UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATE DISCUSSES TEXTBOOK ISSUE

A combination rental and purchase system for textbooks should be considered at Southeast Missouri State University, some faculty members say.

A university task force, headed by Faculty Senator Albert Hayward, is considering whether the current textbook rental system should be changed.

The task force was formed last school year after some members of Faculty Senate suggested that university students should have to buy their textbooks rather than rent them.

Allen Gathman, Faculty Senate chairman, said Wednesday that the options he has heard discussed most often are a combination system in which students would rent books for lower-level or non-major courses and buy textbooks for their upper-level or major courses.

"The majority of our (music) faculty feel some combination is best and I do, too," said Faculty Senator Marlin McCutchan.

McCutchan said a survey form being distributed to faculty to assess their feelings on the textbook issue doesn't mention any combination rental and purchase system as an alternative.

Several faculty senators, including McCutchan, said the survey form needs to be expanded to include comments on some type of combination rental and purchase system.

Faculty senators also suggested that the task force survey should provide some information about the respondents, including the college at Southeast to which the faculty member belongs.

"It's conceivable it (the textbook system) could be tailored to different colleges," said Gathman.

Hayward said the task force wanted to avoid a lengthy survey. "The longer the survey, the fewer the people that are going to complete it," he said.

Hayward said he believes such a survey is important. "We would like to have a clear indication of faculty opinion before we start making compromises or adjustments in the existing system."

The survey results, he said, will be tabulated by computer.

He added that student members of the task force are conducting a survey of students.

Some faculty members like Gathman have argued that it's important for students to build their personal libraries. The current rental system does little to encourage students to acquire books, he has said.

Students, however, have argued that requiring them to buy their textbooks would pose a financial hardship.

In other business Wednesday, the Faculty Senate approved a resolution endorsing Proposition B, the tax-and-reform measure for education that will be submitted to Missouri voters Nov. 5.