Textbook Adoption

Textbook adoption is a process by which faculty provide the university with information on required and recommended materials for each of their courses. UCF Regulation 2.032 Textbook Adoption outlines the process at UCF and requires that all textbook and course materials are submitted no later than 60 days prior to the start of the semester. 

Faculty members are responsible for choosing the textbooks and instructional materials that are required or recommended for their courses, either individually or in collaboration with colleagues. Report your textbook and instructional materials adoptions following your department’s or school’s process. 

Providing students with timely information about their required and recommended textbooks and course materials allows them to explore purchasing options, budget wisely, and, in some cases, begin interacting with course materials before the start of the class. It also helps decrease overall education costs, which makes a college education more affordable. 

To make certain that course materials are available before the start of classes, please: 

• Submit your textbook adoption as early as feasible. This allows the UCF Bookstore time to ensure that the materials can be sourced. 
• Order custom books and bundles several weeks before the adoption deadline.
• Select books for adjuncts who will be hired late.
• Confirm that your textbook adoption is accurately showing on the UCF Bookstore’s Course Materials website. 

All course sections must have an adoption submitted even if they do not require or recommend students purchase course materials. If you recommend materials, ensure that these are submitted as “recommended” textbooks or instructional materials when adopting. If you do not require or recommend materials, you may select “No Materials Required” when submitting your adoption.

Coursepacks are instructional materials and must be reported as part of the textbook adoption process. They can include book chapters, journal articles, illustrations, notes, or other reading materials used to supplement or replace traditional textbooks. Instructors of record must supply one copy of all coursepacks to the UCF Bookstore or Computer Store, as appropriate, four to eight weeks prior to the start of classes. The UCF Bookstore or Computer Store will reproduce the materials and make them available to students. See UCF Policy 4-405.2 Coursepacks for more information. 

A request for an exception to the deadline must be submitted prior to the deadline on a Request for Exception to Established Textbook Ordering deadline form and must include a reasonable justification for an exception. This form must be approved by the department chair or director and the college dean prior to submitting it to the provost for final approval.  

Changes to textbook and course materials adoptions after the deadline must be accompanied by a Late Textbook Adoption/Change Justification form and must include a justification for why the materials are being changed. This form must be approved by the department chair or director and the college dean prior to submitting to Academic Affairs for processing. 

The AIM Initiative is a University-wide collaboration that includes the Office of the Provost and Academic Affairs, the Division of Digital Learning, the UCF Libraries, the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning (FCTL), the UCF Bookstore, and other University stakeholders. The strategic approach of the AIM Initiative can be illustrated by four pillars, which individually contribute to reducing the cost of instructional materials to students while jointly supporting a unified effort to bring AIM to scale. The four pillars are First Day, Open Educational Resources, Library-Sourced Materials, and Affordability Counts.

Commercial publishers and other for-profit entities are working with UCF to offer students discounts on educational content and/or courseware solutions. Currently, the initiative is focusing on implementing an inclusive access program through the UCF Bookstore called First Day.  

“Open Educational Resources are teaching, learning, and research materials that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adoption, and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions.” (cf. Hewlett Foundation, OER Defined). 

The Center for Distributed Learning (CDL) and the UCF Libraries are working collaboratively to support faculty and students in two principle areas: adoption and creation/adaptation of OER. 

The UCF Libraries are working with faculty to identify eBooks available as one-to-one replacements of course texts and resources. The library will check for eBook candidates that allow unlimited users and offer favorable digital rights management (DRM). 

Contact your Subject or Campus Librarian for more information. 

The Affordability Counts program, managed by Florida International University (FIU) was created as a direct response to the increasing costs of textbooks in higher education. FIU Online’s team established the initiative to recognize faculty who actively make changes to their courses in an effort to advance course material affordability across state universities and colleges.