Introducing Instructional Materials Access for All PNW courses

New Flat Rate Fee and Convenient Access to Textbooks for Students Beginning Fall 2023

We are excited to share that Purdue University Northwest plans to implement Instructional Materials Access, a powerful and convenient program designed to ensure every PNW student has affordable access to ALL required course materials they need to succeed on or before the first day of class each semester.

This program will begin Fall 2023.

A task force made up of PNW faculty members and key staff members in Academic Affairs and Business Services worked during fall 2022 to recommend the best possible solution for PNW students to access course materials. Surveys of students and faculty were conducted to gain insights into students’ preferences and faculty needs. The task force determined that by partnering with Follett, our longtime provider of physical and online bookstore services, we could utilize a program that has successfully provided equitable access to learning materials at more than 200 universities.

The program can save students money and enhance student success by helping students gain access to all their required learning materials on or before the first day of class. Faculty members will choose the course materials required and the materials will be provided to students for their courses.

Beginning Fall 2023, each student will pay a flat rate of $299 for the fall 2023 semester, $299 for the spring 2024 semester and $175 for the summer 2024 semester. This fee will be included on the student’s PNW bill for tuition and fees and is eligible to be covered by financial aid. With this flat rate and convenient payment, the student will have their course materials delivered to their campus or in digital format on or before the first day of the semester.

What is Instructional Materials Access?

 Instructional Materials Access aims to ensure students have access to all required course materials for all registered courses, including textbooks, access codes, and other required materials, on or before the first day of class. The flat-rate cost is charged as part of the student fees so there are no surprises about costs after enrollment.

The program can save students up to 50% on their course materials as a result of Follett’s negotiations with publishing partners and bulk purchasing. The program also provides a method to easily access, manage and use all course materials regardless of format or cost.

Go to pnw.edu/instructional-access to learn more about the program benefits, including FAQs.

As a faculty member, you maintain academic freedom in selecting the required content, provider, and edition that best suits your course(s). By providing your chosen adoptions to Follett by the requested date of April 15 for fall 2023, and October 15 for spring 2024, you can ensure that all students have the same materials, including edition and format, on the first day of class.

This allows you to begin instruction on day one instead of waiting for students to acquire their materials. Please note that late adoptions may delay a student having access to their materials on the first day of class.

Instructional Materials Access also supports the use of no-cost or low-cost open educational resources (OER) materials. If you choose to adopt OER materials for your course, please provide the adoption details to Follett so that they can communicate the required materials for your course in the same manner as other materials.

Please note that students will not be expected to purchase required materials outside of the Instructional Materials Access program. All required course materials for your courses should be made available via Instructional Materials Access. The Follett catalog is extensive and may give you opportunities to expand your required course materials, as students will only pay the flat fee through Instructional Materials Access.

However, if you have additional recommended materials for a course that you wish students to purchase outside Instructional Materials Access, you should communicate to students how to acquire those materials at their own expense.

Students will be given the ability to voluntarily opt-out of the program, and additional information on how to do so will be emailed to each student email account and posted to Brightspace. More information about how students can opt-out will be provided via the website at the beginning of Fall semester, for reference by faculty who may receive questions from students.

Preparing for Fall Semester

We hope that you are as excited about the many benefits of this program as we are. Technical workshops to help you implement the program for your courses will be offered virtually at the following dates and times. Zoom links are included here and on the website. No registration is required.

We look forward to working collaboratively across the university to ensure that all students have access to the materials they need to succeed.