Camrin Jeans
Chinook Writer
Casper College bookstore’s shelves empty after the starting weeks of the semester.
The Casper College bookstore is working to better help students get books at the start of the semester by implementing a new system and promoting online ordering.
At the beginning of every semester, college students rush to get everything they need and almost always make a trip to the campus book store to grab textbooks for classes.However, many students encounter problems getting books just before classes start.
“I could only get 4 of the 8 books I needed before classes started,” said an anonymous English majoring student. “The rest I had to wait a week before they came in.”
The student said they worked nonstop across the state before the start of the semester with no chance to come to campus and grab books they needed, so unfortunately they lacked textbooks required immediately for a class.
Amanda Fisher, manager for the bookstore, said that she sees this every semester without fail, which is part of the reason that the bookstore runs out of books so quickly.
“Students are waiting to purchase until they go to their first class,” Fisher said. “And then you see a rush of students all at once.”
Fisher explained that enrollment plays a huge role in how many books are ordered, and late enrollments cause fluctuations in the bookstore, often leading to shortages. Fisher correlates the lack of books this semester to the amount of late enrollment students with some also being from BOCES students.
“We also serve high school students through dual enrollment, and many of them signed up at the last minute,” Fisher said. “There were about 300 students from BOCES, and 150 of them signed up later than anticipated.”
Fisher said English textbooks are the most impacted by late enrollment. The books are needed for prerequisite classes and many other majors, as well as in high demand to high school students looking to be dual enrolled.
“Many high school students take English, psychology, and sociology to fill their schedules, so the increased enrollment affected our stock.” Fisher said.
Fisher and the college are working to better help and communicate with students to get the textbooks they need sooner. One of the easiest ways Fisher discussed is ordering physical textbooks online though the CC website or through MyCCinfo. Fisher said that financial aid opens up the first week of August for the fall and the start of January for the spring, allowing students to start getting books ahead of time and pick them up when they are able.
“It’s easier for us, too, and a lot less stressful for everyone,” said Fisher.
Another new way the college is trying to fix the textbook issue is by implementing a new program called Follett Access, where each of the classes students take will have all course materials they need given to them through Moodle. E-books are becoming standard for many colleges, and Casper College is moving in that direction as the younger generations begins college.
Fisher said that even with the popularity of e-books, physical books will still be available both in store and orderable online though Casper College.
“For older students who prefer physical textbooks, there is still an option to purchase a textbook at a lower cost,” Fisher said.
Fisher is working to spread as much information about the different ways students can obtain textbooks for class so the bookstore doesn’t become bottlenecked at the start of each semester. She is hoping to make every student aware of when they can order books and other items they might need so students and the store are less stressed when the first week of the semester rolls around.
