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Issues of Concern to Faculty

Maryland Textbook Law | State Plan for Higher Education | Academic Integrity | Faculty Tenure | Intellectual Property | In Memoriam

The Rising Costs of Textbooks: The Faculty Role
Started in January 15, 2008, this resource section was prepared while the Maryland Senate and House of Delegates considered legislation on the increasing costs of textbooks. Now that the bills are law, this resource is more useful than ever in making faculty throughout Maryland of their responsibilities regarding textbook adoption and use.

The resources start with a link to the U.S. Government Accounting Office report entitled "College Textbooks: Enhanced Offerings Appear to Drive Recent Price Increases," published in July 2005. This report was the watershed document that prompted federal legislation designed to control textbook costs, and was subsequently used to enact similar local legislation.

• Faculty Advisory Council. Tips to Obtain Textbooks. Prepared by MHEC's Faculty Advisory Council, this site explains how students, faculty and departments, administrators, bookstores, and the Commission itself can help manage textbook costs. Readers are invited to add to the online discussion.
• The Maryland Law for Textbook Competition and Affordability, effective July 1, 2009.
• The Maryland Textbook Bill: A Summary. Prepared by the Maryland Association of Community Colleges (MACC), this document is a clear and concise summary of the 2009 textbook law.

    The following resource links go to documents, tutorials, and checklists prepared by some colleges represented in the Faculty Advisory Council of MHEC. Other Maryland colleges are encouraged to send their policies and resource documents to the FAC-MHEC webmaster for inclusion: richs@csmd.edu

• University of Maryland. Textbook Adoption and Ordering. Part of the University of Maryland System's Faculty Handbook of Policies and Resources, this website is maintained by UMD's Office of Faculty Affairs. The website contains a link to download UMD's Best Practices for Textbook Adoption. It also contains links to the Faculty Acknowledgement of Compliance form both as a Web page (login required) and as a PDF document. In accordance with Maryland law, UMD Faculty must complete the Acknowledgement of Compliance form online when submitting a textbook order.
• Anne Arundel Community College. This site takes faculty through a series of information pages concerning textbook choice: http://www.aaccbooks.com/site_faculty_afford.asp.  AACC's Bookstore and Office of Auxiliary Services has also prepared a faculty tutorial entitled Textbook Affordability Legislation: What Faculty Need to Know to inform its faculty about the Maryland law and what it requires of faculty when they adopt textbooks. It includes a video tutorial featuring Margaret Horner, Director of Auxiliary Services, and Steven Pegg, Manager of the AACC Bookstore.
• Montgomery Community College.
  Memorandum from MC Senior Vice Presidents Regarding IMAG
  The Montgomery College Instructional Materials Affordability Guidelines
  http://bookstore.montgomerycollege.edu/ROCKVILLE/SiteText.aspx
• The College of Southern Maryland. Faculty Checklist for Adopting Textbooks (September 1, 2009)

Maryland State Plan for Higher Education Hearing Draft (May 13-14, 2009)
The final draft of the update to the State Plan for Higher Education. Representatives of the FAC served on the blue ribbon commission that formed the plan. 

• Maryland State Plan 2012 Work Groups (Adobe Acrobat reader required). Included are the charges to the working groups for the 2013 State Plan for Higher Education, along with cover letters from the MHEC Secretary and Assistant Secretary for background information.

Academic Integrity Resource Page
A list of links to integrity policies from Maryland colleges and universities, along with articles related to academic integrity, dishonesty, plagiarism, cheating, and other related topics.

Faculty Tenure Policies
A list of links to tenure policies from Maryland colleges and universities, along with articles related to faculty tenure.

Intellectual Property Resource Page
A list of links to policies and articles related to the ownership of intellectual property.

A Model for Faculty Excellence (PGCC)
A set of guidelines developed by the faculty of Prince George's Community College to "maintain its national reputation for its achievements as an institution striving for excellence in a culturally diverse environment."

Freedom to Teach by Michael Bérubé
"In the morning class, an undergraduate survey of American literature since the Civil War, I used The Beverly Hillbillies as an analogy, asked students for a short list of classic American film directors, and reviewed the disputed election of 1876. I had opened the class..."

In Memoriam: A Resolution of Appreciation for Dr. Hampton T. Davey, a faculty member at St. Mary's College and long-time member of the Faculty Advisory Council

 

Comments or questions?
Contact Richard J. Siciliano, Webmaster for the Faculty Advisory Council
Professor of English, College of Southern Maryland: richs@csmd.edu

http://www.fac-mhec.csmd.edu
updated: October 24, 2012