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SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITYSTUDENT PUBLICATIONFEB. 13 - 19, 2013 Student run since 1911

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Southeast bookstore and textbook rental system may change in 2013, officials considering possibilitiesANDREA GILS COPY EDITOR

Southeast Missouri State Univer-sity may outsource its bookstore and textbook rental systems next semester to keep up with technological changes by signing a one-year contract with a new vendor.

According to a press release from Southeast, the university issued a request for proposals on Nov. 30 to vendors that might be interested in placing a bid. Within weeks, students will have the opportunity to listen to the vendor’s proposals before university officials make any decisions.

When Southeast Bookstore manager Jan Chisman announced she was retiring, Kathy Mangels, vice president of Finance and Administration, said it was an opportunity to look at different models of operation and at the same time keep up with today’s technological advances in the classroom.

Jack Dunn, a student worker at the bookstore, said that new technology won’t make much difference.

“Taking the words from a book you don’t want to read anyway and putting it on a tablet doesn’t make you read it any more,” Dunn said. “There’s a lot more procrastination that goes into technology, I think, for students than actually doing work. Whether the coursebook is on an e-book or whether it is on a hardback, you’re not gonna read it either way. So I think that that is all for looks and not for really student benefit.”

Southeast has received bids from Follett, Barnes and Noble

and the University of Missouri. Proposals had to include specific information about the bookstore’s operation, including retail sales, clothing and other merchandise as well as information about textbook rental, including costs, operation and incorporation of current Southeast staff in their models. Mangels said Southeast will compare the vendors and the bookstore’s current textbook rental models.

Mangels said students will have a chance to hear how the vendors will operate first hand and be able to ask questions during an open forum that will take place the last week of February or the first week of March. Mangels said Southeast will use the feedback from the forums and the informa-tion provided to make a recom-mendation to the Board of Regents, which will make the final decision.

“The textbook rental is a very important program to students, and we will consider the vendor with regards to how it is set up to students,” Mangels said. “We have a very successful program compared to other institutions. ... We are not looking to change that. … What we are looking at is how we can provide students the cost-benefits of a rental program that access to the new technology that gives them course materials in a whole new way.”

Mangels said that if the recommendation is to work with one of the new vendors, Southeast will work with that vendor to finalize what it proposes, which would include textbook rental pricing.

Dunn said he thinks there will be an increase in the price of

textbook rentals and that students will see a difference in how the bookstore is run, according to what he has been told by his supervisor.

“I have it that none of the rental plans are as good as the ones we have now, either in price or in how many books are available to be rented,” Dunn said.

“It would just be more of a rate to rent any books, or a percentage of new, and it wouldn’t be cheaper than the 25 dollars that we have now,” Dunn said. “If they say they are going to get money for different things to be able to do better things for the school, they can’t do anything better. … Nothing helps everybody more than textbooks. … Even if they said they are going to give us more technology, I don’t think they are going to help anybody.”

Mangels said that there may be some changes in merchandise offered, including electronic equipment like iPads and laptops, which the bookstore does not

currently offer.Mangels said she is observing

the courses that currently use e-books to see if there is a difference in outcome when electronic materials are involved.

“Nationwide, only about 5 percent of all books in courses currently are e-text, but we anticipate the industry that it will continue to grow,” Mangels said. “It’s still very new. ... There’s still analysis to be done to see how faculty can incorporate these along with traditional print materials and make the best of the learning experience.”

Mangels said that the outsour-cing is not about trying to make more dollars and any profit would go to funding student scholarships and other things the bookstore’s revenue already does.

“We are trying to be proactive on behalf of our students so we can offer the materials in the classroom and also watch for them from an affordability standpoint,” Mangels said.

Southeast is considering outsourcing its textbook rental program to another company. Photo by Drew Yount

BRIEFSBlog

Former Southeast student pleads guilty to terrorism charges on ThursdayAccording to the Associated Press, Quazi Mohammed Rezwanul Nafis pleaded guilty to terrorism charges Thursday. Last fall, the former Southeast Missouri State University cybersecurity major attempted to bomb the Federal Reserve Bank with what he thought was a 1,000-pound car bomb.

He was officially charged with an attempt to use weapons of mass destruction and to provide material support to the al-Qaida. Nafis, 21, said in court that he felt remorse and no longer sees himself as a jihadist.

Read the story on Hannah Parent’s blog at southeastArrow.com.

Career Linkages

Annual campus-wide career fair will be held March 7Southeast Missouri State University’s Career Linkages is hosting a campus-wide career and internship fair on March 7 for all majors on campus and for one day. A new feature provided through Career Linkages, located on the second floor of the University Center, will allow students unable to attend the fair to submit their resumes for review by staff members at Career Linkages online through the university’s homepage under Career Linkages “News and Events” link.

“This enhancement to the career fair experience adds additional potential to connect students with employers to provide an impression that lasts both before and after the actual event,” said Joyce A. Hunter, experiential learning coordinator for Career Linkages.

Read the story at southeastArrow.com.

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