Editorial: On the Rollout of Amherst College Textbooks

Following peer institutions such as Williams, Swarthmore, Morehouse, and Middlebury, the college recently implemented Amherst College Textbooks (ACTS), a new program for the fall 2024 semester that covers all textbook materials as part of the college’s comprehensive fee.

While the college’s efforts to ease access to learning materials are commendable, there is no doubt that ACTS had several issues with its rollout this year, rendering it less effective at addressing the issues of equity it had aimed to solve. As community members, we hope to identify the most critical gaps in the program in order to improve it. It is our hope that the college will recognize our concerns and address the program’s issues.

Students and professors alike have acknowledged the program’s cumbersome distribution process, with many mentioning a lack of notifications and delayed delivery times in particular. And although students are allowed to keep their course materials at the end of the semester, it is unclear if there is any form of a return policy whatsoever — if, for instance, the college will institute a buy-back program at the end of the semester. A buy-back program would reduce waste by encouraging the buying of used books in a manner similar to the student run store The Option, which is now defunct, and would potentially also allow the college to reduce the fee charged to students for the new program.

The program thus far has already been beset by a variety of issues related to college communications. Many students were unaware of the option to opt out of ACTS for a $288 stipend in return (for each semester of the 2024-2025 school year). While the college discourages opting out, for students whose course materials were easier to obtain individually than through the college, or for those who simply do not need the program altogether, opting out is more cost and time-efficient. In addition, some students’ preferred names were not used in emails and notifications about the program, which fails to align with the college’s efforts to foster an inclusive community. These examples reflect a larger communication issue with ACTS that the Editorial Board urges the college to address for future semesters.

Beyond the program’s widely recognized disorganization, however, ACTS brings several issues regarding equity and inclusion that the college has not yet addressed. Although ACTS is supposed to ensure that the cost of materials will never be a barrier to taking courses and “create greater educational equity,”, the program may act as a financial burden on students that will encourage them to opt out and use the stipend to weigh the relative affordability for the courses they will take. The program’s addition of a mounting comprehensive fee means some students may still pick courses based on affordability, especially when taking courses with fewer and cheaper materials makes opting out a more efficient and even profitable choice.

The college has also stated that ACTS will not cover course material expenses for consortium students taking courses at the college. Excluding Five College students from the ACTS program becomes especially problematic when considering that Amherst Books no longer sells the relevant course materials due to the commencement of the textbook program, making it difficult for Five College students to gain access to required materials for their Amherst classes. When considering that Amherst offers courses essential for certain programs, majors, and certificates across the consortium, this barrier to access is deeply problematic. The lack of guidance or meaningful solutions from the college may deter consortium students from taking courses at the college. Additionally, it raises broader questions about the college’s impact on local businesses — with Amherst Books expected to lose around $100,000 in revenue as a result of the program — and its responsibility to the town in which it is situated. The Editorial Board believes that as the program continues into its second year, the college should consider what it should do to increase accessibility between itself and neighboring institutions.

Despite the plethora of issues ACTS had this fall semester, we recognize the new program will ultimately benefit the student body. Within our criticisms of the program is a desire to see the college improve its services and facilities, and we as a community should be doing our best to communicate our needs to the college. As an institution, Amherst should be doing its utmost to address the needs of those who represent it the most.