The Faculty Senate at Southeast Missouri State University accepted two differing reports Wednesday on whether to retain the textbook rental system or require students to purchase textbooks.

But the senators took no action on the recommendations contained in the reports from a senate task force. The issue could come up again at next week's meeting, Allen Gathman, Faculty Senate chairman, said following the meeting.

About 35 people, including members of the task force and a number of students, attended the meeting held at the University Center.

The 12-member task force, with only one dissenting vote, has recommended the university retain its textbook rental system, but with some policy changes to allow university departments more flexibility in the selection of textbooks.

The dissenting task force vote came from faculty senator Albert Hayward, chairman of the Textbook Services Task Force. He has recommended the university scrap the rental system and require students to purchase textbooks as many other universities do.

Peter Gordon, a faculty member who served on the task force, said the policy changes proposed in the majority report were in response to faculty members who wanted to make it easier to change textbooks. Under current guidelines, faculty adopt a text for two years, are limited to one book per course and each instructor of a particular course uses the same text.

Variations to the guidelines are now requested through the Textbook Committee. But the majority report recommends eliminating that function of the committee and placing the exemption decisions in the hands of departments, essentially department chairpersons and college deans.

Faculty senator Charles Wiles urged the senate to support the majority report and retain the rental system.

Wiles said that as both a faculty member with 22 years experience and as a father of a student at Southeast, he opposes the idea of requiring students to purchase their textbooks.

"Even if this was a good idea to change the system, this would be the worst time to do it," he said.

He said the university, faced with tight state funding, has already raised tuition and fees several times in recent years.

As a result, it's difficult for families to budget for their children's college education.

Going to a purchase system, he said, "would really blow it (a family budget) apart."

K.C. Martin, president of Student Government, said students don't want to see any changes in the textbook rental system. Their message, he said, is "leave our textbook system alone."

About 2,000 students have signed petitions voicing support for the current textbook rental system, he noted.

Martin said that making it easier for faculty to change textbooks could end up raising textbook service costs, which in turn would be passed on to students in the form of higher rental fees.

Faculty senator Shelba Branscum said textbook services currently is not a break-even operation. "The university will have a hard time justifying a textbook rental system that is not cost effective."

Faculty senator Larry Lowrance said he saw no reason for the senate to act on the textbook issue. "I think we ought to leave it where it is."

Lowrance said, however, that it's wrong to assume that keeping a textbook rental system will help keep down the cost of schooling for a college student.

He said the university has raised tuition in the past and will do so again. "It's still going to go up."

Following Wednesday's meeting, Martin said he was disappointed in the lack of senate action on the textbook issue. "I at least expected some type of consensus (on the part of the Faculty Senate) and we didn't even get that."