Academic Affairs Board

Introduction

Academic Affairs Board strives to improve the quality of undergraduate education by representing student needs. It is team- and project-based;  participants’ goals include helping students define and accomplish their educational goals, and increasing communication among students, faculty, and administration.

Book Exchanges

This year working with the A.S. President’s Office, the Academic Affairs Board tackled the perennial problem of overpriced textbooks. Responding to this, the Textbook Marketplace was inaugurated on the A.S. Annex lawn on January 9, 2013.

The marketplace was a one day event where students could buy and sell their used textbooks directly to each other. The goal is to provide an alternative to sky high text book prices and cut out the middle man—textbook resale companies and the Bookstore—that pay relatively little for used titles and then still sell them at prices that are a challenge to many students on a budget, who don’t want to be burdened with excessive student loan debt when they leave the university.

The exchange is an example of students taking charge of a situation and building a program to respond to an identified need. The goal is for the marketplace to take place quarterly and become part of the beginning-of-quarter routine for students.

The Book Exchange returned at the beginning of Spring quarter with more books and a more central location in front of the UCen. Time will tell how successful the service is, but some students certainly benefited from fairer pricing.