

BILL NUMBER:A9893

Title of bill

An act to authorize the trustees of the state university of New York and the city university of New York to create a joint advi- sory board for review of the issues of textbooks' cost, bulk electronic purchasing, open-access textbooks, and utilization of library resources

Purpose or general idea of bill

Creates a joint City University of New York (CUNY) and State University of New York (SUNY) advisory board to advise on and investigate textbook costs, bulk electronic purchasing, open-access textbooks, and the utilization of library resources, which is also tasked with the creation of a unit to negotiate bulk electronic purchases of commonly used textbooks available in a digital format.

Summary of specific provisions

§1. Authorizes and directs the creation of a SUNY and CUNY joint advisory board comprised of twelve full-time faculty to explore textbook costs, bulk electronic purchasing, open-ac- cess textbooks, and the utilization of library resources. The board will establish necessary rules and regulations by October 1, 2010, which shall include guidelines for faculty who wish to create customized course packages from primary source materials already purchased by university library systems, creating a list of textbooks currently in use that could be obtained through bulk purchasing, evaluating the potential for replacing textbooks with comparable open-textbooks, and establishing a unit to negotiate bulk purchasing of electronic textbook licenses. §2. Act taking effect immediately.

Justification

The marketplace for college textbooks is unique in that prices are not influenced by what students are willing to pay. Rather, because faculty instructors select required textbooks, the instructors serve as a third party and distort the normal price constraints a supply-and-demand marketplace would generate. A recent report from New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli found that the average SUNY and CUNY college freshman pays between $400 and $&00 a semester for required textbooks. In the fall of 2009, the average CUNY freshman paid $536 a semester for textbooks. The increasing cost of textbooks presents a barrier to low- and moderate-income families in New York State in accessing higher education. Electronic textbooks and open textbooks have great cost containing potential that New York State should utilize to reduce cost as a barrier to higher education. As public institutions of higher education, CUNY and SUNY have a duty to use their collective buying power to reduce the cost of textbooks for students and insti- tutions.

Prior legislative history

None.

Fiscal implications

To be determined.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.