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Show 83RD YEAR; NUMBER 45 SOUTHERN UTAH STATE COLLEGE CEDAR CITY, UTAH THURSDAY, MAY 11, 1989 Bookstore Advisory Committee reinstated here BY NICOLE BONHAM The recent reinstatement of SUSCs Bookstore Advisory Committee follows m response to a stated need for increased communication between faculty We need members, students and Bookstore officials that type of communication, back and forth, agreed Bool store Manager Dennis Ohms. Both Ohms and business instructor Jeff Barnes, Faculty Senate representative and key instigator of the committees reinstatement, indicate that book ordering, specifically, is an area that will benefit from the increased communication provided by the advisory group Ohms said he sees the cuirent response to the Bookstores ordering policy as a problem area that requires additional attention from faculty members. Only 60 percent of all spring quarter book orders were received by the deadline, said Ohms. He added that due to the current lack of adherence to the Bookstores deadline policy, a sizable number of required texts will be ordered on the first day of class. SUSCs book order deadline actually allows more ordering time than most institutions, said Ohms. SUSCs deadline, for example, is a full Z0 days later than that of the University of Utah, he said. d The guaranteed book program is often-criticize- another area that depends strongly on communication between faculty members and Bookstore officials For a book to achieve guaranteed status, faculty members must meet a series of criteria that includes ordering the text by the appropriate deadline In turn, Bookstore officials will copy all necessary class information for students who have ordered the text, providing the faculty member outlines an assignment schedule An additional problem arises as publishers continue to decrease the life span of texts, said Ohms Two years ago a text was current for some four to five years, in comparison to the two and one-hal- f year life expectancy of current books, he said. Ohms indicated that when faculty members place an order for the most recent text, it may have already been one year since its publication and will only be usable for another year. This, in turn, is an important factor in the resale value of the book for students. Both Barnes and Ohms indicate that the advisory committee will provide an important tool in educating faculty members and students as to text policies. The Bookstore Advisory Committee was originally organized several years ago to open channels for increased faculty and student input concerning Bookstore policies, said Ohms He noted that eventually the advisory group focused its attention on the services recent move to the new Student Center The committee, consisting of individuals representing SUSCs four academic schools, faculty senate and the student population, disbanded following the relocation to allow the Bookstore adequate time to reorganize its services, said Ohms As an auxiliary service, SUSCs Bookstore is and receives no state funding to aid in annual business practices Barnes noted that the Bookstore must show profit as it is a entity but must also support the mission statement of the college m its practices The Bookstore Advisory Committee plays a key role in increasing the efficiency of Bookstore operations as it allows Ohms additional information regarding the needs of both students and faculty The reinstatement of the advisory committee will provide Bookstore officials an additional opportunity to keep faculty members aware of the latest publishing information, said Ohms. Weve always made ourselves available to speak to the faculty, he said and noted that the committee forum will provide increased ordering policy awareness. The advisory committee meets each academic quarter and will actively begin its duties fall quarter. Todd Breinholt, a sophomore draft design major from Panguitch, Utah, and all SUSC students udl be affectid by decisions made by the reinstated Bookstore Advisory Committee |